Living on the Edge: Gas Station Junk Food
So, we're all self-proclaimed foodies in here, or chefs or manipulators of recipies. We've had our bacon stuffed foie gras hot dogs and white ganache cupcakes with cranberry coulis. Both sound really good even though I think I made them up...
We've all been to college or we've all been on low budget road-trips in our past and we've all been to convienence stores or gas stations on said excursions. But when you go into these establisments, you're not prone to find buffalo burgers or steak tare tare. You all have that gas station guilty pleasure.
I still have the occasional craving for a Tabasco Slim Jim and those potato crisps in the red bag. So what do you search out when you're at a gas station at 3:30 in the AM in the middle of nowhere, Idaho?
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42 Comments:
Zingers! Oh, and some Little Debbie's Fudge Rounds or Zebra Cakes! And to balance the sweet i'd probably get a bag of Utz's BBQ chips! And then I'd make my friend get some Mini Powdered Donuts so I can have one or two.
_greenbean at 1:42PM on 11/04/09
jack link's beef stick-original flavor
but seriously, where do i get a bacon stuffed foie gras hot dog already?!
gastronomeg at 1:55PM on 11/04/09
I'll admit to having succumbed to the siren call of the occasional taquito or hot dog, which has been no doubt hanging out in those heater-rollers until they are way past their prime...and I've always regretted answering that siren call a few miles further down the road, when I'm searching for the next gas station with a semi-acceptable toilet facility.
juliebugsmama at 2:01PM on 11/04/09
I have to have some teriyaki jerky and nacho cheese pretzel combos or it's not a real road trip.
andshewas at 2:05PM on 11/04/09
Funny Bones or Devil Dogs and a Nesquik chocolate milk. Yummy! (Also what I seek out after a night of hard drinking)
virgogrrl at 2:06PM on 11/04/09
I have a salt tooth, not a sweet tooth, so I'm more likely to grab cashews or kettle cooked potato chips. Reeses pieces work too though. For gas-station stops on the way out for a day of boating, we'll usually grab the above plus kipper snacks, or tuna salad kits if decent enough ones are to be found on the shelf.
joyyy at 2:11PM on 11/04/09
A bag of cheetos, peanut butter cups, sunflower seeds and a dr pepper! Oh the memories :)!
Foodie,foodie! at 2:23PM on 11/04/09
When I was in high school/college, the parents actually owned and managed a gas station-convenience store in the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale area, and I worked there for a summer. My dad always had some "fresh" food on hand to sell, including Jamaican beef patties (both mild and hot) that were delivered from a local bakery 3 times a week. Mom and Dad have moved on to bigger and better things, but I still miss those Jamaican beef patties.
gbania at 2:27PM on 11/04/09
Stewarts (not the Root Beer people) have gas stations all over the Hudson Valley and North. Their hot dogs (steamed) suck, but their IceCream $1.75 for a 1 1/2 scoop cone is a super value and the flavors are better than good.
simplejew at 2:38PM on 11/04/09
If I'm at a gas station in Idaho at 3:30 in the morning, chances are I'm looking for the witness protection program. Then I'd likely get some coffee and Munchos.
smallkitchen at 2:40PM on 11/04/09
Hmmm I can find food I'll eat anywhere, gas stations in Idaho included. I can definitely find a variety of potato chips, dill pickle and sour cream and cheddar being two faves, some decent jerky, a kit-kat and a coffee, and I'm set.
tatianak at 2:44PM on 11/04/09
@virgogrrl Funny Bones..........wow!!!! haven't heard about those in a long, long time. Those were great, and do they actually still make them???
@gastronomeg I know they have a foie gras topped dog at Hog Dougs in the Chicago area. Both No Reservations and Bizarre Foods have been there and I think Man vs Food was there too.
dozertx at 2:52PM on 11/04/09
depends on the mood, I've been known to have gas station nachos with an obscene amount of nacho cheez on it. Also a fan of the coca-cola slurpee, 1/5 of which must be replaced with diet coke. You know...to be healthy.
BananaMonkey at 3:03PM on 11/04/09
Tasty Kake.
Got food poisoning from a gas station sandwich once so I don't touch those.
redfish at 3:06PM on 11/04/09
Oh man... I survived soooo many road trips to Mexico and back on gas station snacks. We were always in such a hurry to get there we wouldn't stop to eat.
I like beef jerky but only if I have cold soda with it and those soda bottles always go warm on you after a half hour or so. Baked chips are good, you seem to find more and more with chile or jalapeno the closer you get to the border which I'm partial to.
Sour gummy worms go well with the soda but not so much after downing a half a pack of beef jerky.
I've been to a million gas stations that had food in the corner behind a counter, tacos, turkey legs, chicken wings, fried chicken, etc etc. I just can't bring myself to eat it. I'll stick to the pre-packaged stuff and fruit stands to pillage whenever I see them.
AyeEat at 3:07PM on 11/04/09
When I'm in Maine I'll stop for a Whoopie Pie but in the south it's gotta to be a pack of Lance salted peanuts dumped into my Coke.
Come to think of it I did eat a Moonpie last weekend on the way to Knoxville. Too bad my gamecocks lost to the viles.
Uncle Dudley at 3:35PM on 11/04/09
Not all in one shot but my selection would be: Slim Jims, Hostess Snowballs, Funny Bones, Cool Ranch Doritos & Crunchy Cheetos..and Coke -not the diet coke..good regular full of sugar coca cola...ice cold...
Italiancupcake at 3:40PM on 11/04/09
Cheese popcorn --It is my favorite road trip snack. I will only eat it on a road trip.
lakeloverhh at 3:44PM on 11/04/09
I love the hot soft pretzels and coca cola slupees (salty and super sweet I do not helthify my slurpee with diet coke like BananaMonkey)
KtMc24 at 3:49PM on 11/04/09
I ran out of money on a trip out west back in my college days, and had to survive the drive home (across the country) on my Exxon credit card. I ate mostly corn dogs (favorite) and "little white donuts" (second favorite). Unfortunately, there were long, Exxon-free stretches where I had to bum food off my companions -- their favorites seemed to be spicy pig skins. Incidentally I've always wondered why it is that the midwest has no Exxons (or at least had none back 10 years ago)? It sure would have helped me out.
leighana at 4:08PM on 11/04/09
Pretzels and/or Wheat Thins with some soda would do it for me...
ElizabethS at 4:13PM on 11/04/09
Planter's peanuts do it for me.
dmcavanagh at 4:27PM on 11/04/09
My DH, while out on Saturday errands with the kids, thinks it's gourmet fare when he takes the kids for breakfast at the local Sunoco station. (Egg sandwiches on a hard roll.)
For me, it's a cuppa hot chocolate after pumping gas on a bitterly cold day.
moibec at 4:33PM on 11/04/09
grandma's peanut butter cookies, also oatmeal raisin.
pcsanwald at 4:49PM on 11/04/09
Really, you have to pick on Idaho, there isn't enough open space and rednecks in Texas? Anyway, you should know, us dumb old spud pickers out here in IdaHoe only have Potatoes and Rocky Mountain Oysters in our gas stations and we're lucky to have that. Seriously, the microwave hamburger is the best, it's known as a "Gristle Burger" among my family and friends.
smokey07 at 4:58PM on 11/04/09
I was working in Nowhere, Alabama for two weeks and the closest dining option was a gas station that served fried chicken fingers and other southeast dishes. They were actually quite tasty, but you feel a little sick afterwards.
LexieLo at 5:00PM on 11/04/09
I once an entire bag of those really good Honey Wheat pretzel twists from Rold Gold (I think?) on a long bus trip from Aspen to Denver back in college. Otherwise, it's any kind of popcorn or pretzels. I am definitely a salt person, but have never (gasp, I know) enjoyed potato chips.
Traveller at 5:01PM on 11/04/09
peppercorn beef jerky for sure.
I manage to find cottage cheese at a gas station sometimes;
I really am addicted to Cheerios snack mix (with the bagel chips and shreddies);
A bag of mixed nuts;
can't forget Hawkins Cheezies
hungrychristel at 5:15PM on 11/04/09
Doritos, coke slurpees, and powdered sugar doughnuts. They totally remind me of my high school days.
avaryne at 6:05PM on 11/04/09
potato chips, doritos, and if 3:30am (something's got to be wrong in my life in this case) regular coke.
lemonfair at 7:32PM on 11/04/09
I try to find a local-ish product, like jerky or roasted nuts. If there's nothing local, I'll get a product that not distributed where I live, even if it's from a big corporation (which goes against my whole food philosophy).
I stopped at a gas station in Quebec and we picked up Ketchup flavored Doritos and another type of chip with a name in French that looked like "All Seasons". My husband pick up the bag and said, "We have to get this one! It's four wheel drive!"
yayfood at 11:07PM on 11/04/09
When I was living in Boise, I think down Fairview avenue, going torward Bronco Stadium, there as a Stinker gas station that I would usually stop by, they had 3 hotdogs for one dollar, and you could dress it up anyway you could possibly think of, It was the best gas station hotdogs I have ever had, a small bag of bbq chips and a bottle of mug rootbeer, you could't beat it for about 2 dollars, now I can't imagine what the price for it is right now. Maverick has been having alot of great gas station food lately though
AL at 5:54AM on 11/05/09
I have memories... and they are hazy... of eating burritos at 3 am at a HopIn in Virginia...maybe even more than once!!
Now I go for the nasty cherry pies..Hostess is the brand I prefer.
PoorOldMama at 8:58AM on 11/05/09
Nacho cheese Combos, or a big bag of pretzels. Original Doritos will do as well. And Dr Pepper. I also have a secret love for the hot dogs quietly rotating in the glass case.
NotAmerican at 9:47AM on 11/05/09
@yayfood - Thats a good rule of thumb the local idea; i should consider this next time.
Speaking of local; have you tried Old Dutch brand chippies!? *drewl* damn good ketchup chips!
hungrychristel at 11:10AM on 11/05/09
Beef jerky, beef jerky, beef jerky, and beef jerky.
In Hawaii, it's probably arare -- especially kakidane (kaki no tane)...and squid or octopus jerky.
Cassaendra at 12:43PM on 11/05/09
Corn Nuts...can never get enough of them on the road!
Ribster at 8:09PM on 11/05/09
Pringles
Reeses cups (the new dark chocolate ones are out of this world)
Old Bay seasoned potato chips
spicy nacho doritos
m&ms
nightowl at 8:59PM on 11/05/09
When in a strange gas station, I look for a chocolate pudding pie. They're like a Hostess fruit pie but they have chocolate pudding in middle. I never see them anymore but I loved them in high school and look for them now when I'm in strange gas stations because I know the ones I use don't carry them.
Otherwise, I would go for beef jerky, potato chips and Coke. And if the carrot and celery sticks in the cooler look decent, I balance my salt-fest with those. Another old favorite is the frozen chicken patty sandwich microwaved in the store with ketchup and mayo. When I worked in a gas station, I ate that for dinner often with a bottle of really really cold V8.
CooksForOne at 9:26PM on 11/05/09
Pretzel rods, if I'm driving. Cheetos if I'm a passenger. Twinkies if I want something sweet. Cheerios, if I have no other choice.
dbcurrie at 12:57AM on 11/06/09
nachos. with the gooey cheese and jalapenos.
I could go for some right now- must be lunch time soon!
bisbee at 1:00PM on 11/06/09
on a long road trip, im looking for salt &vinegar chips or cheese popcorn and some high caffeine drink.
blizcheetah at 3:12PM on 11/08/09