SONIC- America’s Drive-In : Waretown, NJ

He says… We at HASA are not meme-biters. We will not adventure to White Castle. Instead, we went randomly to the closest Sonic we could find, which coincidentally, is 2 hours south from where we live. For most, the trek might be overkill–and in essence I guess it was–but put yourself in our shoes–Sonic ads run rampant on our TV channels and theres not one near striking distance in NYC or North Jersey. For two foodies (and extremely random ones at that), those ads are the equivalent of tales of pirates booty, before Pirates Booty. But ANYWAY (thanks Chuck Klostermann), lets get to what a lot of people have never tasted (if you live in our area anyway) and get down to the real question: Was it worth the trip? Lets break it down: –The Food– Bacon Cheeseburger Toaster: Put on thick slices of texas toast, my bacon cheeseburger also came with an onion ring, some type of onion, bbq sauce slaw, and lettuce. I was hoping the bread would be… dare I say it… toastier… but what do you expect from something that was thrown in a foil pouch? I’m not going to get gourmet on you… it was a perfectly passable burger–one of those hit the spot type things. Onion Rings: Crumbly, crispy batter, and sweet… terribly terribly sweet… which was a nice contrast to the… Tater Tots: Salty and kinda powdery Popcorn Chicken: Popcorn Chicken at most places is like getting reacquainted with a friend you had a severe falling out with: it always sounds like a good idea, but 5 minutes into it you remember why it didn’t work the first time. Popcorn Chicken, you’re always too salty and most of the time, just fried batter. Oh… and I want my copy of Super Mario Bros. 3 back… I don’t care if my NES doesn’t work anymore… it’s the principle of it all… jerk. Double Cheeseburger: Jess got this… I don’t know how it was but i’d imagine it would be like my burger on a normal bun with an extra patty. Banana Malt: I love banana shakes, and the opportunity to add malted milk was a plus. Not overly sweet, it was nice. It had some banana chunks in it too… that was good. Chocolate Creme Shake: This was Jess’s drink. I was pleasantly surprised by how nice the shake was. Creamy, with a hint of subtle sweetness from something that actually offset the heavy sweetness of the rest of the drink (I’m not sure what it was.. but my guess is sugar). It really did taste like a chocolate creme pie. Yes, I’m getting kinda gourmet on this… yes… I know I’m talking about Sonic… no… i don’t care. — Reading what we ate, I’m sure some of you were wondering if it was worth going 2 hours south (and a 1/4 tank of gas) for passable fast food. The answer: Hell yea! Yea the food is not as great as the ads have hyped it up to be, but hey, it was an adventure. It was a fun ride both ways with Jess, and also just something fun to look forward to on what would normally be a mundane work night (did I mention we went after I got off of work?) Thank you Sonic– I raise my banana malt to you and Senor Impulsive Driving.

She says… If you’re from the NYC/Northern NJ area you know you’ve seen them… those cursed Sonic commercials! These ads play on tv while taunting and teasing you with their brightly colored, refreshing-looking drinks and the lure of being at a drive-in. For many years these ads played without a Sonic in sight… the closest used to be in Virginia or Kentucky or somewhere far far away until recently. Now there is a Sonic in Waretown, NJ.. a mere 2 hours away! A short drive compared to what it used to be… Now you probably think we’re crazy for driving 2 hours into (gasp) southern Jersey, however, my sweets on the left brings up the question that is probably racking your brain…. how much did the gas cost you? That trip is far for some burgers … I mean, Was it worth it? — The Food — Onion rings: Sweet. Very sweet. So sweet that I was reminded of Lucky Charms (which actually may not be as sweet as these onion rings were). I wanted to put these onion rings in a bowl, pour milk on them and eat them as part of my morning breakfast. Perhaps I’ll go down south when it’s closer to Halloween and buy these to distribute them to trick-or-treaters. Sweet man, I’m telling you these things were sweet. Tater tots: Salty! Very salty. These  were crisp on the outside and mushy on the inside. You probably could use these salt bombs for a variety of things such as dropping them into your fish tank to accommodate salt water fish or providing miniature salt licks for baby deer. Popcorn chicken: The batter coating was crisp and I found it to be over fried and hard. It was exactly the quality I expected to find in a fast food place, if not a little worse. The buttermilk ranch sauce that accompanied it I enjoyed very much. Double cheeseburger: The taste reminded me of a Wendy’s burger (I can’t lie, I love Wendy’s) but I was hoping for a different kind of burger from a place I just drove 2 hours to go to. This thing was quite large and in charge.. I couldn’t even finish it. It was pretty good but salty (not as salty as the tater tots though). Bacon cheeseburger toaster: I took a bite of it. It tasted much like my burger but w/ bacon. I enjoyed biting it and feeling the airy resistance of the sourdough bread on my teeth before I hit burger. Banana malt: This was an excellent drink complete with real chunks of banana in it. All the chunks were conveniently cut to fit through the straw which was very nice. It wasn’t too sweet and had a well balanced banana flavor to it. Chocolate creme shake: DELICIOUS! My goodness. I love love chocolate creme pie. I eat it the world round. If I see it on a menu or in a dessert display case I am more than likely going to order it. This shake tasted very much like a chocolate creme pie and was topped with some whipped cream and crushed graham crackers. I loved this drink/dessert ^_^ —– So to answer your question… $12 for the trip I mean.. absolutely! The chocolate creme shake alone is worth it… but also a nice scenic drive with a great person makes the experience priceless (::cheese cheese::). It was also cool to see the whole drive-in experience (the waitresses skate the food out to your car). Although we didn’t order from our car perhaps next time we’ll try it… but I loved eating outdoors in the open air on that beautiful evening.

–The Ordering Process–

I just thought I’d comment on this outside the review, but there are 3 different ways to get your grub at the sonic we visited: the Drive-Thru (where you order through a drive-thru menu), the carpark (where you eat in your car and order through a drive-thru menu), and the sit-in (where you can sit outside, but you still have to order through a drive-thru menu).

We decided to eat via sit-in, and let me tell you, it doesn’t matter how close you get to that drive-thru menu mic–it will always lead to misunderstandings. Not that that’s bad, it’s just funny. I’m convinced that those mics are really just tin cans connected by string with a power cord glued on to the side so that it looks convincing. Plus ordering when you’re going to sit-in is hilarious because you’re talking at a drive-thru menu. When youre standing in front of it instead of being in your car, it just feels weird. It’s kind of like watching a band play in a big venue, but you’re forced to watch them on the monitors… or honestly, it’s like standing in front of a drive-thru menu to order instead of being in your car.

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SONIC- America’s Drive-In
566 Route 9
Waretown, NJ 08758–
(609) 971-8700

Prices: Cheap!
Parking: The whole place! It’s a drive-in!
Dine-in (your car or outdoor seating) or take-out.

 

Gyro House: Oradell, NJ

He says… The Gyro House sits in an unassuming spot on Kinderkamack Rd next to a Music School and something else not food-related, all of which are on the ground level of what looks like an apartment.  A block’s radius from the ‘House (which is how I’ll now refer to it) are: a Chinese take-out spot, a Mexican taqueria, a deli, a pizzeria, and an Italian Restaurant, making it–culinarily speaking– the most racially diverse block in my piece of suburbia (just kidding, although it does lead to a lot of choices for dinner ). Upon entering, you can definitely tell that they just started recently.  There are no chairs, and random bits of decor everywhere including a tea/coffee thing that I’m sure you put on a stove, and I’m sure would be used as an instrument of divine torture (it WAS pretty nice looking though).  They also had limited fridge space as I saw gallon tubs of Greek yogurt in the fridges up front where customers pick drinks–unless of course, the ‘House is also your next go-to place in the case Costco ran out of Greek yogurt (do they even sell that there?). It really does look like a take-out spot, organized like a Dominos pizza (also no tables) or a glorified street meat spot that just happened to find its way into an Oradell shop space.  Which again, isn’t bad.  I love street cart style food, and it found a good translation here for the townsfolk. –The Food– Cheese pastries ($4.50): It should be a general rule in life that you should eat anything delicious that people wrap in something and fry to make it more delicious.  Not fried too hard, and not greasy at all, the pastries had a subtle tartness to it from the cheese they used (I think it was feta).  My only regret was that it was probably crispier when it came out of the fryer, but we ate it at home after a 10 minute drive and it probably steamed a little in its styrofoam casing. Gyro kebab ($8.95): If you read Jess’s side first, you’ll know that we watched the Good Eats episode on gyros whist eating gyros–when in Rome i guess (or actually in this case, Greece, which in actuality, should be Turkey in relation to the ‘House).  I actually had been craving gyro from a previous view of that episode, which is why I had to get their gyro platter.  The platter came with your usual gyro ecoutrements including a salad that probably no one ever eats, rice, and pita.  The pitas were nice and big, and seemingly unleavened which gave it a nice visceral tear upon biting and pulling.  The rice was also quite good, sitting below the gyro and getting a nice flavor from the spices on the meat.  The meat itself too was quite good– a little dryer then what I’m used to–it seemed like they sliced the gyro and reheated it on the griddle–but still flavorful and not too lamby.  The portion was also generous which justified the $8.95 price tag. Chicken kebab ($8.95): Jess’s look after her first bite of chicken kebab led me to believe that she really enjoyed it, and I have to agree.  The chicken was very delicious, and still quite juicy.  Also a generous portion was given, with 8 cubes placed rather nicely on the rice.  I was happy that the seasoning on it wasn’t too over-powering– I didn’t get that eat-food-sweat-food feel that I often get from stuff seasoned with Greek/Turkish spice choices.  If we were playing that game of who’s dish was better, I would definitely say hers.  The chicken was also enhanced by their yogurt sauce, which had a nice burst of fresh mint in it. Rice pudding ($2.95): A funny story about the rice pudding.  As the dude behind the counter was packing our food, he said, “Do you want to try our rice pudding?”  Thinking that it was gonna be a freebie since they were new, I said, “Sure why not”.  He then rang up the $2.95 on the till and then told us that we had to let it sit and cool since it was right out of the oven.  Ok so it’s not that funny… but gosh darn if I wasn’t fooled.  Your win ‘House employee…your win.  Anyway… the rice pudding was also very pleasant, and a nice way to end the meal.  It definitely could use some cinnamon or almonds (I don’t know if that’s traditional but I’m going with what I’ve had at other Turkish establishments), but the flavor of the pudding itself was subtly sweet.  My one complaint was that the rice was undercooked, but that might have been a factor of us putting the pudding in the fridge to speed up the cooling, which in turn might have hindered the carryover heat that would have cooked the rice had we just let it cool like the ‘House employee said.  ‘House employee, 2…me, 0. — I would go back there, definitely for some chicken kebab and maybe for some of the other Turkish desserts they had… maybe too for a gallon or five of Greek yogurt.

She says… The Gyro House is a little take out place on the busy Kinderkamack Rd in Oradell, NJ. It recently opened a couple of months ago. J noticed it while we were driving around the area one day and recommended we check it out. (I think he wanted to go just because he wanted to order a gyro by pronouncing it ‘hero’.) We decided to go check it out but were put off to see that despite there being space for it, there were no tables or chairs to eat at the restaurant. Sad! Since it was late we opted to take it home and eat while watching “My Big Fat Greek Sandwich” on Good Eats. (Corny, I know… don’t be jealous. ) We ended up coming home with four dishes off the menu: cheese pastries, gyro kebab, chicken kebab, and Turkish rice pudding. —-The Food—- Cheese pastries ($4.50): These were quite delicious and tart. Basically, they were like little Turkish style egg rolls. Instead of spring roll wrapping, filo dough was used and the filling was feta cheese and parsley. They offered a delightful, light crunch while biting and a tart, sour feta cheese taste. If you’re not into sour cheese then I wouldn’t recommend this. There were four in the container (I wish there were more! ) Gyro kebab ($8.95): This was J’s dish. The lamb came in thin shavings of lamb w/ rice, veggies, pita, and white sauce. I had a little sampling of it and thought it tasted pretty good, w/o a heavy, lingering lamb taste. The lamb seemed like it was cut and then cooked again because it wasn’t very moist but I thought that was good since there wasn’t a lot of oil and it made the meat seem lighter. I’m sure J’s side can tell you more than I can. Chicken kebab ($8.95): This was my dish and I must say I REALLY enjoyed it. I wasn’t expecting much but I was pleasantly surprised. The chicken came in 8 huge chunks that were definitely straight from a skewer since there were skewer holes in it. It had a nice smoky, flavor to it and was seasoned very well. Each bite was so good that I couldn’t stop eating until I finished it all (there goes my diet…again). The dish also came with this great, soft rice that had some sort of brown pasta-like thing in it which seemed to add to the flavor of it, giving a slight sour-like quality. I also loved the white sauce because it tasted fresh and the light hint of mint was a great compliment to the meat and rice. Rice pudding ($2.95): The flavor was nice and light but not too sweet. It was made on site and was fresh out of the oven when we bought it. I really enjoyed the light vanilla flavor of it but was disappointed to find the rice was undercooked. There wasn’t a bite that didn’t have the ‘crunch crunch’ of undercooked rice. For some reason it really grosses me out to eat undercooked rice, almost as much as it grosses me out to find a scale in my fish. If it wasn’t for that and a lack of dusting of some cinnamon, the pudding would’ve been perfect. —- All-in-all, a good experience. I’d like to go back there again since the food is pretty good, well priced, and the service is pretty quick.



The Gyro House
“Everything is Homemade”
246 Kinderkamack Rd.
Oradell, NJ
(201) 599-9299

Prices: $2.99 – $10.95
Parking: Street
Take-out only. Catering available.