If 'gas station food' conjures images of sandwiches encased in plastic and family-sized bags of chips, these surprising restaurants might just change your mind. While there are still plenty of gas stations serving the same old snacks, there are some dishing out tasty and innovative cuisine. And when service areas and garages have closed down, there are also people who have taken the opportunity to turn these spots into eateries. From tiny taquerias to fine dining restaurants, here are the best places to fill up while you, erm, fill up. 

Panamint Springs Resort offers accommodation, dining, gas, and groceries for those traveling through the middle of nowhere. Here since the 1930s, it opened as a restaurant and motel serving miners and has been able to survive in one of the world’s hottest places thanks to Darwin Falls, which provides water to the property. The tiny restaurant and bar serves welcome comfort foods like burgers, pizza, fish and fries, and apple pie.

Billed as the world’s largest truck stop, Iowa 80 has several restaurants and gas stations across its vast site near the town of Walcott. There’s a cinema, barbershop, and even a dental surgery too, along with a display of unusual vehicles in shapes from boots to hot dogs. It’s Iowa 80 Kitchen, though, that offers the best food, with a range of breakfast favorites like French toast and corned beef hash, and a dinner menu of homely plates from meatloaf to spaghetti.

Lockport Marketplace and Grill is a one-stop shop for filling up tanks and bellies, although it’s the type of place where people like to stay for a while rather than just grabbing groceries or snacks to go. Open since 1928, the dining room is a cozy space for enjoying fresh-from-the-oven hand pies with flaky pastry encasing beef, carrots, potatoes, and rutabaga. There’s a lovely patio area too.

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Attached to a Shell garage and part of the vast Harris Ranch, also home to a cattle farm and hotel, this fast-casual barbecue restaurant off the I-5 makes a welcome change from your typical gas station fare. Harris Ranch Express BBQ serves proper plate-cleaning, finger-licking food, with the aromas of slow-smoked meat drifting out of the door. Unsurprisingly, Harris Ranch beef – from brisket to tri-tip – dominates the menu.

Many happy customers regard the tacos dished out at Fuel City as the best in Texas, which isn’t bad for a regional chain of tiny counter-serve spots attached to gas stations. Everything is reliably delicious, from breakfast tacos with chorizo and eggs to tender barbacoa and chicken fajitas. It’s great value too. There are locations in Dallas, Cedar Hill, Haltom City, Saginaw, and Mesquite, and several have patio areas or indoor tables.

There’s often a line snaking around the corner by Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que, whose original location is right next to the Shamrock gas station. It's considered among the best barbecue spots in the city, with beautifully smoked and tender ribs and pulled pork. The Z-Man sandwich, stuffed with brisket, cheese, and onion rings, is a favorite, and all plates can be enjoyed inside or on the patio, right behind the pumps.

The Hooshburger, laced with Iranian spices typically used in kebabs, is the thing to order at Pig Trail Bypass Country Cafe, a beloved general store, café, and gas station hybrid. Owned by an Iranian immigrant, the café is tucked along a twisty-turny road in the middle of the Ozarks and its food, along with the friendly service, make it well worth a detour.

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Gas station and dining chain Royal Farms is something of an institution in its home state of Maryland, where the first location, opened in Hampden in 1959, remains a popular spot to grab a meal while filling up on gas. It’s since expanded out of the state and into Delaware, Pennsylvania and Virginia, with a mix of grab-and-go counters, cafés, and full-service restaurants. It’s famous for freshly-fried chicken, made-to-order subs, and breakfast sandwiches made with croissants.

Outposts of Danny & Clyde’s are located in a handful of Food-N-Fun spots in Louisiana, bringing a dine-in option to the chain of convenience stores and gas stations. There’s a range of platters, many showcasing delicious Gulf seafood, although the real stars are the po-boys, with perfectly crisp and chewy sub rolls overstuffed with fillings like fried shrimp, catfish or hot sausage.

The name alone is enough to make us fall for Whoa Nellie Deli, part of the Mobil services near Yosemite. The family-owned business, inside a gas station, is considered a must-stop for travelers en route to the national park. It's loved for its warm service, cozy booths, and crave-worthy food that goes way beyond your typical café fodder. Fried whitefish tacos are a favorite, while other menu items include breakfast burritos, steak and eggs, wild buffalo meatloaf, and vegetarian chili.

Restaurant, bakery, café, convenience store… French Market Express, part of a services area with a gas station and several fast food restaurants, fulfils lots of roles. Most of all, though, this is the place to swing by for a Natchitoches, a Cajun-style meat pie a little like an empanada, filled with beef, pork and spices, and deep-fried. Yam cake is another specialty.

You might expect to find food this flavorsome and vibrant in a treasured neighborhood restaurant. In a gas station off the highway? Not so much. Mr. Kabob opened in Sunoco Gas Station in 2003 and proved so popular there are now four other locations, including one in downtown Detroit. The original remains and is an unusually good spot for zingy fattoush salad, pitta wraps and beautifully marinated meats, made in an open kitchen. The baklava is also particularly good.

The original Billeaud’s – there’s another in Broussard and one in nearby New Iberia – is attached to a gas station on East Main Street. People are more likely to fill up their cars after stopping by for something to eat, rather than the other way around. Established in 1889, it’s best known for boudin, a Cajun sausage made with pork and rice, although the rotating plate lunches are pretty popular too.

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Based in Tupelo and with locations across various states, Dodge’s looks like a mere gas station but has a reputation for serving some of the best fried chicken anywhere. There’s often a line for the crispy chicken, “jojos” (fried potatoes), and pizza, which people grab to take away or eat in. A Gulfport, Mississippi location opened in 2014 with more emphasis on the restaurant service.

Mobil Cafe, attached to the Sunoco station in Olmsted Falls, serves gyros and deli-style sandwiches crammed with cured meats, pickles, and cheese, to-go or to eat in. But it’s the hummus served by owner Khalil Dari and his chef mum that has really taken off. Named Mama Mary’s, it comes in tempting colors and flavors like jalapeño and garlic, and many customers come here just for that.

Originated in Pennsylvania and now in several other states, Wawa is a regional fuel, convenience store, deli, and coffee shop chain that punches way above its weight when it comes to hoagies. The sub sandwiches here are considered some of the best in the state, which is saying something considering this is the birthplace of the Philly cheesesteak. Philadelphia branches even use crusty Italian rolls from legendary bakery, Amoroso’s.

Known as “the Original Rudy’s”, this barbecue restaurant and gas station on the outskirts of San Antonio puts a different spin on “pit stop”. There are now Rudy’s outposts across Texas and elsewhere in the US, but the original Leon Springs location, opened in 1929, stays true to its roots with filling pumps and a no-frills dining room where people can eat tender brisket or baby back ribs cooked in oak-fired pits, along with some delicious sides.

A food truck parked right by a busy fuel station and surrounded by industrial buildings, Arab-American-owned Detroit 75 Kitchen isn’t just a place where people grab a bite after filling up their vehicles. It’s a place that people flock to just because the food is so good. People can grab the most delicious sandwiches, wings and seasoned fries to go or linger on the patio area.

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Next to a Shell gas station, Little Czech Bakery draws on the city of West’s Czech heritage and specializes in kolaches, freshly-baked pastries filled with a range of sweet or savory fillings like fruit with cream cheese or sausage with sauerkraut. People can grab a bag for the road, perhaps with a sandwich or two, or eat in at one of a handful of tables. There's also a deli and store, called Czech Stop, attached to the bakery.

Attached to working gas stations and with a handful of tables, mini-chain The Market is considered one of Charlottesville’s best-kept secrets. Having said that, it’s difficult to keep food this good under wraps. The delis are known for their sandwiches, crammed full of high-quality ingredients like cured meats, cheeses, fresh veggies and house specialties like Cajun roast beef or chipotle chicken with BBQ sauce.

Chef Point straddles the worlds of fine dining restaurants and gas stations unlike any other eatery. This really is elevated cooking, with innovative and impeccably-prepared dishes such as Maple Leaf Duck, Blackened Stuffed Chicken and a particularly moreish lobster mac 'n' cheese. The bread pudding is famous with anyone who’s tried it, while brunch cocktails include a bloody Mary garnished with fried chicken, a slider, and waffle fries. The pump-adjacent location just adds to the appeal.

This snug Spanish spot has been challenging perceptions of gas station dining since it opened in 1981. Right behind a working garage in a building that once housed the car wash, El Carajo serves delicious plates of butter-soft jamón, paella, grilled octopus, crisp sardines, and seared meats. It also has a huge wine list, cozy ambiance, and warm service, adding to its reputation as, not just one of the best gas station restaurants, but one of the city’s best eateries full stop.

Xiao Bao Biscuit brings the most delicious soul food to an old gas station and auto repair shop. The original structure remains, but everything else – from the type of fuel on offer to, we assume, the ambiance – has changed, and most would say for the better. Menu highlights include okonomiyaki (a crunchy, savory Japanese pancake) and bo tai chanh, Vietnamese beef carpaccio with watermelon. The toasted rice ice cream is divine too.

The tamales turned out daily at The Old Oak are truly something special. All the food served at this Mexican taqueria is pretty special, in fact. Sisters Angelina and Made San Juan Rizo bought the old gas station and convenience store in 2000 and have turned it into a favorite spot for visitors and locals, thanks to delicious snacks and meals made to their grandmother’s original recipes.

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With its classic gas station architecture and huge windows showcasing a warm and inviting dining room, an unsuspecting passerby might think Olio is some kind of mirage. Thankfully, it isn’t. The original 1930s Art Deco structure that once housed a Standard Oil Station is now one of the best restaurants in town, serving Israeli-inspired dishes like root vegetable tagine and hummus topped with pulled lamb shoulder. There’s also a sister restaurant, Elaia, next door – in the former gas station owner’s home.

Big Star has two Chicago locations, each serving freshly-made tacos with inventive toppings like wood-grilled chicken, house-made chorizo, pork shoulder, and grilled pineapple. But it's the Wicker Park location that’s really interesting. The restaurant is housed in a now-defunct 1940s gas station, and has stayed true to those roots with décor that includes whitewashed brick, steel beams across the ceiling and garage doors that create an indoor-outdoor space in summer.

The gas station that now houses Southern Soul BBQ on St. Simons, one of Georgia's Golden Isles, was opened in 1955 and kept those who were filling up entertained with attendants dressed in bikinis and a pet chimpanzee. It’s a little different now, thankfully, with the delicious slow-smoked barbecue being the main draw. This is no longer a place to fill up with gas but the restaurant pumps out tender beef, pork, turkey, and wild game to devoted customers and lucky passersby every day.

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