Royal Farms has the best gas station food in the United States, according to the 2024 USA Today 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards.
“Royal Farms offers a breakfast menu that’s available any time of the day or night,” USA Today wrote about the convenience-store chain, which came in 10th place in 2023. “That’s in addition to other hot food menu items, including sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs and their popular fried chicken. The stores also sell a wide variety of packaged snacks along with fountain and bottled beverages. Some locations even feature a Blending Bar, where you can craft a milkshake.”
- Royal Farms is No. 28 on CSP’s 2024 Top 40 Update to the 2023 Top 202 ranking of U.S. c-store chains by store count. Watch for the full 2024 Top 202 ranking in the June issue of CSP magazine and in CSP Daily News.
USA Today 10Best editors partnered with a panel of “seasoned road warriors” to highlight their favorite chains, USA Today said. Readers then voted for their top picks.
The 2024 10Best winners, with a USA Today comment, are:
- Royal Farms, Baltimore
- Casey’s General Stores, Ankeny, Iowa, (No. 3 in CSP's Top 202 ranking). “Casey’s stores are popular for their pizza, in addition to sandwiches, wings and breakfast items. They also have prepackaged foods like ice cream, candy bars, potato chips and protein bars.”
- Kwik Trip, La Crosse, Wisconsin (No. 11). “Kwik Trip is known for its bakery, which serves bread, muffins, cookies, bagels and doughnuts. In fact, it bakes approximately 24,000 glazed treats in just one hour.”
- Rutter’s, York, Pennsylvania (No. 82). “Rutter's 24-hour shops have a foodservice counter that’s also open all hours and serves a variety of items, from seafood and burgers to pizza and subs.”
- TravelCenters of America, Westlake, Ohio (No. 29). “TravelCenters of America is a chain of full-service truckstops and travel centers, with stores that serve homestyle food in their full-service restaurants.”
- Maverik, Salt Lake City (No. 12), last year's champion. “BonFire Foods, an eatery within the store that makes fresh food every day, offers items like pizzas, wraps, salads, sandwiches and burritos.”
- QuickChek, Whitehouse Station, New Jersey (owned by Murphy USA, El Dorado, Arkansas, No. 4). “With a food counter serving soups, salads, sandwiches, wraps and seasonal dishes, as well as a bakery that sells a variety of baked goods, such as their signature cookies, QuickChek aims to redefine ‘fresh convenience.’”
- Weigel’s, Powell, Tennessee (No. 98). “Weigel's has dozens of locations in the East Tennessee region, each serving up sweets from the bakery such as doughnuts, cookies and muffins. They also serve hot foods like pizzas, sandwiches, fried chicken and breakfast foods.”
- QuikTrip, Tulsa, Oklahoma (No. 9). “QuikTrip serves food that’s made fresh to order each day. The vast menu includes frozen treat concoctions, specialty drinks, breakfast biscuits, macaroni and cheese, sandwiches, pizza and tacos, and other yummy fare.”
- Buc-ee’s, Lake Jackson, Texas (No. 153). “Buc-ee's is known for their nut confections (like butter toffee pecans), barbecue, jerky and a large menu of comfort foods. The country stores also serve fudge, banana pudding and trail mixes.”
10Best Readers’ Choice Awards highlight the best in contests covering categories such as destinations, food and drink, hotels and things to do. A panel of experts chooses the nominees in all categories, and readers can vote once per category, per day for four weeks.
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