Charleston Sonic to open in August

CHARLESTON — The highly-anticipated Sonic restaurant at 107 W. Lincoln Ave. in Charleston will be open at the beginning of August, according to a company spokesperson.

The location will be operated by Guernsey Holdings, which operates the recently opened Sonic location in Taylorville. The restaurant will be open seven days a week from 6 a.m. to midnight. The new store will create approximately 60 to 80 new jobs.

Sonic currently has 3,545 locations across the United States, 50 of which are in Illinois. The current nearest Sonic is located in Mattoon. The Sonic location in Charleston was announced in late 2023 with construction beginning earlier this year. The site where the restaurant will sit has been vacant for nearly 30 years.

A KFC restaurant and a Cajun restaurant used to sit at the site before it was abandoned. The site has long been a goal for redevelopment along the Lincoln Avenue corridor.

The new Sonic will be the third new business to open on Lincoln Avenue this year after Jersey Mike’s and Insomnia Cookies. The Lambo’s station, which sits across from the new Sonic, was rebuilt in fall 2023 and reopened in early 2024 with expanded services such as a car wash and expanded food and beverage offerings.

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Jacob Hamm

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Jacob Hamm covers a wide variety of topics across Central Illinois, such as protests, artistic and cultural events, local economic development, and the occasional column.

The Decatur, Ill. native is a 2023 graduate of Richland Community College (AA, Journalism) and a 2025 graduate of Eastern Illinois University (BA, Broadcast Journalism). He returned to Eastern Illinois in the fall of 2025 to pursue a Master's degree in Communication and Media Studies.

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