Eating Out: Sanger SONIC restaurant one of a kind in Valley

The Sanger SONIC Drive-In is the first of its kind in the San Joaquin Valley.

It has indoor seating. That’s an unusual approach for SONIC – and if it works out, you may see more like it in the Valley.

SONIC restaurants are perhaps most known for their old-school style of dining where customers order from their cars and a worker brings their chili cheese dogs and cherry limeades out to their car window – though not always on skates these days.

At most Valley SONICs, customers can also swing through the drive-thru in their car or order from a menu board on foot and sit at a patio table.

The downside?

We sweat a lot here. With temps regularly skyrocketing past 100 degrees, sitting in a car with the engine off or outdoors for a meal is just yucky.

“The minute it goes over 100 is when business begins to take a dip,” says franchisee Scott A. McMillan, who along with his wife own 28 SONIC restaurants in the Valley.

There’s a little rush at around 8:30 p.m. when things cool off, but it’s not enough to make up for a day of people avoiding the restaurant in favor of competitors with air conditioning.

So, taking a page from SONIC restaurants in snowy cities, the owner is experimenting with indoor seating.

The one at 827 Academy Avenue, at Ninth Street, opened July 31 and has booths, low tables and high-top tables. A couple of TVs hang on the walls.

The restaurant was a former Burger King, Hungry Howie’s and Baskin Robbins and was completely remodeled to become a SONIC.

Now, customers eating indoors give their orders to a human at a counter and take a number back to their table. Their food is delivered to them.

They can still order from their car or via the drive-thru.

The owners are also experimenting with enclosing a patio at a SONIC in Tehachapi, to create indoor seating.

“If we believe we get good results from people wanting to use it, we’ll probably expand it to other stores on Blackstone and other stores in that region,” McMillan says.

Another, more traditional SONIC opened last week at 448 W. El Monte Way in Dinuba.

Eureka!

Eureka! restaurant will open early at 10 a.m. Sundays during football season starting Sunday, Sept. 13.

The restaurant at 7775 N. Palm Ave. near Nees Avenue will serve food – including the All-Day Breakfast Burrito with carnitas and a fried egg – and $5 bloody Marys and mimosas on the weekends.

A Taste of River Park

Food and fashion come together for the sixth annual A Taste of River Park Saturday, Sept. 12.

Food and wine will be available from River Park restaurants and local wineries. The event includes a fashion show previewing fall fashions, music by Eva Scow & The Experience and a dance performance by Jazzy D Studio.

The 21-and-over event benefits the American Red Cross and runs from 6-10 p.m. near Yoshino’s restaurant. Pre-sale tickets cost $30, or $40 at the door, and are available at www.atasteofriverpark.com.

This story was originally published September 8, 2015 at 8:00 AM with the headline "Eating Out: Sanger SONIC restaurant one of a kind in Valley."