How Nugget Ice Finder works
Some people will drive past three gas stations to get to the one with nugget ice, the soft, chewable pellet ice made famous by Sonic. Nugget Ice Finder is a free map of where to find it.
Where the pins come from
1. Company-sourced chains. When company statements or the ice-machine maker's own case studies say a chain uses nugget ice in all its restaurants, we mark it chain-wideand pin every location. Right now that's Sonic and Raising Cane's (Cane's also merges its official restaurant locator), plus the soda-shop chain Swig, which we list as chain-wide based on press coverage of its pebble ice (Swig itself hasn't said so). These pins are labeled chain-wide, not individually confirmed.
2. Widely reported chains. When press coverage says most locations have pebble/nugget ice but we haven't found a company statement, we mark the chain widely reported and still pin locations (currently Chick-fil-A and Zaxby's). Labels say widely reported · not individually confirmed. If a store doesn't have it, vote “no longer has it.” Combined, that's 7,556 auto-pinned locations.
3. Regionally reported chains. When nugget ice is reported at a chain's stores in one area but varies elsewhere, we pin only that area's locations. Right now that's Circle K and Waldo's Chicken & Beer in the greater Nashville area (the 14-county Nashville metro), based on local community reports. Labels say reported at Nashville-area stores (or locations) · not individually confirmed.
4. Chains that vary. If only some locations have nugget ice, or the evidence is thinner, the chain gets an explainer page but no automatic pins. See all chains.
5. Community submissions. Anyone can add a place, no account needed. Every submission waits in a moderation queue and only goes on the map after a person approves it.
All pins on the map look the same, whatever the chain or source. Tap a pin or a list item to see the chain and its label (chain-wide, widely reported, reported at Nashville-area stores or community-submitted). A pin with a thin dark ring has been verified by its owner.
Keeping it fresh
Machines break and menus change. Every listing has Still has it and No longer has it buttons, so recent visitors can tell everyone else what they found.
Points, badges and the leaderboard
Accounts are optional. Everything works without one, but if you sign in with Google or an email link and pick a display name, you earn points right away:
- 1 point for signing up (once).
- 10 points for each place you add.
- 5 bonus points if it's the first nugget ice spot on the map in its city.
- 2 points the first time you report on a place (“still has it” or “no longer has it”).
Voting on your own place doesn't earn points, and each place counts once per person. If a moderator rejects or removes a place, the points tied to it are taken back. Badges (First Find, 10 Places, 50 Places, Confirmer, City Pioneer, Chain Explorer and Local Legend) show on your public profile. The leaderboard ranks people all-time, this month, and by city or state. Only your display name, points, badges and the places you added are public, never your email. Places you added before signing up on the same device can be claimed from your account page.
What we never do
We don't make up locations or claims. If we can't source it, we say so. Every chain claim links to its source on the chain's page and on our sources page.
Privacy
“Near me” uses your browser's location only to center the map. It's never sent to or stored on our servers. For spam prevention we keep a one-way hash of your IP address when you submit or vote, never the address itself. If you create an account, you can delete it at any time. See the privacy page for details.