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    Home » Everything Amish » Plain Culture

    Comfort Stops: Sheetz, Speedway, Casey's, Goasis, and What is Your Favorite?

    Published: Feb 24, 2017 · Updated: Feb 24, 2017 by Kevin Williams | 10 Comments

    Saw this nice, bright, cheery convenience store in Columbus, Ohio. Turns out it is part of a chain.

    By Kevin Williams

    Wow, has it really been three years since I have written about Sheetz?
    Looked in the Amish365.com archives and, sure,enough, that is the last reference I can find. Woohoo, that means I can talk about it again (I try not to recycle topics too, too frequently).

    I used to spend an inordinate amount of time on the road and to break the boredom I'd often stop at a convenience store to grab a newspaper or a soda or a sandwich and all of those years doing that has me intimately familiar with which places I like and don't.

    Sheetz sets the gas station gold standard!

    SHEETZ:    Man, Sheetz is the best of the best.  Nothing brightens up a drab drive or a dark night more than spying the garish, gaudy, bright Sheetz stores in all its incandescent glory.   The best thing about Sheetz is their food.  When I am in Sheetz country, I'll actually plan my meal stops around them.  You can walk up to a bank of touch-screen kiosks and custom-order sandwiches (called their Made-to-Order concept), pizza, breakfast, and a host of other goodies. The team behind the cafe counter then cooks up your order as you wait and you're good to go. Awesome.  Desserts are far above typical gas station grade and, well, yeah, good stuff.  SIGH, the closest Sheetz to me is about 3 hours away, I so wish they'd make a march westward.

    QT:  QuikTrip Markets are the Midwest counterweight to the East Coast Sheetz.  You'll find QT's clustered in places like St. Louis or Wichita, Kansas.  These stores are brightly link and have a whole wall of frozen treats like self-serve, soft-serve ice cream, frozen slushies, and the like.

    GOASIS:   Okay, I debated whether to include "truck stops" in this post (Pilot, Travel Centers of America, and others, but that is another post for another day)  GoOasis is actually owned by Travel Centers of America and they are awesome. I'd say more about them,  but it's hard to find where their locations are, it's like they are hidden mirages on the interstate. But when you find them, you get it all: cheap gas, good food, candy, soda fountain drinks.  I think there is a GoOasis in Georgia somewhere also, anyone know of any others?  The one I go to is near Ashland right along I-71.

    THORTON'S:   This is a Midwestern USA chain that, to me, does not rise quite to the level of a Sheetz or QT, but they are pretty darn nice with the same type of custom-made food from kiosks.  Here is a Thorton's menu.

    CASEY'S GENERAL STORE:  These locations lack of the panache and flair of a Sheetz or QT, some locations are kind of dumpy, but they are beacons of midwestern sensibility.  I sort of know that I'm in the nation's breadbasket when I start seeing the welcoming Casey's signs.

    KUM N GO:  This oddly named store chain operates over 400 locations in 11 states and is always a favorite of mine when I am in their area.  Check out some of their food here.

    RACETRAC:   I know I am in the warm, welcoming arms of the Sunshine States when I see these convenience stores.  Ahhh, you can get frozen yogurt here.

    SIGH, so many places could have made my list.  I'm not a huge fan of 7-11, but they'll do in a pinch.  WaWa has a cult following but I've only been in one of their stores once so I can't really made a judgment.  Speedway is a chain the Midwest USA and while they are comfortingly familiar, too many of their stores are small and dumpy.  Family Express is a pretty darn good chain, but they are small, only in NW Indiana.  So, is there a chain that I've not mentioned that should make the list?  Bright colors, good food selection, clean restrooms, those all factor into the mix when I rate these places.

    Petro Canada is my favorite gas station/convenience store in Canada, just seems so....Canadian.  Makes it fun.

    Canada, by the way, sets the standard for gas station convenience stores.  I like them all there (although I am partial to Hasty Market).  It's just more fun to stop at a Canadian convenience store because everything is different than in the USA:  the money is different, you're there to buy petrol instead of gas, everything is bilingual.  And if you get really lucky you might find a Tim Horton's tucked away in a gas station!

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    About Kevin Williams

    Hi, my name is Kevin Williams and I am owner of Oasis Newsfeatures and editor of The Amish Cook newspaper column.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Kathleen

      February 24, 2017 at 3:00 pm

      I have been to Sheetz in the past. I have kids who moved away and lived in several cities so have done a little traveling. Of course Speedway up the street on Tylersville and RT.42. Love these stations when traveling, usually have a fairly good rest room facility.

      Reply
      • Kevin

        February 24, 2017 at 3:47 pm

        Ah, I've been to that Speedway many times!

        Reply
    2. Delane Warren Bairrow

      February 24, 2017 at 3:44 pm

      Have you ever heard of Love's? Love's is probably considered a truck stop, but it just does not have that truck stop feel to me. Love's usually has a McDonald's and a Subway attached to it. Love's is truck stop on one side and regular gas station on the other. I always try to find one if I am traveling.

      Reply
      • Kevin

        February 24, 2017 at 3:49 pm

        Delane - Ha, great minds think alike! I was almost going to mention Love's and then didn't because, yeah, because it is a truck stop, BUT, you are right it absolutely doesn't have the typical truck stop feel with the stores being bright and clean. In fact, I have a sentimental attachment to Love's, there is one at the Zanesville, Ohio exit off I-70....I stayed in a hotel at that exit the night before my wedding and stopped in there a time or two so I always have a soft spot for them! - kevin

        Reply
      • Kitty Tomlinson Wood

        February 24, 2017 at 8:34 pm

        Our Love's has an Arby's attached. Right off I-10 just across the river from Baton Rouge.

        Reply
        • Kevin

          February 25, 2017 at 9:27 am

          Ah, how nice it would be to be someplace warm like Baton Rouge now...

    3. Barb

      February 24, 2017 at 4:18 pm

      We have Sheetz all over the eastern Panhandle of WV, western & central MD and VA. I like them and really missed them when I lived in central WV (where the "Go Marts" take over!) But my favorite stops by far are WaWa stores. There aren't any where I live now, sadly. They have great food to go and the coffee bar is the best...they have full bottles of creamer, half & half and milk on ice, so you don't have to stand there opening packet after packet of "mini moos" to add to your coffee!

      Reply
      • Kevin

        February 24, 2017 at 4:25 pm

        Barb - wonder how Sheetz decides where to locate? I have been to the one in Morgantown, WV a couple of times, and it's not right on the highway either, but I've made the trek just so I could stop there. SIGH, I wish I had been to more WaWa's, I think I just darted into one once, I'll have to really check them out next time! - Kevin

        Reply
    4. Brenda

      February 24, 2017 at 7:50 pm

      We have 3 Sheetz in my town.

      Reply
      • Kevin

        February 25, 2017 at 9:36 am

        Wow, that would be awesome....and it gives new meaning to the term "three Sheetz to the wind!":)

        Reply

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    Kevin Williams - The Amish Editor Amish Cook Column

    Hi There, I'm Kevin!

    Welcome to Amish365, where I share my knowledge of Amish cooking and culture! I’ve spent almost three decades exploring Amish settlements and kitchens from Maine to Montana and almost everywhere in between. I’ll occasionally throw in stories of my travels, journalism adventures (I’m a Pulitzer prize-nominated journalist), fascination with grocery stores and Kmarts, and much more!

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