America's Top 10 Best Gas Stations, According To Reddit

In the early days of automobiles, gas stations were little more than quick pit stops where a friendly, uniformed attendant would fill your tank, check your tires, and give your windshield a little sparkle. But as more Americans took to the highways, more filling stations began to pop up across the countryside, and the modern convenience store was born. Over the past few decades, the great American convenience store has become far more than a place to grab snacks and gas, with some popular gas stations elevating the experience to the point that they're almost destinations in their own right.

Gone are the days of pleading for restroom keys from disgruntled employees, taking bathroom breaks under flickering fluorescent lights in a room that looks and smells like something out of a horror movie, or subsisting on a bag of chips as a road trip dinner. These gleaming highway oases offer high-quality hot meals from full-service kitchens served up by smiling workers, plenty of clean, readily available bathroom stalls, and, in some cases, destination shopping you can't get anywhere else. Whether you're planning a road trip down one of America's most stunning and storied routes or looking for adventure closer to home, be sure to stop for gas at one of the best gas stations in the country, according to the wisened road warriors of Reddit.

To call Buc-ee's a gas station chain is a serious understatement. This cult-favorite Texas chain has expanded across the southern half of the United States over the past few years, with locations from Colorado to Tennessee. "Because when I'm driving from La Grange to Galveston, I never know if I might need to make an emergency stop for kolaches, a bedazzled cow skull, a deep fryer, and/or a variety of jams and jellies while I gas up," one Redditor joked. 

Shopping lovers will be glad they set aside plenty of time for their Buc-ee's adventure. Besides the aisles upon aisles of adorable merch featuring the store's viral pop culture mascot, Buc-ee the Beaver, you'll find loads of Texas-themed goodies that are much cooler than just mass-produced souvenirs. Buc-ee's sells high-quality items from Texas artisans and makers: hand-crafted artisanal soaps and candles, gorgeous kitchen items like aprons and cutting boards, accessories from Texas boutiques like Junk Gypsy, housewares, toys, you name it.

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Buc-ee's stores are expansive, with the chain boasting the world's largest convenience store — a 75,593-square-foot location in Luling, Texas. Some Buc-ee's stores feature diesel exhaust fluid (DEF), ethanol-free fuel, EV charging stations, and car washes, with the Katy, Texas, store holding the record for the world's longest car wash. Buc-ee's food also puts other gas stations to shame — there's a wall of juicy Texan beef jerky flavors, an array of homemade fudge and sweets, and a whole crew cooking up hot food like Texas barbecue brisket, pulled pork, turkey, and sausage. If you have a sweet tooth, grab some Beaver Nuggets before hitting the road. And be sure to stop by the super clean, spacious Buc-ee's restrooms to see why everyone raves about them.

A 17-state convenience store chain hailing from friendly Tulsa, Oklahoma, QuikTrip (or QT, as the locals call it) has a reputation for reliably clean, hospitable gas stations with a broad range of low-priced, high-quality food. One of the biggest draws of QT is how easy it is to get in, grab what you need, and get right back out. The registers are arranged so one employee can check out multiple customers at once, and the stores are easy to navigate quickly. "It's a masterclass in efficiency," one Redditor shared. "I literally watched 9 people get in line, pay, and be out the door in under a minute ... with one employee working four lanes at once." And the employees are always happy to be there, thanks to QuikTrip's good pay, strong benefits, and respect for workers.

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QuikTrip customers love the cute little floor cleaning robots, and their presence means you'll never have sticky feet walking through the store, no matter how busy things get. And the store is known for its extensive drink options, which include a soda fountain full of cold, crisp, budget-friendly beverages, a coffee bar with hot and cold latte selections and nitro brew, a rainbow of slushies, and more.

QT Kitchens feature a broad menu of high-value, made-to-order food so good that many folks prefer QuikTrip to fast-food restaurants. Highlights include breakfast sandwiches, full-sized pizzas, and tasty pretzels with cheese, which you can order ahead with the QT app. If you want something faster and cheaper, QT's roller grill is surprisingly good and typically has plenty of hot dogs, taquitos, and egg rolls. The stores also offer a fairly well-stocked supply of grab-and-go donuts and pastries made fresh daily. 

It's not an alternate-universe QuikTrip or the Mandela effect — it's a Midwestern convenience store chain with a similar name and fan following but a completely different spelling. And Kwik Trip is so beloved by its cult following that one super fan set out to visit all 457 Wisconsin Kwik Trip stores, checking off her last stop in 2021 in her YouTube series KT Bound With Cassandra. These days, the Wisconsin-based family-ownedchain now has 850 locations across Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Michigan, Iowa, and Illinois. The store, which has a reputation for friendly employees who enjoy coming to work, credits part of that magic to its earnings share program for workers.

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Besides gas pumps. Kwik Trip has EV Kwik Charge stations at a number of locations and an app that lets EV owners order food and have it delivered right to their cars while they're charging. Many Kwik Trips also feature car washes. And the stores and restrooms are always clean. As one Reddit user put it, "For me it's the consistency across stores. It doesn't matter where I am. If I'm traveling and need something I know exactly what I'm getting if I stop at a Kwik Trip." Another added, "Kwik Trip hits different."

The food at Kwik Trip is also heads above what you'd expect from a gas station. Unlike most convenience stores, where you're purchasing the same old junk food you'd get just about anywhere else for your road trip snacks, Kwik Trip actually produces and sells about 80% of its products in-store, including 80,000 gallons of fresh Wisconsin milk that moves from cow to shelf within 24 hours. Fresh-baked bread, tasty chicken, made-to-order pizzas, and Kwik Trip's fan favorite Glazers donuts are also on the menu.

Yet another friendly family-owned store, Wawa began as a Pennsylvania dairy in 1902 but has evolved over the past 120+ years to become a massive convenience store chain with well over 1,000 stores across the United States. And like all the best fan-favorite convenience stores, Wawa has its own online fan clubs like the Facebook group: Wawa — No One Truly Understands. "I like everything on the menu, the prices are reasonable, what else can I say? I'm a huge fan," shared one Reddit user. 

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Wawa is committed to offering nutritional food options for a variety of dietary needs, which anyone with special health needs who has struggled to find gas station fare will appreciate. These include clean food with simple ingredients, as well as options for gluten-conscious, low-sugar, calorie-conscious, low-sodium, vegetarian, and vegan diets, and tasty, protein-packed power meal options. Lots of drinks, coffees, and slushes are available from the self-serve stations, or you can order a custom cappuccino or specialty coffee drink from the kitchen.

What fans love about Wawa is the overall quality of the experience, which some on Reddit say compares to most run-of-the-mill convenience stores the way Target compares to Walmart. Fans also praise Wawa's cleanliness and the wide variety of food and groceries available. It won't replace your corner grocery store, but it's a cut above most convenience stores when it comes to convenient, on-the-go food offerings.

If you're looking for stick-to-your-ribs gas station food, keep your eyes open for a Sheetz store. The Sheetz frozen drink menu alone is worth the stop. Think handmade chocolate and vanilla shakes, Strawberry Dream shakes with real berries, Oreo milkshakes, peanut butter cup shakes, mint chocolate chip shakes, and frozen caramel lattes. Highlights of the breakfast menu include the Monster Breakfast Sandwich on a pretzel roll and a fabulous veggie breakfast burrito. Sheetz's made-to-order menu includes a wide range of hot sandwich choices, including a meatball sub or a signature burger. Personalized pizzas are also available. And Sheetz fans particularly love the onion rings. "Sheetz is my favorite," wrote one Redditor. "I probably eat it roughly 5 times a week."

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Sheetz fans love the convenience of picking up hot, satisfying food at any hour of the day or night, making the store a huge hit among workers with late schedules. The stores can be found in the mid-Atlantic and part of Appalachia, spread throughout Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, and Ohio. Employees on Reddit say the high standards for workers, combined with high pay and benefits, help create a positive work environment that keeps customers coming back for more. Sheetz customers cite the brand's great pricing and rewards program, all-around convenience, cleanliness, and friendly staff as part of the draw. And the coffee is said to be exceptionally tasty. 

If you truly want to find the best convenience stores, just ask an over-the-road trucker — they'll tell you exactly who has the best food options, the friendliest service, and the best overall amenities. So it says something that Love's Travel Stop is the convenience store of choice for many of America's hardest-working truckers.

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With 644 locations across 42 U.S. states, the family-owned and operated company has stores all over, making them a trusted friend for your travels. The brand caters to truckers, providing 24-hour coffee, fuel, hot food, and other amenities. It's a favorite store among music festival-goers and campers, who can take advantage of the store's clean, hot showers for a fee. One Redditor raved, "Love's is the absolute best truck / service stop; plentiful, clean, dog parks, and a safe place to get some rest after a long day of driving."

Love's is also a leader in alternative energy, with more than a third of its stores offering alternative fuels such as compressed natural gas (CNG), renewable natural gas (RNG), hydrogen, and EV charging stations. They also sell a wide range of travel gear and automotive products, making them a great place to stock up on any important camping gear you might need to replenish while you're on the open road.

Some big business dealings in recent years led to the company that purchased Maverik, a brand dating back to 1928 in Wyoming, absorbing the successful midwestern chain Kum & Go and rebranding it under the Maverik label. While fans of Kum & Go on Reddit may lament the change for primarily nostalgic reasons, it can only mean good things given Maverik's track record as a well-established, high-quality gas station brand with a growing economic portfolio. Or as one Redditor put it, "Maverick is the GOAT."

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One of the buzziest draws among Maverik fans is the brand's set of not one but two robust rewards programs, which include free drinks and per-gallon gas savings on the low end and serious savings for Maverik's Nitro members. Rewards points members say those trail points tend to add up fast when you're stopping by regularly, and those gas purchases can end up funding your snack budget on a long trip. On their YouTube channel, professional road trippers Taylor and Trey say they've driven miles out of their way to take advantage of Maverik's rewards program.

Maverik stores also have a really cool vibe. The walls are covered in fun nature murals, the bathrooms are pretty clean, and there's a fair selection of hot, tasty fast-food options to choose from. And when Maverik locations spread across 21 states now, there's a good chance you'll pass one of these lovely little stores on your next road trip. 

Casey's General Stores, the parent company of Casey's, is the third-largest convenience store brand in the United States, and it isn't resting on its laurels. You can find Casey's nearly 2,900 stores spread across 19 states in the central United States from the Canadian to Mexican borders. Much more than just a simple gas station chain, Casey's has a wider selection of food, products, and services as a truck stop brand with a similar vibe to Love's, right down to its broad selection of alternative fuels and EV charging stations available at many locations.

Casey's doesn't have the reputation for speed and service that some of the stores on this list have, but that's not what you're there for. You go to Casey's because you're exhausted after driving all day, and you want a meal that will hit the spot and won't feel (or taste) like gas station food. Fans of Casey's rave about the food offerings, particularly the affordable, customizable pizzas with a wide range of toppings and crusts, including thin crust and cauliflower. You may be surprised to learn that Casey's is also actually the fifth-largest pizza chain in the United States. "I genuinely think it is one of the best pizzas you can buy," wrote one Redditor. Casey's other hot food items are also popular — particularly the waffle sandwich.

If you appreciate the all-around vibe and business model of Buc-ee's, you'll adore Wally's. The sharp-looking retro convenience store, which currently has just two locations in Fenton, Missouri (St. Louis area), and Pontiac, Illinois, has a nostalgic mid-to-late 1960s Hanna-Barbera-meets-the-Brady-Bunch sort of aesthetic to it that will feel absolutely peak to Gen-Xers with fond, hazy childhood memories of oil rain lamps and avocado green rotary phones. The small chain has a polished veneer to it that makes it hard to imagine this brand won't eventually blow up, as Buc-ee's has in recent years. For now, Wally's focus seems to be on making those two locations outstanding — and they're certainly putting in the work. 

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Wally's leans heavily into the "Great American Road Trip," blending that nostalgic roadside-attraction vibe with a quality service rooted in the latest technology. They have plenty of clean restrooms and a full-time facilities manager to oversee them, dozens of fueling stations, EV stations, in-store Wi-Fi, and self-checkout stations. The stores are set up to be spacious and maneuverable for bigger rigs and feature plenty of parking and a location right next to the highway.

Much like Buc-ee's, these 24/7 stores have plenty of shopping (including lots of groovy retro souvenirs) and a wide range of tasty foods to choose from — everything from flavored Wally's popcorn to Wally's Sweet Fire Pickles. There's even a beef jerky bar and a carving station. "It's a perfect stop for anyone on a cross-country road trip," reviewed one Redditor, "because it has immaculate bathrooms, some hot food choices and lets you walk around and stretch your legs a bit.

Another fabulous gas station chain with a loyal following and the potential to blow up is the New York-based Stewart's Shops, a convenience store brand with more than 400 stores spread mostly across Upstate New York, Vermont, and New Hampshire. Stewart's is unique because the family-owned chain started as an ice cream store and eventually branched into gas stations without letting go of their ice cream roots. In other words, it's an ice cream-themed gas station chain that you won't want to miss on your next New England road trip.

The chain uses New York-certified dairy and eggs from local dairies in its ice cream, which is so popular among influencers that it has started to draw the ire of locals on Reddit. You'll also find loads of treats like too-pretty-to-eat muffins, cinnamon churros, and shakes (think eggnog, candy cane, and something called "Cherry Loves Chocolate"). The brand also sells signature coffees and groceries, and everything is available at affordable prices rather than the spendier New England boutique price tags you might expect for viral, locally farmed dairy products. Stewart's also sells adorable gifts like toy Stewart's ice cream trucks, ice cream or cow socks, and ice cream sundae boxers. "Stewart's is fire," one Redditor wrote. "Don't sleep on Stewies. I go out of my way to go to Stewart's."

I've traveled through 30 U.S. states by camper and spent dozens of hours making the cross-country trek from Oklahoma to Bonnaroo Music Festival, so I started this list contemplating everything I love in a gas station when we're on the road and all of the gas station reviews I've heard from friends over the decades. This inspired the simple premise that American gas stations are about far more than just affordable gas and convenience; they're also about the smiles that greet us as we walk through the door, the food and impulse buy options, and the overall vibe and experience.

With those things in mind, I headed over to Reddit to see what the frequent road trippers said were the best stations, paying special attention to the convenience stores with an avid cult following. Once I found a beloved gas station chain, I dug a little deeper to see what folks were saying in other Reddit communities with a special focus on consistency. Finally, I tried to hone in on what made each store uniquely special as I gathered up this list.