Ya gotta eat, right? I don’t know about you, but nothing stirs my hunger quite like expending nearly zero calories as I hurtle down the highway on the way from my current A to a distant B. And while ducking onto an exit ramp to enjoy a leisurely meal would be nice, I’m generally trying to cut down the total road trip time, so if the tummy fill-ups can be tied into fuel-tank fill-ups (or battery charge sessions), all the better. But what to eat?
As you are no doubt aware, gas station fare is highly variable. At the low end of the spectrum, there are the “really, we’re just a gas station” stops that offer a sole wire rack loaded with bagged salty and sweet snacks of the Cheeto-Dorito-Pringles-Yodel-Ding Dong/Ring Ding families and their ilk, which are better than nothing. But do stay away from the flavor-dusted consumables, which, as seen in the top graphic, tend to be messy for car consumption unless you’ve got moist towelettes at the ready.
At the high end of the gas station food pyramid, you’ve got your Quick Trips and RaceTracs and the like, which offer delicacies of the hot-roller variety and possibly pizza by the slice and breakfast sandwiches if you’re early enough.
At the very pinnacle, there’s Bucc-Ee’s, the truck stop/super-sized gas station that doubles as a take-out restaurant, gift shop, car wash (depending on location), candy store, and source for all manner of outdoorsy accouterment. The real attraction, though, is the brisket, as Mercedes will tell you:
Also not to be missed at Bucc-Ee’s: the best restrooms on the road. If you can hold it until you reach the home of Beaver Nuggets, you’ll be glad you did.
While unquestionably delicious, the brisket sandwich does leave much to be desired when it comes to convenient eating while behind the wheel. Exactly how important on-the-go convenience is to your best and worst road snack choices is entirely up to you; I’m not setting any rules here. Interpret today’s Autopian Asks as you like:
What Are The Best And Worst Gas Station Snacks?
Top graphic images: Doritos; DepositPhotos.com
For me it’s all about chex mix and a diet dr. pepper. Or if I’m on a long trip whatever the largest size of red bull they can legally sell me is.
nothing like getting a wawa soft pretzel, throwing it on the dash, going into the field in the early spring or fall for the day, and coming back to a sun-warmed soft pretzel for the ride home
Glad to know I’m not the only one!
This also applies to the cookies. Well done sir!
I feel there are two reasons I would eat food from a convenience store.
Snacks for a road trip: Combos (nacho or pizzeria pretzel preferably) and beef jerky. Something salty that takes some chewing can help keep you alert/awake without eating a huge volume. Also not messy/greasy.
Gas station food at 2am because you don’t feels like getting in a fight at the waffle house: Sheetz dogs 2 for a dollar. Are they that good? Not really, but you’re probably drunk in this scenario.
Tangent: Buccees is supremely overrated. The beaver nuggets are okay but too sweet. Parking is a nightmare. There are huge lines for the (admittedly clean) bathroom. it’s as loud as a middle school pep rally. And who wants a messy brisket sandwich on a road trip? You can stop and get gas somewhere else and eat in a real restaurant in about the same amount of time as it takes to successfully navigate beaver-mart.
Sheetz hot dogs are still 2 for $1 (nearly everything else has gotten more expensive than gas station food has a right to be). My only gripe is that the relish now comes in packets – not ideal for driving dogs.
In my younger years when I could do it, Combos and red Mt Dew was my go-to thing. The red Dew kept me awake, and Combos didn’t leave residue on my steering wheel. Rye chips were good too.
Can’t do that anymore. Now it’s Apple Cinnamon Nutri Grain bars. And bottles of water from home, or blue or white Powerade or Gatorade Zero. When I go away for a weekend concert or car show, I survive on just those things.
First how do you not link David and Torch story about eating food in a car? BBQ is not a eat in the car road trip food. Both Sheetz and the competition have worlds of food from finger to custom. It is a personal choice. If you are in a hurry though no breakfast no lunch no snacks until you are done for the day then eat a nice dinner that will go through you like the morning after drinking 12 beers.
If I don’t bring snacks on the road, I usually try to get a protein bar and a pack of cashews. Gotta at least *try* to stay healthy.
There is only right answer for the best snack combo:
Nacho cheese Doritos
Peanut M&M’s
A fountain Coke
Anything else is not acceptable…and Buccee’s Beaver Nuggets were horrible both times I had them.
Corn Nuts
This. Can crunch one at a time. One bag lasts hours.
I can’t with garbage “food” at hyper-inflated prices.
I have a soft insulated bag with frozen ice packs in which I keep cheese sticks, charcuterie, chopped fresh fruit, V8 juices and bottled water, which fits in the passenger side footwell. If I keep it zipped up between snacks/meals, it keeps things chilled without refreezing the packs for 2 days.
I also carry tea bags which I can use when I fill my Yeti Rambler with free hot water from the coffee area. If I do another cross-country trip again, I’ll look into a USB-powered hot water kettle.
Okay you are the guy after packing this pulls over someone asking if they have any grey poupon.
The best gas station snack I had (while on a vacation tour in Italy) was some Risotto at an Autogrill
Mamma Mia!
You make me want Sbarro’s
Appropriately, Combos are the answer to both questions.
+1
Combos are great!
They’ll cheese your hunger away!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MjqD4RJISA
Pretty much anything at bucc-ee’s except the cobblers they are terrible. Their coffee also needs work. The 50c community coffee you get in Cajun country is better and more of a novelty. What most places call a kolache but are actually klobasneks are a winner alot of times. I don’t care much for Chesters chicken, hunt bros is ok in a pinch but rather Casey’s if it’s around 711 pizza and wings can be ok. They have decent seasonal pies. And the sane cookies as subway. Quick trip kitchen has decent pizza and sandwiches. Of course sheetz and Wawa have good subs and sandwiches. Any place that has the fancy $25k espresso machine with the touch screen that makes fresh drinks is a winner. Most of the 711s have them now. I’ve seen some 711s in the US bring in some of the Japanese 711 stuff. All of that but the sushi is pretty decent. Some of them have taco places attached not a huge fan same with Mavericks rusty tacos. There are some places with fresh apple cider donuts in the fall always a winner. Some of the county gas station that fry everything have some decent chicken and those tornado things. Cumberland Farms “cumbies” in New England has great breakfast sandwiches coffee and drinks. Their lunch sandwiches are decent too.
I can drive a 10-hour road trip day on pork rinds and Diet Coke. The mexican crunchy varieties works best, but any brand will do.
I’m not allowed to bring that slop home, though…
I raise you with just 3 big gulp diet Pepsis.
I love Frito’s Honey BBQ flavor twists even if I feel like death after eating half a bag. Otherwise, red-beet eggs, cracker-barrel snack cheeses, diet soda. It’s awful being almost 50 and Gluten Free.
Road trips are way less fun when you’re watching your sugar intake and can’t eat anything with flour in it.
May I opine to all our members that IMHO there is a difference between a road trip and a business trip or a family vacation trip? Road trips are like bachelor partys all bets are off.
In the mid-Atlantic, we’ve got Wawa, Sheetz, and Royal Farms. I can get decent-enough fare at any of them, but I usually eat it in the parking lot before I get back on the road. Deli sandwiches and fried chicken don’t make for easy driving.
If I have too many miles to go before the sun sets, I want something that fits in one hand and isn’t terribly messy. When I stop for fuel, I look for an exit that also has a McDonald’s and grab myself a pair of cheeseburgers at the drive-thru after I fuel up. Are they healthy? Of course not. Are they consistent? Reasonably so. (And while technically not gas station food, it’s often gas station adjacent.)
For grab-n-go type snacks, beef jerky or pretzel/cheddar Combos do it for me. I often bring bananas and apples along for the ride as well, but I don’t generally source those from a gas station.
Years ago, one of the big magazines (C&D, if I recall) suggested grapes were an ideal road food. And if you lost any, you’d find raisins to enjoy when you cleaned out the car after the trip.
What’s the worst? Soup, I’d imagine. Ice cream. Anything drippy, sticky, or oily, really. Unless you’re not planning to eat it in my car, then go for it.
There’s only one of them that I know of, but the Czech Stop Bakery (they have gas pumps) off of I-35 in West, TX is a must. Everything there is good, but I they are most famous for their kolaches.
Disclaimer: I live in Mass now, so my info is about 15 years old. And I’m still looking for something as good up here.
Native and Former TX resident, can confirm the kolaches are to die for. Been 13 years for me. Can’t wait for an excuse to go back.
It has been about ten years, but yeah, Czech Stop is awesome!
Jalapeno sausage kolaches (yeah, I know the meat-filled pastries aren’t really kolaches, but the name has been solidified here) are my #1 choice for driving meal/snack. Buc-ees has some pretty good ones too.
I’d love for someone with cross-cultural Texas-Nebraska experience to give a first person comparison between kolaches and runzas. Both sound awesome but runzas sound like more of a meal while kolaches seem to be more widespread and offer greater variety.
I’d never heard of a runza before, but now I want one. Where’s the best gas station for them?
Also, from a quick google it does look like the runzas are bigger than the Texas-style kolaches.
Gardetto’s Special Request Garlic Rye Chips.
This product was a revelation. After years of gruffling through Gardetto’s mostly pretzel-and-breadstick mix in search of The Good Stuff, some genius decided to straight-up DELIVER. They’re roughly as nutritious as a salt lick bathed in palm oil, but it’s a rare indulgence and I don’t road trip with my cardiologist.
Those are one of my absolute favorites but every time I pick up the bag and look at the nutrition chart, I end up putting it back on the rack. One of these days, I just need to take the plunge and I’ll be thinking of my fellow autopian.
My buddy looked at me like I had 2 heads when I grabbed those one time. Apparently the rye chips are not the universal favorite from Chex mix like I thought
They’re a lot of a lot, in a “be careful what you wish for” way. The logic behind them seems like saying “The best parts of a bacon cheeseburger are the bacon and cheese, so why not just order a quarter pound of that?”
In practical terms though, the rye chips are not too much worse than any other Mylar pouch of oily carbs you’d find in a vending machine, except when it comes to salt. Compared to Cheetos Flamin’ Hot Limon Crunchy (my other fave), they have like 20% less fat but 75% more sodium. I now know these things because Internet… I rarely eat this kind of stuff anymore.
For him, the rye chips are just the thing he skips over in the mix. As for nutrition, I don’t road trip more than 2 times a year and I’m not calorie counting on the road.
Best – those roller sausage things – yummy!
Worst – sushi (oh Dear God no)
Weirdly, the only obvious food poisoning I’ve ever had from sushi was from Wegmans, but the platter had also been left out at room temperature for maybe a little too long
I love a good Wegman’s lunch, but I am not eating sushi that wasn’t prepared right in front of me anywhere.
Buc-ees is an awful experience loud too crowded-frantic. Look for Love’s or a Pilot truck stop. Way better food, hell just go to a Circle-K it’s better than the gross consumerism of Beaver Bites, jerky or whatever else gross stuff they’re foisting on the rubes.
Perish.
I have never been to a Buc-ees, and do not plan to. If I had gone into the family business, I would have been a 5th generation truck driver. My dad drives, many of my uncles, cousins, and even 2nd cousins have been involved in the family trucking company. I have seen firsthand the key role trucks play in the logistics of keeping the world running. Then there is Buc-ees, who doesn’t allow trucks, aside from when they need something delivered. How long would they last without the tankers to bring in fuel, or food service trucks to supply brisket? Not long, I suspect.
In Cajun country, fresh boudin and cracklins just out of the fryer, and maybe some boudin balls – nom nom nom.
Oh man I wish I had some right now.
Beef Jerky on a road trip is pretty safe. and there are tons of options as far as brands. Actually this is the one Buc-ees area I have issue with, they only carry their brand and the consistency and flavors are not my favorite style. Luckily they make other stuff that is good enough for me to substitute I suppose.
I was deeply disappointed in Buc-ees Jerky. I think my wife and I got 3 different flavors and I don’t know if we finished any of them
There’s a gas station about a mile from my house that does makes cinnamon rolls onsite that are some of the best in town. Yeah, you have the sticky fingers issue, but damn those things are good.
Would a Costco hot dog combo qualify as a gas station snack?
That’s where I usually get my fuel so it works for me. I wouldn’t eat my favorite order in the car, though.
I ask for a slice of pep and a dog sans bun. Inspired by 30 Rock’s Liz Lemon, I take the hot dog, sprinkle on some parm cheese, fold it in a pizza, and I’ve approximated Cheesy Blasters.
Thanks, Meat!
Meat Cat: He’s what’s inside ya!
https://imgur.com/gallery/then-all-kids-say-thanks-meat-cat-meat-cat-flies-away-on-his-um-skateboard-YXNowEA
No good call outs for best and worst snacks but this reminds me of a family name for what would happen after eating gas station snacks for too many fill-ups in a row from when I was a kid. We would call the death that would emanate from our mouths “fart burps” and they made everyone in the car want to die including the person that it came out of.