Sonic Drive-In — Restaurant in Town of Irondequoit

First and last visit to a Sonic. Terrible.

It's a fast food joint so expectations aren't high. We were getting groceries and wanted to get some fast food on the way to the next store.

My mom is excited, she sees old fashioned car hop stations. I note two of them have 'out of order' signs and see no car hop active.

We walk in, no one at front counter. A couple with 2 very young kids are standing at the counter looking confused. That could be due to the fact 2 of the 4 order screens are not operational. Only 3 of 6 total screens in the building are working. Then again it could be due to the fact no one is there to take an order. Most of the great specials advertised in the numerous television commercials are not noted on anything lit up either.

I suppose we should yell for Alexa in public like a bunch of people suffering from Tourettes for service.

In lieu of screens I see what look to be full menus on the empty counter in front of us. They have the full menu (minus things in commercials) noted. I have worked retail and food service management in the past and realize these are 'back end business' operational print outs of the menu that should be only shared with employees and used to program the video screens.

But here they are laminated and printed out for all to see as a customer facing document on the customer counter. The print outs show suggested 'sell ups' of menu items and the prices.... Embarrassing. At least they were laminated. I guess that is where the money went instead of staff or technology. There are no self service machines to explain the lack of personnel at the car hop or front counter stations.

A very pleasant young man comes out of the closed off kitchen/ drive through area, and cordially takes all of our orders efficiently. He is the highlight of the visit. He has to waste time explaining the menu and options to each customer since it is not displayed on the broken screens, or even the business print outs made available to the public.

We look for a place to sit after our order is taken. All but two of the dozen or so tables are dirty. The overall impression of nonfunctional screens, dirty tables and lack of personnel should have been an omen.

After a brief wait and asking of customer names by pleasant if understaffed employees emerging from the magical back room, I am given the wrong order, and so is my mom. Thankfully we were given each others orders, so easy fix, but what if this was take out or drive through?

Should I mention our food for dine in was brought in take out bags? Nothing sets an ambiance of being welcome like take out bags and mixed orders.

I had the much advertised chicken BLT and onion rings meal for almost $10. The chicken is dry, the six (6) onion rings are overcooked fried cardboard and the drink is 2/3 ice. As I expected the basil aioli is gross. Aioli is usually earthy and savory like garlic, or spicy like pepper. I did get a full bite of bacon so thanks for that, I guess.

My mom noted a 'funky' flavor in her coney style chili dog. Her onion rings are also better used for construction than nutrition.

We looked for mayo or ketchup in the 'restaraunt' to try to help get our 'food' down, but there is not a single condiment station in the location to be found: no big proletarian pumps, or even packets in a few bins. And of course no one is available to ask for help, since 'Egor' our pleasant front end staff member has once again disappeared into the drive up dimension.

I did find one sad cardboard flat with 5 milkshake spoons and 4 napkins left at the front counter. No packets of ketchup, mayo or anythng were found in our 'to go' bags either. There were plenty of napkins in the bag, as if eating sand made you sloppy. Is there a condiment shortage I'm unaware of?

We left after choking down about half of our respective 'meals' and agreed Sonic was a loser. Never again, avoid at all costs. Prisoners...

First off let me start by saying that I've gone to this place enough times (basically everyday since they opened) to fully craft my opinion. The food is fine. I have friends who yell at me because I don't agree that it's the best in terms of fast food. (I just file that under the fact that this is the first and only sonic in Rochester.) So I have no complaints about the food, or the staff for that matter, they are always very nice with a great smile.

HOWEVER, and this is a big one. They are SO slow. When I say slow. I mean SLOW. I can go to TGI Friday's and have my food arrive before I even get to the drive though window. Let me elaborate, there have been times when I'm the only one in line but yet I'm still waiting. Do not punch out for lunch and go here because you'll get fired for being late to work. And I don't know if that's a staff thing. I don't know if it's that they have a small kitchen. Or maybe they prepare their food fresh. Whatever it is, it needs to be fixed. The taste of the food doesn't outweigh the waiting time. The food isn't fantastic, It's just okay. Oh and don't even get me started on the amount of times they've messed up my order. That reason alone is why I question myself as to why I still even go there everyday. But like I said, It's the only one in Rochester.

Great staff, okay food. Very slow, and more times than not they get my order wrong.

Update: The other day they got my order completely wrong, and they told me they couldn't fix it at the window. If I wanted it fixed I would have to go all the way around again though the drive thru. Um.. There's a line of like ten cars? I'm not going around. And because of that. They have completely lost my business. Point. Period. Blank. This was also the same day where 5 cars left the line because they were taking so long. You won't see me...

I’m really disappointed with how this Sonic location was being run. I placed an online order and checked in at a stall, then ended up waiting another 45 minutes for my food — just two sandwiches, two fries, two drinks, chicken bites, and mozzarella sticks for my son, my husband, and me. When my order finally came out, the girl who brought it to me was incredibly polite and clearly doing her absolute best, but she looked completely overwhelmed. It was heartbreaking to see that the entire restaurant was being run by only two people. They were absolutely slammed, juggling car after car while still keeping smiles on their faces. You could tell they were working non-stop, hustling as fast as humanly possible and still making the effort to be friendly and professional. These two employees were a perfect example of dedication and hard work, but they were clearly underwater.The food was correct but barely warm by the time it arrived — honestly, I didn’t even have the heart to send it back or ask for it to be remade hot because those two were already doing everything they possibly could. However, the chicken bites were completely inedible; they looked and tasted like they had been sitting around forever, and the mozzarella sticks were the same way. On top of that, none of my sauces came with the order, which just made the meal even more disappointing.Once again, this is not the employees’ fault. They were doing their absolute best under impossible circumstances. My frustration is entirely with Sonic’s management for allowing this. Running a restaurant on a skeleton crew like that is unfair to staff and customers alike. Absolutely horrendous decision-making on...