Sonic Just Brought Back This Fan Favorite
"Queso," which apparently is Spanish for a zesty cheese sauce is back on the menu at your local Sonic Drive-In. The queso burger, an 800-calorie taste bomb, got rave reviews from The Impulsive Buy and YouTube's JoeysWorldTour when it was first introduced back in May. Sonic clearly felt the love, as they didn't wait long at all to bring back this limited offer for those of us craving something to smile about in 2020.
The burger packs a little bit of kick with a beef patty, cheddar cheese, queso, mayo, grilled onions, and Hatch green chiles. (The Hatch Valley in New Mexico is "the Napa Valley of green chile," according to salsa maker 505 Southwestern, so you'll no doubt be impressed.) Sonic is following a fast-food industry trend by offering the queso burger for a special price if you order it through the app (via Brand Eating). The special burger sells for about $4, although that varies by location, and app users can get it for half price. Chew Boom reports that the queso burger will be around long enough for us to use them as stocking stuffers, since Sonic will offer the popular special until December 27.
Sonic Drive-In has been popular during the pandemic
If the accountants at Sonic's parent company, Inspire Brands, are to be believed, people bought a lot of queso burgers and everything else that's been on the menu this year. Sonic's old-timey carhops, who serve customers in their cars, have been ideal during a year of enforced social distancing because of COVID-19. Inspire's CEO told Yahoo Finance that Sonic's sales are up about 30 percent this year, making it one of the most successful fast food chains during the pandemic. Sonic is also remodeling some restaurants to offer outdoor seating in addition to car-side service. This has been another plus because the CDC has said outdoor seating is safer than dining in when it comes to virus risk. Sonic restaurants with the new outdoor tables have seen sales growth of 80 percent.
Inspire Brands upgraded digital ordering after it acquired Sonic in late 2018. That investment has paid off, too. During the pandemic, digital sales have gone from four percent to more than ten percent of all revenues. And now, with a half-price deal for the queso burger, you have a good reason to download the Sonic app.