RIO GRANDE — Will a Sonic boom hit Middle Township, specifically at 3201 Route 9 South?
Delco LLC developer William Juliano, who built the shopping centers continaing Wal-Mart and Lowe’s, Office Depot and others on Route 9 here, plans a Jan. 24 appearance before Middle Township Planning Board for permission to construct a 1,728-square-foot Sonic Drive-In Restaurant as part of Rio Grande Center.
The parcel on which the restaurant is proposed was originally approved for a 4,100-square-foot establishment, but the planned drive-in restaurant is less than half that dimension.
The restaurant, if approved, would be the Oklahoma-based company’s second in New Jersey. The only Garden State Sonics Drive in is on Route 9 in Waretown, about 65 miles from here. Another one is in Bridgeville, Del., according to a company map.
According to the company’s Web site:
Sonic, specializes in made-to-order fast food. It features a specialty menu and personal service. Those items include TOASTER® Sandwiches (sandwiches served on thick Texas Toast), extra-long cheese Coneys (hot dogs with chili and cheese), fresh-made onion rings, Tater Tots and a variety of Frozen Favorites Drinks® Treats and Fountain Favorites® Drinks.
In the 1950s, SONIC’s unique use of curbside speakers to allow customers to place food orders without ever leaving their cars, spawned the slogan “SONIC, Service with the Speed of Sound.”
In recent years, that slogan has been replaced with “SONIC, America’s Drive-In.” SONIC was founded by Troy Smith and was originally named Top Hat Drive-In, the name was changed to SONIC in 1959.
For more than 50 years, SONIC Corp. has built a dominant position in the drive-in restaurant business. We did it by sticking to what made drive-ins so popular in the first place: made-to-order American classics, signature menu items, speedy service from friendly Carhops and heaping helpings of fun and personality.
Today, SONIC is the largest chain of drive-in restaurants in America. As a business, we continue to thrive, maintaining strong real sales growth, industry-leading customer frequency and high returns for our stockholders. So take a cruise through to learn more about our company and the people who help make it an American success story.
In 1953, the prototype of the first SONIC Drive-In opened in Shawnee, Okla.
Now, more than 50 years and 3,000 drive-ins later, SONIC enjoys the highest customer frequency rate in the quick-service restaurant industry. SONIC Corp. is an Oklahoma City-based, publicly held company that owns, operates and franchises SONIC.
Cliff Hudson, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of SONIC, leads the SONIC brand with average unit sales of more than $1 million.
