POULSBO — The Ronettes are singing “Be My Baby,” carhops on skates are delivering footlong hotdogs and cheeseburgers and cherry limeades and chocolate shakes, and suddenly it’s 1963 again and you’re not at Sonic at 305 and Viking but, perhaps, at Mel’s Drive-In in “American Graffiti.”
“I think the whole community is excited,” said Delayna Schneider of Poulsbo. “It’s the atmosphere. It’s a call back to the good old days.”
It’s the atmosphere, indeed — and, Sonic fans say, the food. Schneider, who made local fast-food history as the Poulsbo Sonic’s first customer, brought two of her three children — Eva, 9, and Nate, 5 — with the intention of ordering a cheeseburger, a shake, and a limeaid. They ended up ordering 10 items, including deluxe cheeseburgers, a sausage egg biscuit, and chocolate shakes. And a limeaid.
Sonic opened precisely at 10 a.m. Sept. 2, and within 30 minutes, most carhop stalls were filled. Poulsbo police, contracted by the Sonic franchise’s owner to provide traffic control, were busy by lunchtime; some motorists reported waiting in traffic for 20 minutes.
Owner Richard Ramsey, a former Taco Bell franchise owner, welcomed motorists as they arrived. “It’s a new and exciting brand,” he said of public response to his restaurant. “It’s nostalgic.” He also touted the food: “Everything is fresh. We use real ice cream. And our employees — they’re all young and very excited.”
Ah, the 1960s (pre-assassinations, pre-Vietnam War, of course), the Golden Age of the American automobile. People who sell stuff from that era call it “Midcentury” now, somehow making it seem longer ago than it was to those who came of age during that time — the people who make up a large part of the region’s demographic.
Besides the drive-in features and the carhops and the music, Poulsbo’s Sonic features a patio, indoor seating and roll-up doors that can be raised or lowered depending upon the weather. If you remember the Midcentury era, you might say the place is “bad” (that meant “good” back then).
Sonic was the subject of social media buzz in North Kitsap for four years. Sonic fans started a Facebook page back in 2011, lobbying for a franchise to locate here. Herald stories about the restaurant’s progress generated more reader comments than usual.
Marcy Schroeder pulled into a carhop stall with her daughter, Kristyn Schroeder, 16, and Kristyn’s friend, Abby Ryan, 16, and ordered some cheeseburgers (Abby also ordered a blackberry slushy).
Kristyn, a Running Start student, is a Sonic carhop, assigned to the 4-10 p.m. shift. She said of Sonic’s appeal: “It’s the whole experience.” No other place can make as many fountain drink or slushy combinations, she said.
Company promotionals have boasted of 168,000 combinations. Really? So, what about something that is Little Norway-ish; say, lutefisk-flavored? “No, but that’s a good idea,” Kristyn said. Then after some thought, “Um, maybe not.”
She and Abby predicted Sonic would be a gathering place after prep football games (the hours are 6 a.m. to midnight).
Inside the restaurant, Scott Mennel, a machinist’s mate third class aboard the submarine USS Henry Jackson, hoped the novelty of Sonic wouldn’t wear out over time. He was customer No. 2, after Schneider, and is happy to have a place to “get some chili dogs,” adding, “Nobody else does footlong hot dogs.”
Asked how Sonic food compares to the Navy’s notable shipboard fare, he gave his boat’s culinary specialists a shout-out, but added, “They would probably prefer to serve us a Sonic burger now and then.”
