You may not know what you’re getting into when you pick up food at a gas station, but you pretty much know what you’re getting into. Dig?
Hot dogs are bound to be as tough and leathery as your Great Aunt Ida after a trip to the beach. Coffee will be bitter. And probably burnt. Sushi should be avoided at all costs.
There’s one dish wherein hole-in-the-wall establishments shine: barbecue. Whatever your diet, whatever the occasion, there’s a barbecue to match: pork, brisket, tempe. Okay, well, probably no tempe at your roadside gas-up. But meat lovers can rejoice! If anyplace has successfully upended a steel barrel to roast an entire side of freshly slaughtered roast beast, it’s a gas station in the middle of nowhere Texas.
Just be smart. Go in, grab your barbecue, fill up the tank, be sure to tip the guy who washed your windshield, and head out. Barbecue is best when you don’t ask too many questions.
