Tag: Sonic

Looking down at the empty tray that once held Sonic’s latest foodstuff, the Totchos, I feel mostly disappointment where satisfaction really should be. Sure, its tater tots are a tried and true fast food go-to, and the melted cheddar cheese is always tops, but while the name is quite clever, the execution is lazy at best.

Totchos, in case you haven’t figured it out yet, is a combination of tots and nachos. Sonic has taken said tater tots and covered them with, of course, gloopy cheese, something called “Baja sauce,” bits of diced onion, and slices of jalapeno. That’s all well and good, but then they absentmindedly threw on a few squares of bacon.

I had to look online to make sure this wasn’t a mistake.

Needless to say, at least for me, it was somewhat distasteful to find bacon, a very un-nacho-like meat, on my cheesy tots. I prefer a pork product with a far more Mexican bent like, say, chorizo. But, still, this is what I was given, so I forged ahead with this ignoble experiment and gave the Totchos the old intento universitario.

As the cheese began to solidify quickly, I stirred my fork around the messy meal and realized it’s basically Sonic’s Cheesy Tots – sans its always delightful chili and with a scant scoop of Baja sauce in its place. You can’t go wrong with Sonic’s Cheesy Tots.

Tasting a few well-covered potato portions, the addition of onions and jalapeno is always novel, and the Baja sauce, though mild as a San Francisco breeze, did add a delightful tang when mixed with the nacho cheese. But what hurts these Totchos, sadly, are the salty cuts of bacon that give an unlikable taste for me, especially when mixed with all the other well-assembled parts.

Maybe order them without the bacon next time?

Ultimately disappointing, there are so many things Sonic could have done to make these Totchos a true nacho reality, like sour cream or even strands of chicken would’ve done alright by me. But, instead, this is what we got and it’ll have to do until they decide to head back to the test kitchen for more Totcho combinations.

Purchased Price: $3.29
Size: Medium
Rating: 4 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 550 calories, 36 grams of fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 25 milligrams of cholesterol, 1670 milligrams of sodium, 48 grams of carbohydrates, 4 grams of fiber, 3 grams of sugar, and 10 grams of protein.

Since the much-publicized Arby’s merger, Sonic has been definitely surprising me with its constant foodstuff experimentation — some good, some bad — that, lately, seems to be keeping them at the forefront of culinary innovations that are on the ironically thin cusp of making America just a little bit hungrier and a whole lot heavier.

From the Oklahoma-based group — with offices down the street from me! — this month’s bold idea comes in the form of bite-sized smatterings featuring both chili cheese and bacon mac and cheese, both reminding me of the vegetable-stuffed fried goods of my public school lunch-loving youth.

The Chili Cheese Bites and the Bacon Mac & Cheese Bites are an inventive, if not obvious, dedication to duty for Sonic. One that, whenever I’m in need of a quick unhealthy snack, I can always grab on the go.

Mostly roundish in shape but decidedly Boyardee in taste, the Chili Cheese Bites encompass everything that makes a toddler’s messy lunch tray so dang delicious to pick off of. The thickly breaded and fried casing on the outside holds in place a generous glob of chili and cheese that, of course, is the same that you would probably find on a Coney.

While it is a bit of a shock to not have the plump wiener as an all-beef buffer, these bites still work fabulously. And, if I may say so, they’re even better after being left in the refrigerator overnight for a well-meaning breakfast or pre-lunch snack.

From, I’d imagine, the frozen foods aisle to your flash-fried stomach, comes the long overdue Bacon Mac & Cheese Bites. They’re a collective piece of hungry art that is much larger than the Chili Cheese Bites and have more of a triangular shape, which, I imagine, is for the kids as well, wrapped up in a lighter bread coating.

With a harsh hint of bacon and over 700 milligrams of sodium, I’m really not sure the kids will love these as much as the adults will. However, the gummy macaroni and cheese is much more welcomed than it sounds, supplying a different kind of cheesy taste than we’re used to at Sonic. The bacon – I want to say applewood smoked, but I’m probably wrong — is a great accent that, as every bite goes on longer, becomes far more notable.

Between the two of these — both of which are delicious — I will probably give the edge to the Chili Cheese Bites, mostly because Sonic has found a way to make one of its most famous standbys into a vaunted snack again, one that I would probably order on the regular if I had low self-esteem. But, and I reiterate this, that blurb isn’t to knock the dandy candy of the Bacon Mac & Cheese.

Purchased Price: $1.99 each
Size: Small
Rating: 8 out of 10 (Chili Cheese), 7 out of 10 (Bacon Mac & Cheese)
Nutrition Facts: Chili Cheese – 40 calories, 14 grams of fat, 5 grams of saturated fat, 25 milligrams of cholesterol, 550 milligrams of sodium, 22 grams of carbohydrates, 3 grams of dietary fiber, and 8 grams of protein. Bacon Mac & Cheese – 260 calories, 15 grams of fat, 6 grams of saturated fat, 25 milligrams of cholesterol, 700 milligrams of sodium, 22 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of dietary fiber, and 9 grams of protein.

As I sampled Sonic’s spectacular new Garlic Butter Bacon Burger, it struck me as kind of odd that more hamburgers don’t offer a medium scoopful of garlic butter swathed across their toasted buns and seared into their beef patties.

It is such a rich and wealthy additive that, when it comes to such dairy products, I loudly say, to no one in particular, “To hell with cheese! Give me more of that damning garlic butter!”

I arrived at my local Sonic and was happy to see it has the Garlic Butter Bacon Burger in a Jr. size. However, as I was enjoying it, all I could think about was quickly shoving this Jr.-sized burger in my mouth and then following it with another. With such a notable taste, it’s impossible not to feel like a beef addict, needing more and more of that creamy garlic butter running through your veins.

Every bite was, of course, juicy as a flood of grease and oils flowed down my chin and onto my chest and lap, with the omnipresent American cheese seeping out of the sides. The garlic and butter concoction mixes admirably with the four or five pieces of crispy bacon and, of course, the profound all-beef patty. The taste was a unique intoxicant of everything a burger should be, fast food or otherwise.

The buns, as you’d imagine, tasted like garlic bread. The tiny onions that dotted the top were unnecessary but welcomed to this feeding frenzy. Feeling, at times, more like a dirty breakfast sandwich than a sexy noontime burger, there’s a wholly sinful part of me that wants to nosh on this every day around 6 a.m. with a cup of strong black coffee. And possibly a Route 44 slush.

But I can’t. As it is, I had to slow down eating and catch my breath while dining on this burger. I haven’t had a non-Mexican fast food offering that aroused my lustful hunger like this in a very long time. Even after one, however, I feel like I have to cut back on food in general and hit the gym, possibly right now.

Very rarely have I ever eaten anything that left me feeling so preternaturally guilty and so predominantly proud because of its sheer butter content. Thanks, Sonic.

Purchased Price: $2.79
Size: Jr.-sized
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 530 calories, 34 grams of fat, 10 grams of saturated fat, 1 gram of trans fat, 80 milligrams of cholesterol, 1000 milligrams of sodium, 33 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, 5 grams of sugar, and 21 grams of protein.

What is the Sonic Reaper Spicy Margarita?

As a part of Sonic’s somewhat innovative line of supposed non-alkie “mocktails,” the Reaper Spicy Margarita takes everything alcohol-lovers enjoy with a classic margarita, subbing the usual tequila with, what the Hell, the absolute terror of liquefied Carolina Reaper Peppers.

How is it?

As cold and satisfying as the Reaper Margarita is on the first sip, almost immediately, the fires of a demonic inferno are quickly unleashed on the insides of your mouth, burning your tongue, numbing your nose, and scalding your throat, causing anyone with a well-worn grip on their remaining senses to throw this drink down on the ground, cursing the heavens with a closed fist in a most stupid fit of self-imposed rage.

While there is an extremely slight citrus-flavor that is hovering around, it is practically impossible to taste over the mouth-destroying Reaper additives, a garden-peppery coating the slowly moves down the throat in a esophageal thrashing that’s normally reserved for Saturday night at the taqueria, not for a Tuesday afternoon getting a Sonic Happy Hour treat on the way home from work.

Sorry guys, but this just doesn’t work; I mean, for real: who is this drink for?

Is there anything else you need to know?

The night I forcibly drank about half of this, the scalding belches and burps continually seared my gutwerks with each gastric devil-bubble that traveled up my throat. Consequentially, I ended up downing about two or three rather large gulps of Pepto-Bismol just to cool my aching body-tubes.

Conclusion:

Anyone who knows me knows how much I truly enjoy the spicier things in this life. Give a roundhouse kick of heat on just about everything I eat, please. That being said, I truly get what Sonic is trying to do here, but, if I’m being honest, this isn’t a drink as much as it is a novelty dare. The mix should be sold on page 35 of the Archie McPhee catalog, not at my local Sonic Drive-In. Maybe, just maybe, it would work if the Scovilles was brought way down, maybe to level it a bit more evenly with the sugar. But, as for now, it’s too little, way too hot.

Purchased Price: $1.79 (each)
Size: Small
Rating: 1 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 190 calories, 0 grams of fat, 230 milligrams of sodium, 51 grams of carbohydrates, 50 grams of sugar, and 0 grams of protein.