Sonic Drive-In — Restaurant in Gallup

I admit that I have never been a big Sonic fan, so you can take that into consideration with this review. This time was another so-so visit.

The good: They kindly let my young daughters use their restroom within their small building. The natural lemonade was perfect (I like mine sweeter and it was sweet, but probably not as sweet as Chick-fil-a, but not too sour like Wendy's). Tater tots were good, crispy like they should be, maybe could have been hotter.

The bad: I got the chicken "tenders" - tender would be the last word I would use to describe them. Of course the pictures of the entree make it look very enticing - don't count on it. Chicken nuggets that I have had from other fast food places are more juicy, tender, and probably have a greater meat to breading ratio (with breading that has flavor). This was just the most disappointing part of the visit for me. If you like chewing through tough, dry breading then order this item.

My youngest daughter, age 2, ate her corndog, ate her applesauce, and drank her milk and then said she was hungry - as did her older siblings. I get that I'm going to pay $4 or more for a kids meal that wholesales for less than half of that, but it should at least fill a toddler (who hardly ever finishes her dinner at home).

I guess I'm the kind of person who goes somewhere for the food - the entree - and the good tots and drinks weren't enough to make up the difference. I'll continue not being a fan.

New edit: Another visit, more negatives and positives.

We came to get shakes only, and ordered whatever it is they call their ice cream in a cup with mix-ins (they'll correct you if you call it a shake).

The good - my wife's Reese's peanut butter cup shake was good (reportedly), the daughters enjoyed their cookie dough. I found the cookie dough pieces to be perfect. They were a great replica of actual cookie dough with a good nutty/oaty flavor that real cookie dough has that fake substitutes don't. I also enjoyed the sprinkling of cookie dough pieces on the top of the shake.

The bad - after being so pleased, my first impression led to disappointment as halfway through my shake I was left with vanilla ice cream only. I get that the mixing process isn't perfect and lots of places struggle with this, but there was literally only 1 cookie dough piece below the halfway point.

All together I really enjoyed the first of my shake, but another disappointment makes for just another so-so...

We've had a good run with our local Sonic in Utah, but our luck ran out at this Sonic in my hometown. We ordered a Diet Lime Rickey and as we pulled away, we realized they tasted terrible! More carbonation than lime rickey, which usually means the base soda syrup ran out and must be exchanged with fresh syrup base. We reordered but our order fell on deaf ears. If not for Deja, our responsive carhop server, we would've waited much longer at this busy location than we actually did. Deja indicated our diet lime rickeys were beyond saving, even if reordered. So she brought us Diet Cokes instead. We didnt quibble over the price difference--a soda was $0.40 less than a diet limeade (the diet limeade cost twice as much at this NM location than it does at our UT location!) However, before pulling out, we discovered that the Diet Cokes were just as terrible tasting as the diet lime rickeys! So, I went into the Sonic store and was ready to ask for my money back, but they seemed to understand the carbonation/syrup situation and set about trying to make it right after 3 tries. Deja brought our Diet Cokes one more time and this time, they tasted right. However, it made me wonder how many other customers pulled away without realizing their sodas were nasty tasting. If not for Deja and her great friendly demeanor in the face of this nasty soda issue, I would've given ZERO stars. So, 5 Stars for Deja, -2 Stars for the Sonic Soda Blunder and -1 Star for the price. Next time, I'ma try the West side Sonic...so...

READ ENTIRE REVIEW FOR IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS :)

ONE some thing (not everything) in your meal is always dry or bland. Examples are deflated fries, death valley buns, tar burgers and even flat sodas that could pass as robitussin. And although service has been quick most of the time, it can also be a hefty 30 minute wait for a basic order which is to be expected coming here at ANY time of day. On the other hand, the food that isn't dry or bland is DELICIOUS. SO, If you've starved up to the point you've used all your nitro just to ditch Dominic to get a Coney meal deal due to lack of a decent meal since you awoke that morning, then this place is a SOLID 100 because the food at times like this is fresh and actually tastes like your eating what they advertised instead of a sack of rooty and rotten potatoes with condiments smothered all over tar crusted beef with a salty boiled hotdog dipped in coke poured over thick mud. Of course, this is exaggeration for your average Joe so don't take this too...