A new Sonic Drive-In is now open in this busy stretch of Lexington
Fans of the old Lexington Sonic, meet the new Lexington Sonic.
A new Sonic Drive-In restaurant is now open at 461 Columbia Ave. in Lexington, not far from downtown. It is less than half a mile north of a previous Sonic restaurant along that stretch of road, which was at 312 Columbia Ave.
The restaurant announced nearly a year ago that it would be making the move, in part because the property at 461 Columbia Ave. is a bigger piece of land for the shop that has dine-in, drive-thru and curbside carhop service. The lot where the new Sonic is located is about an acre, per county records, while the lot where the previous unit was located was about three-quarters of an acre.
The Sonic had been located at 312 Columbia Ave. for nearly three decades, having opened there in August 1993. That original spot closed several weeks ago in advance of the new location opening.
Lexington has grown tremendously in the three decades since the previous Sonic opened. Census figures show Lexington County had a population of 182,000 in 1993, compared to more than 300,000 as of 2021.
The newly opened Sonic is in the midst of a busy corridor in Lexington. More than 33,000 cars per day pass down that stretch of Columbia Avenue, per state traffic count data.
Aside from the Columbia Avenue location, there are two other Sonics in Lexington: one on Highway 1 near Lexington High School and another on South Lake Drive in the Red Bank area.
