One of the most common sights at school, along with Vera Bradley bags and Miss Me jeans, is the giant Sonic cup. Sonic is incredibly popular among both students and teachers because of the drive-in style, the quick service and tasty food, and most of all, the endless drink options.
In addition to the thousands of listed drink combinations, there are rumors of a “secret” menu of special drinks that have their own names and flavor combos. One such famous drink is the Purple O, also called a Purple Passion or Purple Sprite.
“The Purple O is a drink that I guess is on the secret menu because I’ve been to Sonics where they don’t make it or know what it is,” sophomore Ben Meaders said. “It’s a mix of Sprite, Mountain Berry Powerade, lemonade, cranberry, and sometimes vanilla. It’s really amazing and it’s the only drink I get there anymore.”
This menu isn’t restricted to drinks. Other items on the so-called secret menu are fried pickles, Frito Pie, and grilled ham and cheese. However, the availability of these items is more limited, and I’ve never been able to get one made at any of the Sonics in the area. Perhaps, then, the secret menu is not actually a real menu made by the Sonic staff, instead an urban myth compiled from special requests of customers that gained widespread popularity.
“The stuff that’s supposedly on the secret menu is usually just special requests that a lot of people make,” Sonic employee Brooke Alston said. “Some of them are popular and have names but it’s not really secret or anything.”
Longtime Sonic employees have seen “secret menu” drinks come and go, and as a result some have seen ridiculous drink orders in their time.
“I’ve worked at Sonic for 10 years so it’s hard to remember just one,” Alston said. “I’ve had strawberry teas, I’ve had cherry chocolate slushes, there’s always a new weird drink that’s popular.”
Another component that could add to the myth of the secret menu is that some employees invent their own unique drinks that aren’t on the menu.
“I make this drink called a Suicide that’s every flavor of slush put together and I love it because it tastes like Nerds,” employee Al Ingram said.
Whether or not there’s a secret menu, special requests still have their place at Sonic, secret or not.
