RISE - Menu Monitor

Menu Positioning |
SONIC Drive-In restaurants feature a varied menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Its signature offering is its line of burgers.
During the breakfast daypart, popular options include Toaster sandwiches with meat and egg, breakfast burritos, French toast
sticks, and several breakfast combos. Lunch and dinner items include burgers, salads, Toaster sandwiches, wraps, chicken
and coney dogs. Customer favorites include its SONIC Bacon Cheeseburger, Jumbo Popcorn Chicken Salad, Chicken Club
Toaster sandwich, Grilled Chicken Wrap, Chicken Strip Dinner and Ex-Long Cheese Coney. Side items include onion rings,
tater tots, French fries and mozzarella sticks. A Kid's menu includes Jr. Burger, corn dog, hot dog and chicken strips. Also
offered are Fresh Taste Salads such as Grilled Chicken Salad, Jumbo Popcorn Shrimp Salad and Santa Fe Grilled Chicken
Salad. Frozen Favorites include SONIC Blast, Shakes & Malts, CreamSlush Treat, Cream Pie Shakes, Floats/Blended Floats,
Banana Splits, Sundaes and Vanilla Cone or Dish. Drinks include fresh fruit limeades and a variety of Coca-Cola soft drinks,
coffee, iced tea in plain, raspberry and peach, and bottles water. Menu prices range between $1.49 and $8.99. Checks
average $5.
Expansion Plans |
SONIC Drive-Ins will open a new restaurant in Pittsburgh this summer. (Bizjournals.com 1/4/07)
Sonic Drive-In plans to add 25–35 units in Central Ohio by the end of the year, with the first outlet slated to open this month.
The company has restaurants in other parts of the state, including suburban Cincinnati, Athens, Jackson and Nelsonville.
(Columbus Business First 2/23/07)
SONIC Drive-Ins is seeking a site to open a new unit in Greenwich, NJ, sometime in the future. (Nj.com 4/12/07)
Sonic Drive-In opened a new restaurant last month in Sioux City, IA. The restaurant is the area’s first Sonic location.
(Siouxcityjournal.com 7/9/07)
SONIC Drive-Ins opened a unit in Coralville, IA, on August 31. The location features 21 drive-in stalls, two walk-up ordering
stations and a hop-thru. The restaurant is owned by Iowa Drive Ins LLC. (Press-citizen.com 9/1/07)
SONIC Drive-In plans to open a unit near Pittsburgh with franchise group NCH Hospitality. The unit is expected to open in
December. SONIC Drive-In plans to open 15 more restaurants in the Pittsburgh area. (Wpxi.com 9/19/07)
Promotion Plans |
SONIC Drive-Ins teamed with USA Network for the restaurant to debut its sponsorship of Nashville Star, a country music
series. The partnership also includes in-store, on-air and online promotional co-branded content. (Company Release 12/6/06)
SONIC Drive-Ins began its “Who’s the Next Nashville Star?” sweepstakes on January 11. Customers who guess the winner of
Nashville Star will be entered in the Grand Prize drawing. Five winners will receive a 2007 Chevy Silverado truck and a year’s
supply of SONIC food and drink. Contestants can mail in the necessary information by February 16. (Company Release
1/11/07)
SONIC Drive-In offered free root beer floats in honor of summer on June 7 from 8 p.m. until midnight. The chain is giving
consumers the message that when they need something sweet after dark, SONIC is the place to go. During June, the root
beer float is 99¢. (Company Release 6/5/07)
Sonic Drive-Ins will promote its new late-night schedule by co-branding TBS’ late-night movies. “Sonic Late Night Fun” will
feature eight comedy films throughout July. TBS has developed several opportunities for Sonic, including sponsorship of “The
Bill Engvall Show.” The promotion will also extend to the Internet on TBS.com and VeryFunnyAds.com through August. (Media
Post Publications 7/11/07)
Menu Development |
Sonic Drive-In added the Full Throttle Fury Slush for a limited time. (Company Website)
Sonic Drive-In is offering guests a BLT & Tropical Mango Tea combo for $2.99 for a limited time. The sandwich features
bacon, lettuce and tomatoes on Texas Toast. (Company Website)
Sonic introduced the Spicy Southwest SuperSonic Cheeseburger made with two patties topped with pepper Jack cheese,
crispy jalapeño strips and creamy chipotle sauce. (Company Website)
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Technomic believes that its sources of information are reliable, but does not assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the information
published.
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