Sonic Brings Hot Dog Variety to the People

Published on Friday, May 13, 2011, by James Norton / Edit Post

Sonic Regional Hot Dogs

Sonic Regional Hot Dogs

I Paid: $1.99 per hot dog (prices may vary by region)

Taste: 4 stars

Marketing: 4 stars

Sonic draws inspiration from hot dog world capitals New York, Chicago, and Michigan.

James Norton edits the Upper Midwestern food journal Heavy Table. He's also the coauthor of a book on Wisconsin's master cheesemakers. For his Supertaster Daily videos, he samples offerings from supermarket aisles and fast-food menus. (Click here to see all of James's previous Supertaster work.) You can follow him on Twitter and fan him on Facebook.

ALLSupertaster
POST A COMMENT |12 Comments

COMMENT

  • I couldn't get my computer to play the video. Videos SUCK.

    I had an "All American HD". All I could taste was mustard and relish. HD was crummy, NOT Nathans or Sabretts

  • Man I'm jealous of the Chicago dog you got. I ordered one here in KC and it looked like someone just swept up the refuse at a state fair and threw it on a week old hot dog bun. Still as always enjoyable reviews.

  • What about the hot dogs themselves? Many places serve a lousy hot dog and use numerous toppings to hide a substandard hot dog.

  • Sonic has had a "Coney dog" for a while, and this appears to be the same dog. Unfortunately, they make two major mistakes -- the beans in the chili, which you mention, and the lack of chopped onions. Clearly they *have* chopped onions -- they're on the Chicago dog -- so the decision to leave them off is odd.

  • I wish there was a Sonic near me in No VA. Are you listening Sonic?

  • tacobell shrimp taco was terrible, a waste of money. Taco carts are way better

  • 'I can hardly wait for the user comments'.

    As I said, he's hilarious.

  • This guy is very funny. Hope he posts more videos.

  • Good review but it would've been good to hear about how the hot dog itself tasted. I love good toppings and a good bun but the dog itself is really the star of the show. The good toppings and bun can mask a mediocre hot dog and make the whole thing taste fine. But when you add a great dog it makes the whole thing into something great. Kinda like pizza crust versus the toppings. I guess I'll have...+READ

    Good review but it would've been good to hear about how the hot dog itself tasted. I love good toppings and a good bun but the dog itself is really the star of the show. The good toppings and bun can mask a mediocre hot dog and make the whole thing taste fine. But when you add a great dog it makes the whole thing into something great. Kinda like pizza crust versus the toppings. I guess I'll have to head on down to Sonic and give it a try for myself.-COLLAPSE

  • please stick to text reviews with pictures. You seem like a super nice guy and a talented reviewer (this column is why I come to chow.com) but I don't like video reviews:(

  • now I want a hot dog. Sadly I just ate two pork sandwhichs

  • This is a good report, with informative and fair comments, along with great pacing. It was quite interesting, and once James got talking I didn't notice the beard at all. I would have liked a bit more "wise guy" but the content really didn't warrant any of the funnier Norton moments.