Sonic Drive-In — Restaurant in Lincoln

Assuming that's true I will give you the review your store deserves because your food hurt me and I think it was deliberate.

First I want to explain why I gave a higher rating before. The last 6 years I've spent on the road enjoying Sonic at least once a week in many states and locations with flawless quality and service. Some of those locations I was able to visit repeatedly and I felt some brand loyalty, so I split the difference on my rating.

The Nebraska stores particularly Lincoln were an exception to the rest of the country's perfection. About 33% of the time here, your store included, there is an error on drive thru orders. Typically it's drink errors, like wrong type, flavor, no fruit that sort of thing. It's not uncommon to get the wrong order but it's usually extra food in my case since I typically only order one or two food items.

This is how and possibly why your employee hurt me. I was on drive thru and asked if lime-aids could be ordered as slushies. The answer was yes and I began my order starting with a lime-aid slush..."Your total is ### thank you please pull up to the window" was the abrupt response. "Wait I hadn't finished my order and can I have that in cherry!?" Was my response. That exchange in one form or another repeated three or four times the only response from your employee being, "Please drive through". So I complied. I get to the window and I could see your employee with my slushy in hand. I gave up my corndog idea immediately but decided to pursue the slushy because I was thirsty. I asked if it was cherry and it was not, just lime. I pointed out that was what I was trying to tell him at the speaker. The young bluish haired person was clearly perturbed by my insistence of cherry flavor and returned very quickly with a replacement took my money and I was on my way to Omaha.

I didn't take a sip until I was on the interstate. Upon doing so I was immediately horrified. I can't put into words how sour that drink was and like an idiot, because I was thirsty I tried it with the straw on different levels hoping to find something drinkable. That effort cost me several days of discomfort in the form of burning in my esophagus and stomach.

What I suspect happened is your employee didn't like my attitude and decided to teach me a lesson. He dumped out some of my slush put in a squirt of cherry flavoring and finished off with several unnecessary pumps of additional lime flavoring as punishment. Keep in mind I could see some of this activity as it was being done so I believe I am 100% correct in my assessment.

I learned later after trying a cherry lime-aid slush at a different store, which I couldn't finish because it burned going down, that your store did infact give me something very bad that hurt me. So I called and told this story to a young woman who identified herself as in charge but not the general manager. I ended up calling again a day or two later to investigate what was in my drink because my discomfort hadn't improved much. I suspect I was speaking to the same young woman who this time identified herself as the general manager. Turns out its mosty concentrated citric acid. At the levels your employee gave me it would only be appropriately used as a grill cleaner at the end of the night.

I don't need a response and I have zero expectations from you. There is clearly a different culture in the stores in this state particularly Lincoln and there can only be two reasons for that, you,,, if you own most of those stores or perhaps a single regional manager. I only want people to know what to expect at your stores. Turns out in telling my story I discovered a family of four that had a similar experience in western Nebraska but they were smart enough to throw out their drinks right away after the first sip. I wouldn't want a kid to experience what happened to me so for that reason I truly hope my belief this was deliberate is real. Imagine how many kids would be going to the doctor if your employee just didn't know what...

Ordered through the app on Sunday 5/24 at 11:52am on location. Every printed off sign said hours 11-7! We waited an embarrassing amount of time of an hour and a half. We were being extremely patient and understanding- maybe short staffed due to covid, maybe new trainees, holiday weekend at lunch time? We were chatting and distracted and the lot was FULL of cars!!! Finally walked up and the lights were off! Shortly after an employee walked out with signs at roughly 1:30. She was replacing all the signs with hours of that days operation of 11-7 signs to 2-7. What! In a very monotone and unhelpful tone, “Yeah well we open at 2. Haha we were supposed to change the hours last night but forgot haha.” No haha from us or any of the other cars in the stalls! Was told it’d take about 20 minutes after they “open” at 2. No way could we wait an additional 45 minutes. Screaming kids and in addition a lunch break without food for my husband. We were told we’d receive a card refund within 3-5 days but probably 5 days. I’ve called to follow up (with clarity that it was an app purchase) and “it should be there soon.” Called again today! “No you have to call the app”. Now it’ll be up to 10 more days/ so up to 3 weeks for a refund for a store error without receiving product? I’ve emailed in, called, and not once received a response or even tried to earn back business. You’d think this would be an automatic approach to dissolve a situation. An appropriate apology or any sense of urgency, or even an acknowledgement of handling the situation differently would have crushed our level of frustration. We visit 1-3x weekly from meals to just drinks. Not again for quite awhile. So many opportunities for handling a customer concern...

It took me several months to visit the new Sonic because I was angry that they moved further away from me. I finally got over it and decided to try the new location today for lunch. I'm glad I did. Side note, I notice a lot of reviews are for the old location. If a review is prior to mid October of 2024, you're reading a review of the old location that was on Holdrege St.

If you are south of Adams, go north on 84th St, and you'll see Sonic on the right side from 84th St. Turn right on Market St. My impression of the new location is it looks more modern. I am indifferent about the new appearance, but it does look very clean because it's new. Hopefully the staff keeps it that way. I ordered ahead of time with the app. All I had to do was check in when I pulled in a stall.

I was happy to see that the Sonic Smashers are still available. They are even better than the original Sonic cheeseburgers. I ordered the tater tots as my side, and they are even better. I don't know if that's because of the new equipment, but they are a bit softer and a bit bigger. I still want Sonic to season to their tots. Amigos, Taco Johns, and Taco Inn all have an advantage over Sonic simply because they season their tots.

As for the service, I didn't have to wait very long for my food after checking in. It seems like the new location has a good start. I hope they keep up...