A Sonic welcome; going indie

A sonic boom The place: The state's first Sonic outlet.

The time: Last Tuesday night, roughly 36 hours after the restaurant officially opened.

The scene: Nuts. Business was so brisk that a police officer was on hand to direct traffic. We were pointed to a nearby parking lot where we idled for 25 minutes before being politely escorted to our berth under one of the restaurant's carports; on the way in I counted 45 people standing in line at the walk-up counter.

The nation's largest drive-in chain -- 3,000 locations, and counting -- has finally landed in Minnesota, with plenty of hallowed drive-in rituals in tow. Customers order through a curb-side speaker, and a super-friendly carhop delivers the goods, a familiar mix of Americana fast-food. There are a few updates, too. Customers can swipe their plastic at their curbside kiosk, and the chain operates its own satellite radio station, complete with DJs shouting out greetings to Sonicizers from coast to coast. One missing staple was the ever-convenient window tray; we carefully spread our meal out across the dashboard.

The enormous menu covers all the predictable fast-food bases: big burgers on toasted buns, chicken sandwiches, a few wraps (including one filled with chili, cheese and Fritos), various deep-fried delicacies (French fries, onions rings, tater tots, mozzarella sticks and corn dogs), several kid-sized meals, a few breakfast-all-day sandwiches and burritos and a long list of soft-serve shakes and sundaes served in the requisite dizzying variety of flavors. Is the Gopher State ready for a banana-cream-pie shake with a whopping 1,000-calories and 31-fat-grams?

Our order arrived in a flash, delivered by the perkiest teenage carhop since "Happy Days" left the airwaves, and if I ignored the packaging -- both inside and outside the car -- I'm not sure I could have determined whether I was enjoying the hospitality of Burger King, Hardee's, Culver's or any other chain. Still, a testament to Sonic's winning formula could be observed at the near-empty branches of McDonald's, Wendy's and Arby's nearby. They might want to invest in a few "No waiting" signs.

1960 Suburban Av., St. Paul, 651-379-9898, sonicdrivein.com. Open 6 a.m. to midnight daily.

The "Cooking With Fire" hook is a little silly -- what were their other options, nuclear fusion? -- but hey, it's a shopping mall, so the eatertainery hyperbole goes with the territory. And that fire theme is taken literally: A wall of gas flames occasionally erupts off a mesquite-burning grill, torches shoot from a vast steel hood that could have been cast in sculptor Richard Serra's studio and s'mores-loving diners can roast marshmallows over a flickering Sterno heat source.

Hoopla aside, the kitchen focuses on simple roasted meats. There's rotisserie chicken or slow-cooked spice-rubbed beef, sold as plates with a half-dozen side dish options or available family-style for four, six and eight people, all about $10 to $12 per person. Salads include an arrangement of grilled vegetables or greens punched with rotisserie chicken and a tart lime vinaigrette. Slow-roasted beef and pork, as well as a house-smoked turkey and three burger variations headline the sandwich selection. Steak and chicken are skewered or land in fajitas while shrimp gets the skillet-fried treatment.

It's all very approachable and affordable (most prices fall under $12), and clearly aimed at the crowds coming from and going to the 14-screen cineplex next door. The bar shakes up a long list of cocktails, and the airy space (by Shea Inc., the Minneapolis design firm), done up in brick and honey-tinted woods, feels like the high-class roadhouse that Rosedale has always needed.

863 Rosedale Center Plaza, Roseville, 651-315-5005, flamerosedale.com. Open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday.

In the mix After years of cooking for others -- including nearly a decade at the Lettuce Entertain You conglomerate's Mall of America restaurants, Twin City Grill and Tucci Benucch -- chef John Pullis is finally his own boss. "I've always dreamed of this," he said. "I always used to say, half tongue-in-cheek, that when I retire I'll have my own little place. Then I thought, 'Why wait to retire?' So now I get to do it my way."

The all-American desserts ($5) are by Paul Aanes, another local Lettuce alum, and they include chocolate pudding, root beer floats, thick malts and a gigantic slab of banana cream pie, each luscious bite filled with thick slices of fruit and bits of buttery graham cracker crust. There's a full bar and, as with the rest of the menu, the wine list appears to be assembled with an eye toward value.

For their venture into self-employment, the couple have stayed close to their Chaska home, reinvigorating a key piece of downtown real estate, a former Embers on the town's leafy square. Walsh Bishop Inc., the Minneapolis architectural firm, has given the place a spiffy new look, a wide-open room done up in white tiles, walls painted periwinkle and Granny Smith apple green, a long 15-seat counter overlooking the busy kitchen, and big windows that open out to busy Chestnut Street and that lovely park. Lucky Chaska.

222 Chestnut St., Chaska, 952-479-7448. Open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday.

Rick Nelson • 612-673-4757