Review: Sonic Wholly Guacamole Dog & Chili Cheese Fritos Coney

Sonic is cool in a number of ways. They have roller-skating carhops. They have a great variety of delicious drinks, including slushes, shakes, blasts and the best cherry limeade I’ve ever had. They also feature a variety of foods including, but not limited to: burgers, hot dogs, chicken, tater tots and a full breakfast menu, which is served all day. Furthermore, their “Two Guys” commercials are fantastic. Here’s the latest:

You saw it there: the hot dogs “have totally reinvented themselves for summer.” The new offerings are the Wholly Guacamole Dog and Chili Cheese Fritos Coney, described as follows:

Who says you can’t teach a classic dog new tricks? We’ve topped our premium beef hot dog with Wholly Guacamole®, pepper jack cheese, tomatoes, jalapeños, onion and zesty cheese sauce, and served it up on a warm poppy seed bun.

Our classic Coney gets a kick of added crunch from chili cheese flavored corn chips on our all-new Chili Cheese Fritos® Coney. We top our grilled premium beef hot dog with warm chili, chili cheese Fritos®, melty cheddar cheese, onions and mustard, and serve it on a warm bun.

I believe the Wholly Guacamole partnership is uncharted territory for the Oklahoma City-based chain. To my knowledge, this is the first time they have offered guacamole (customers can get it on anything they want). I also believe it to be the first time any national fast food chain has had a hot dog with guacamole on it. I may be wrong, but I doubt it.

As for the Chili Cheese Fritos Coney, they’ve always had the ingredients, so theoretically customers could’ve ordered this previously. I have had Sonic’s Chili Cheese Coneys before, and enjoyed them quite a bit. I have also sampled the Fritos Chili Pie, a traditional Southern “dish” which consists of chili, Fritos, cheese and onions, but that is no longer on the menu.

Anyway, the difference between this new dog and their regular Chili Cheese Coney is the addition of Chili Cheese Fritos, onions and mustard. I thought the inclusion of mustard was odd. I like mustard, but it just doesn’t seem to fit with the other ingredients. At any rate, the Chili Cheese Fritos Coney sounds like (and is) a sodium bomb. A god-damned delicious sodium bomb.

I headed to my local Sonic to sample the goods. I ordered one of each new dog; the Wholly Guacamole set me back $2.69, while the Coney goes for a measley $1.99. I also sprung for some tots and the aforementioned, irresistible Cherry Limeade. The new dogs each measure 6 inches long and are loaded with toppings, so you won’t need much else to fill you up.

I began with the Coney because it was calling to me from inside its foil wrapper, giving me a peek of its goodies through the window. It was like a hot dog peep show. Look at that chili smothering the 6-inch wiener, covered in gooey cheese sauce… Sorry, I blacked out for a minute. I didn’t do anything weird, did I? OK, good. Let’s get on with it.

The Chili Cheese Fritos Coney was nothing short of fantastic. Sonic’s chili is just the way I like it – thick, and full of beef and beans – and this dog was covered in it. The diced onions weren’t all that noticeable; a separate taste test revealed that they were actually quite sweet, not bitter like one might expect from raw onions. The tube steak itself was not completely overshadowed as I had anticipated, and provided great beef flavor. I did notice the mustard a little bit; I would’ve been fine without it, but it didn’t take away from the dog either. Then there were the Chili Cheese Fritos, which added a wonderful crunch and made the chili flavor pop even more. The cheddar cheese sort of got lost in the mix. Oh, and the bun was warm, super soft and fluffy.

It was kind of hard to say ‘I liked the dog because of this ingredient or that ingredient.’ It all just blended together perfectly, creating chili dog nirvana. For $1.99, it’s an amazing value and I give it a sodium-laced 9.5/10.

As soon as I finished the Coney, I knew I had made a mistake in eating it first. There was no possible way the Wholly Guacamole Dog could top that flavor explosion. I may have ruined the Guac Dog’s chances at a good review.

With that said, the Guac Dog was decent, but I didn’t love it. Neither the poppy seed bun nor the pepper-Jack cheese were noticeable. The onions and tomatoes were also somehow lost among the multitude of toppings. The most powerful flavors were the guacamole, jalapeños, and cheese sauce. The guacamole was decent – it had a good texture, but I didn’t love the flavor. The jalapeños added a bit of heat, but not as much as I had expected. Once again, the hot dog itself was a prevalent and enjoyable flavor. Unfortunately, this dog fell short. It may have been doomed by having to follow such a great act, but even so, I would say it’s a 6/10.

In closing, I think Sonic has a winner with the Chili Cheese Fritos Coney, and I would absolutely recommend it, especially for $1.99. As for the Wholly Guacamole Dog, I didn’t love it, but I would imagine if you’re a guacamole lover, this dog would satisfy you. At $2.69, it’s still a decent value. There’s just one stipulation: you’ve got to hurry! These dogs will walk the plank at the end of this Summer.