How much of a mess?

After three solid years of witty advertising without any locations you could go to try the product, Sonic on Monday opens its first drive-in restaurant in the southern metro area. And the city of Savage is bracing for some form of the three-hour waits that tied up St. Paul streets when the first Minnesota outlet opened in June.

We're No. 3!

The Sonic along County Road 42 at Joppa Avenue is the third to open here -- the second was in Elk River, on Aug. 1 -- and both of them still require traffic management to handle the overloads at certain times. Savage may have an advantage when it comes to a staging area in which to stack the lines and keep them out of residential areas.

And the draw is ...

Beyond the ads, it seems clear from the many e-mails the Star Tribune's south bureau has received in the months since the company first hinted at the opening that Sonic represents a taste of home for many transplants from southern states who've long lived hours from the closest drive-ins.

On Internet discussion boards, opinions vary about whether Sonic offers anything truly unique or better than a chain like A&W. But especially in today's construction climate, it isn't often that any major national chain opens for the first time in this market. Remember Krispy Kreme?

Why ads and no stores?

That did seem odd. But it just worked out that way, said Barry Zelickson, senior vice president of the local firm that owns the local stores, which feature carhops on roller skates.

"Sonic's 3,400 units are pretty spread out, so it buys national cable [advertising], and there's natural spill into other markets," he said. "They can't control that. It's much more cost-effective for them -- and we get the advantage of awareness for multiple years."

As for any mess, he said:

"We'll have a plan in place, and one that learns from our earlier experiences. We work with local police and we have our own traffic management service. We're learning from that first opening, and Elk River went seamlessly."

Sometimes it's OK to be third.

DAVID PETERSON