Sonic Drive-In — Restaurant in Raleigh

I cannot believe how disappointing this Sonic is. The menu is nothing like the previous Sonics I've been to with the exception of their limeades. The milkshake flavor choices are horrible now.

When I went to this store, I ordered a hotdog, cherry limeade, and strawberry/banana milkshake. I've had this at other Sonics and always liked it. Here, the hotdog was thrown together like the staff just wanted to turn off the lights and go home, the cherry limeade had the bitter aftertaste that typically happens when a soda fountain runs low on syrup, and the milkshake has no banana in it. The second limeade tasted just as bad so I asked for a water instead. They gave me that but wouldn't refund the money. The lady who told me she was the manager insisted that she had put "double the normal amount of banana in the shake", which was odd because I didn't ask for any extra banana, just a normal strawberry/banana shake. She offered to make me a new shake and, rather than get the same thing again, I just asked for a banana shake. I did see her put the banana in this one and could definitely taste the difference. She asked if I could taste the banana and, when I told her I could, she told me that the shake I had now had 1/2 of a banana instead of the whole banana that was in the original shake. To end the night on a high note, she then told me I had to give her back the original shake, which I did, then walked away without another word. She did turn her head back to look at me as she threw the entire original shake in the trash.

This part isn't why I have them one star, just a thought. I've never understood why any restaurant would take from a customer an item that was either prepared incorrectly or had some other issue unless the item is physically contaminated and could make the customer ill. Legally, they can't serve that drink to anyone else and they'd be foolish to drink it themselves. I know some places say it's too keep people from making bogus complaints to get free food but really that's not a valid reason since you can generally tell if a customer is doing this and deal with it on a case by case basis. A smart restaurant would simply give the incorrect food to the customer AND fix the mistake, AT A MINIMUM. If there's multiple errors, then the restaurant should start issuing refunds.

With that said, this review could have been salvaged by the manager actually saying, "I'm sorry", fixing the limeade drink and not forcing me to either drink something that tasted like saltwater and cherry or drink tap water, and either remaking the strawberry/banana shake correctly or just giving me both the original and the banana shake plus a large cup so I could fix it myself. The most important thing, however, would have been a real, genuine apology. I would have liked my money back, but it was less than $10.00, what was so frustrating was the total lack of caring down by...

Overall Rating: 2.6/10 This dining experience significantly underdelivered, characterized by a lackluster atmosphere and poor service quality, compounded by subpar food offerings.

Atmosphere: 3.6/10 The setting resembles a typical drive-in experience but fails to provide a welcoming environment. The outdoor tables were unclean, and the view of a parking lot did not enhance the ambiance. The visible discomfort of the waitstaff and a notably low health score of 94.5 added to the unease of dining here, making it an uninviting place to spend any length of time.

Service: 2.3/10 Service issues were evident with incorrect orders being served—fries instead of tater tots—and general neglect such as dirty tables and overflowing trash bins. While the drive-through staff member was pleasant, the lack of essentials like ketchup and overall poor service execution greatly diminished the dining experience.

Food:

BBQ Burger: 2.7/10 The burger was overwhelmingly sauced with BBQ, overshadowing other ingredients and unbalancing the flavor profile, making it less enjoyable.

Popcorn Chicken: 4.4/10 The chicken was merely average, offered in a disappointingly small portion without any distinctive qualities to elevate it above basic fast food.

Fries: 0.6/10 Described as gross, the fries were cold, stale, and of such poor quality that they were discarded. This indicates a serious lack of quality control in food preparation.

Hotdog 1.4/10 Just flat out gross. Few bites and it was thrown in the trash.

Value: 2.0/10 Given the overall poor quality of food and service, the dining experience did not provide good value for money. The issues encountered suggest a need for significant improvements across the board to justify any...

If I could give this experienice 0 stars, I would. Nothing about my visit deserves even a sliver of a star. Let's start by stating what I ordered. A garlic butter burger with no mayo add pickle and tomato. A large pickle fries. A medium mozz stick. Now let's start at the beginning and start everything that went wrong. FIRST..... I ask how much ranch and marinara comes with the pickle fries and mozz sticks. I am told 2 marinara and 8 oz of ranch, none of which were in the bag (and when I went back, it wasn't 8 oz of ranch either, it was also 2 ranches). So we cleared that up. So now I want to comment on the fact that the pickle fries were losing all their breading, which tells me they are either old or not all the way cooked. The mozz sticks were cold. And for the price of both of those appetizers, they should have some better quality ranch and marinara (gross, I ended up not even using that nasty stuff). So NOW I get to my burger which was a very simple request..... No freaking mayo (I am allergic to egg and will never understand why anything comes with mayo and not just an option to add it). Anyway, they put no mayo, but they also don't use the garlic butter either. THE WHOLE POINT TO ME BUYING A GARLIC BUTTER BURGER WAS FOR THE GARLIC BUTTER. What is wrong with the employees here?? There was pickles on my burger and tomato (if that's what u want to call it, one step away from being ketsup), but the tomato was mushy.... If I am going to pay extra to a slice of tomato, it better be a firm slice of tomato. I will NEVER EAT AT SONIC AGAIN. ONLY THING THEY ARE FOOD FOR IS THEIR...