Sonic is coming to Smithfield

Owner says he hopes to open restaurant by end of August

SMITHFIELD – It's the season for burgers and shakes, and soon there's going to be a new place to enjoy them on Route 44.

The state’s first Sonic restaurant is scheduled to open in Smithfield around Aug. 31, owner Bob Bowen, of Providence, confirmed to The Valley Breeze & Observer.

A groundbreaking ceremony will be held next Wednesday, July 15 at 10:30 a.m. at the restaurant’s location, 393 Putnam Pike, where the now-closed Wendy’s sits, next to Dunkin' Donuts.

This morning, workers were on site, along with an excited Bowen.

News of the restaurant’s possible opening was announced in January.

The fast food chain has almost 4,000 restaurants across the country, according to Bowen, but the company, based in Oklahoma City, Okla., is new to the New England area.

The closest Sonic restaurants are in Wilmington and Peabody, Mass.

Sonic, like the A&W restaurant chain, offers customers a dining experience with a nod to the 1950s, when the franchise was founded.

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