As a Canadian, I am always in awe at the fast food establishments available in America. We may be neighbors, but we eat very differently from one another. Though I think fast food is as bad as the next person does, just like them I love it, too.
There are four places that we all want to eat at when we hit the States. White Castle, Sonic, In-N-Out Burger and Hardee’s. We see their ads online, we hear about the crazy 1000-calorie burgers they invent, and we want some.
My husband and I celebrated my – gasp – 30th birthday down in Detroit, and the first touristic sight I wanted to see was Sonic. I learned of Sonic during the first season of The Simple Life with Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie and I have been wanting to go there ever since.
Sonic
Sonic is amazing because it’s a drive-in, a dine-in and a drive-thru. We pulled into the driveway and chose one of 20 drive-in “stations”. Each station has a board with their HUGE menu (see it here), and when you are ready you order in the intercom. It took a minute for the waitress to rollerblade our food out to us on a tray. Efficiency!
Clockwise from the left: "Open 'til midnight or later"; 12" hot dog smeared in chili and cheese for $3; tater tots
My first experience with Sonic was the best. The sandwich I got was huge (the Bacon Cheeseburger Toaster, it had a height of about 5 inches) but I did manage to finish it. My husband and I both got flavour shots in our Cokes – I got vanilla and he got strawberry. It had real strawberry bits in it. Strawberry flavoured Coke, who knew!
On our second night, we tried to go to this acclaimed Italian restaurant but got there too late, so we went to White Castle instead. Yes, I was happy with this substitution.
White Castle
The first time (and prior to this trip, the last time) I had White Castle was back in the early 90s, when my mother lived in New York. My uncle would always talk about this cool place that served mini square burgers. Even as an 11-year-old, I had been anticipating the experience of eating multiple tiny burgers with all my might. My first experience was great, but a sophomore visit was way overdue. Jon had never been before, and it was on his bucket list as well.
We found a random White Castle in Oakwood, and each got the 4 hamburger sack meal. Jon added bacon and cheese to his four. They were just as small as I remembered, though it seems that there’s a lot more packaging going on these days (White Castle, you really need to sort out your carbon foot print). Upon taking a closer look at the “burger”, I realized it was not so much a beef patty, but a thin slice of Spam. Lucky for them, my stomach isn’t that prejudiced and loves Spam along with Vienna sausages.
I gotta say that one of the highlights at White Castle was the unlimited packets of tartar sauce they had. That is always a showstopper for me (it trumped all the mayo that was sitting there, and that’s saying somethin’).
From left to right: New uneaten meal; lots of unedible paper left over.
We’re looking forward to visiting In-N-Out when we’re on the west coast. I’m also looking forward to my second Sonic experience. There was a Grape flavoured Creamslush Treat that had my name written all over it.
Browse Timeline
Comments ( 1 Comment )
I love In and out!!! Jack in the Box is good too! they have buttermilk sauce! yummmm!!!
Travelhugger added these pithy words on
Jul 16 10 at
9:26 pm
