Philadelphia is getting its first Sonic Drive-in on Monday, November 16th. We have never been to a Sonic and have been puzzled for years on why they insist on advertising nationally if they aren’t a national company. Twitter buzz has been decidedly mixed.

Foobooz readers, what do you think? Yay, or nay on Sonic Drive-in coming to Aramingo Avenue in Port Richmond.

Philly gets its first Sonic [The Insider]
Sonic Drive-In [Official Site]

It’s a comprehensive comparison of New York’s/Danny Meyer’s Shake Shack and Philadelphia’s/Stephen Starr’s SquareBurger on Always Hungry NY.

AlwaysInvestigating: Burger Square-Off, Phily vs. New York [Always Hungry NY via The Illadelph]

We first wrote about D. P. Dough in November of 2008. At that time the calzone chain was hoping to open in Late December or January on 40th Street in University City. That opening finally happened Saturday as the doors swung open to the public at 5pm.

Located near college campuses and featuring late night hours, D. P. Dough has become a favorite of the college crowd. Follow the Philadelphia location via their blog or Twitter feed for deals and news. All calzones are $6.85 and there are also wings, chicken dunkers and breadstix on the menu.

D. P. Dough Philly [Official Site]

Drew Lazor checks out Elevation Burger, the environmentally friendly burger chain that has opened its first local location in Wynnewood. Here’s hoping he took the train.

Single-source, organic, free-range, grass-fed beef is the restaurant’s biggest point of pride, so I tried it in the signature Elevation Burger, a double patty layered with cheddar and your choice of toppers (I picked lettuce, tomato pickles and a zingy balsamic mustard, but there’s also stuff like caramelized onions, hot pepper relish and the tomato-based “Elevation Sauce”). The burger’s lean ground-in-house meat was round in natural beef flavor, but my patties tasted slightly dry — likely a result of their across-the-board cook-to-well policy. I easily squished the bun into submission, and it didn’t draw attention away from the main meat attraction, the way a good burger bun should.

Get Lifted [City Paper]
Elevation Burger [Official Site]

Today’s the official grand opening of Stephen Starr’s SquareBurger. But it seems everyone with a blog or keyboard has already been to the Franklin Square burger shack.

Metro Philadelphia was there on Monday for the soft opening, finding patrons already dedicated enough to get back in line for a second burger. [Metro Philadelphia]

Phoodie gives a rundown on the menu of SquareBurger salutes the Cake Shake and gives props to the concept, for not overthinking it. [Phoodie.info]

Unbreaded finds the Philly Dog to be the most enjoyable menu item. [Unbreaded]

The Secret is Salt got to sample just about everything and looks forward to returning for another shake. [The Secret is Salt]

Grub Street provides the tale of the tape on the sub-$5 burger. [Grub Street]

Grub Street also asks, is it ok that the SquareBurger uses frozen fries? [Grub Street]

And a third post from Grub Street? Turns out there’s no lines around 2pm, at least on Wednesday. [Grub Street]

Thrillist is there for the top to bottom rundown of the shack in the square. [Thrillist]

And just for good measure, KYW 1060 was there as well. [KYW1060]

And here’s the menu, in case you missed it. [Meal Ticket]

The Burger Baroness heads out to Wynnewood to check out the new Elevation Burger. She’s quite impressed with the simple burger with In-N-Out tendencies. And of course she got fries with that shake. After all, it was her birthday.

And for a second opinion check out Foodaphilia who accompanied the Baroness and was smitten with the first bite.

Update: Meal Ticket says Elevation Burger is eying 9 more Philadelphia-area locations in the next four years.

Happy Birthday to me at Elevation Burger [Fries with that Shake]
Elevation Burger [Foodaphilia]

Craig LaBan won’t be chatting on Philly.com today. He’s listed as “on assignment.” Lets hope it isn’t related to his recent run-in with Kentucky Fried Grilled Chicken.

To be sure, the mahogany brown skin had been rendered thin and pressed into deep ridges (not unlike those left by a panini machine) by the grill racks inside the convection ovens. (Yes, this chicken seems to be more “baked” than truly “grilled” over an open flame, but I’m well beyond semantics.)

Reviewing the Colonel’s grilled chicken [Philadelphia Inquirer]

VendrTV launched in February with former Philadelphia resident and voice of Rittenhouse Square, Daniel Delaney searching out great street food around the world. We’ve been waiting for him to come back to Philadelphia and have to say, we’re not surprised he wound up at Kostadinos “Gus” Hristis’ falafel stand at 20th and Market.

Christo’s Falafels [VendrTV]

What’s with all the sandwich talk around here? Last week in the Metro we discussed our Pantheon of Sandwiches, then this week Unbreaded is unveiled and Rick Nichols goes all gaga for the Arista at Paesano’s as well as sandwiches from DiNic’s, Q.T. Vietnamese Sandwich and Cafe Estelle.

On the Side: Best Philly sandwiches since sliced chain bread [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Unbreaded [Official Site]

There are a lot of great sandwiches in Philadelphia and in today’s Metro, The Bite highlights two for the ages from Paesano’s.

The Pantheon of Sandwiches [Metro Philadelphia]
Paesano’s [Official Site]