The Truth About Those Rumors That SONIC Is Coming to Lansing

Updated 9/5/23 at 11:00am

We've begged. We've pleaded.

Could the Lansing area finally be getting a Sonic Drive-In? Maybe, but probably not.

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What's So Great About Sonic Drive-Ins?

There's so much to love about Sonic. The onion rings. The Sonic Blasts. The ice. We could go on and on.

The national drive-in fast food chain has more than 3,500 locations around the United States, according to ScrapeHero, but none within a reasonable drive of Lansing, Michigan. As it stands, if you're in Michigan's capital and get an insatiable craving for a SuperSonic cheeseburger or one of the chain's signature cherry limeades, you'll have to drive to Birch Run, Kalamazoo, or the Detroit or Grand Rapids areas.

RELATED: 4 Lansing Area Restaurants Dubbed As 'America's Best Restaurants'

An online employment ad signals that may be about to change... or is it?

The Indeed Ad That Makes Us Think the Lansing Area May Be About to Get a SONIC

Check out this ad that just went up on the employment site Indeed.com.

Recruitment appears to be underway to staff a Sonic location in Okemos, just off I-96.

A drive past the indicated address (3450 Okemos Rd.) shows no construction underway, but three existing businesses are there - Tailgaters, Dunkin' and Jimmy John's.

Three businesses share the address - could a fourth business be added?

Doesn't look like it would be easy, but perhaps you could fit a Sonic into this parking area between Jimmy John's and the neighboring Culver's.

Kinda weird that Sonic would be hiring team members for a location that hasn't even broken ground, isn't it?

Why You Shouldn't Get Your Hopes Up About a Sonic Coming to the Lansing Area

While Indeed.com works to verify the legitimacy of its employment ads, scams sometimes slip through. Indeed admits as much, even devoting an entire page on its website on how to spot scams.

We reached out to Sonic to ask about the legitimacy of the Indeed ad. Sonic's response? To ensure the legitimacy of an application, apply only to jobs/openings listed on the restaurant's website.

Checking the Careers page on Sonic's own website reveals nothing about an Okemos location or anything pending near Lansing.

That probably tells us everything we need to know.

Looks like we'll have to keep traveling an hour or more to get our Sonic fix.