These gas stations lowkey serve gourmet food—according to reviews
If you’re just fueling up your car, one gas station is as good as another. But if you are on a road trip with a carful of hungry folks looking to fuel their bodies, you’ll quickly find not all gas stations are created equal. Luckily for us, the team at Chow Hound trawled through online reviews of the food at more than a dozen regional gas station chains to rank the ones with the best food. The winners might surprise you. You can see the top 15 below, followed by a deep dive on the top three. We’ll end with the best gas station fried chicken in the U.S. (and no, it’s not in the South).
- Kwik Trip
- QuikTrip
- Maverik
- Kelley’s Market
- Casey’s General Store
- Royal Farms
- Wawa
- Hy-Vee
- Weigel’s
- Spinx
- Rutter’s
- Buc-ee’s
- Love’s Travel Stops
- 7-Eleven
- Allsup’s / Yesway
1. Kwik Trip
Chow Hound’s first-place winner is a Midwestern chain. It started in Wisconsin in 1965 and now has 850 locations. Want a bit of brunch? Kwik Trip is famous for making breakfast sandwiches and donuts all day. Other specialties include six-packs of “dunkers” donuts and “glazers,” which some argue rival Krispy Kreme.
One reviewer preferred the lunch options and was a big fan of the macaroni and cheese. “Words cannot fully encapsulate my feelings toward the gooey grandeur; rather, a series of pleasured squawks, happy wails, and volcanic exhales as I realize the food is too hot to eat.” Other lunch options include both chicken wings and full rotisserie chicken. Another review concluded: “It’s a five-star restaurant that happens to also sell gas.”
2. QuikTrip
Don’t get QuikTrip confused with the first-place winner, even though both are Midwestern chains. QuikTrip (with a Q) has 1,000 locations across 17 states.
Coffee snobs will be happy to know QuikTrip serves craft coffee. But its real claim to fame is its “QuickShakes” milkshake machines. Fans wait for seasonal releases such as Caramel Apple Shake, Pumpkin Pie Shake, Candy Corn Shake, and Strawberry Kiwi Shake.
Want a meal to go with your milkshake? Try the taco and condiment station or the famous grilled cheese. Sandwich variations include the “pulled pork, BLT, and chicken, bacon, and ranch.” One reviewer offered a pro life hack: “Have them run the grilled cheese through the toaster twice. The employee will probably look at you funny when you ask, but I swear it makes it significantly better.”
3. Maverik
With all the outdoor adventure opportunities, it’s not especially shocking that Utah has an adventure-themed gas station chain. What’s more surprising is that Maverik has exploded to 800 locations and gets such great food reviews that it earned third place on Chow Hound’s list.
The menu stays on theme with its BonFire food options. The Tex-Mex burritos, customizable fountain drinks, and Macachocochicoconut cookies all get rave reviews.
Best fried chicken in America is at, a gas station?
Not everyone agrees with Chow Hound’s list. For USA Today’s 10 Best Readers’ Choice Awards, the publication named Royal Farms as the best gas station food in the country. But that’s not all. Food & Wine’s 2017 list of “10 Gas Station Foods Across the Country That Are Worth the Detour” also shouted out Royal Farms. Why? Its world-famous fried chicken. This Baltimore-based chain breads its chicken in the store and uses a unique pressure-cooking process to perfect it. It also serves breakfast all day, alongside a milkshake bar at certain locations.
See more gas station food reviewed in the video below:
