So much for that brilliant idea...

Out on one of my patented gas station remote routes, and snagged the new version of the truck stop evaluation where you have to buy stuff from the hot bar.

I perused the list of acceptable entrées and sides, and it looked like I could make a nice meal out of the meatloaf and green beans and I even looked up the carb count for the Mac and cheese thinking I could enjoy a little splurge (I'm type 2 diabetic).

The site was right down the street from my hotel, so I envisioned checking in after the shop and enjoying my fashionably late lunch along with a beer in my room.

Uh, no.

The hot bar was one of the sorriest things I've ever seen. A couple of sandwiches, some chicken wings and potato wedges were all that were available.

Went with 5 pcs of wings and wedges (nothing to purchase the for the 2nd side requirement) and boy they were beyond nasty...totally icky and dried out. I took a bite out of the smallest potato wedge and a bite of a chicken wing for the evaluation and tossed the rest in the trash. Saving grace was the couple of free packets of blue cheese dressing.

Added to the 10-ft pole list. Luckily I have a nice paying debit card/cash identical purchase at a burger chain in a couple of hours so I can actually have something resembling a meal that someone else paid for.

Have synthesizers, will travel...

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*patented*
You wish!

I guess this is why they are evaluating the hot bar. Hopefully your feedback will improve the experience in the future.

If you went to the small location in Richfield, then they don't have the full selection. Some of the smaller truck stops have a more limited menu in the hot bar.

I've been to locations on my own dime and purchased items from that hot bar. When it's fresh, and everything is available, it's okay. The meatloaf, the green beans, the wings, and the mashed potatoes are all decent when they are fresh.

The Pilot at Ehrenberg, AZ (Interstate 10) border of CA/AZ is super busy. They also have a Cinnabon location in this one. The hot foods there look fresh. I had their 5 SPICY WINGS one time and now I look forward to them when driving back and forth between CA/AZ. They were large (GMO), fresh, and tasted great.

But I don't do these types of shops. I'll gladly pay the $8.xx and enjoy them.

I'm not sure why you got your hopes up about gas station hot food. I would say most of the time, i would expect it to suck and be pleasantly surprised if it did not.

I'm sure you could have seen the potato wedges looking dry thru the glass before buying them.

I also really like the apple wedges with peanut butter from he truck stop conglomerate being discussed.

Taking a hard pass on this round, unless they get bonused up so high that I can't resist.

@hbbigdaddy wrote:

I'm sure you could have seen the potato wedges looking dry thru the glass before buying them.

I had to buy them. There were no other sides available.

Have synthesizers, will travel...

@hbbigdaddy wrote:

I'm not sure why you got your hopes up about gas station hot food.

Because I did a couple when they required a pizza purchase and was suitably impressed.

Was not prepared for the garbage they served up today.

Have synthesizers, will travel...

@KokoBWare wrote:

Taking a hard pass on this round, unless they get bonused up so high that I can't resist.

$$$ is always a motivator! I usually skip past the gas station shops in general because I had such a bad experience with my first one. HOWEVER, I still took three in a loop that required setting an alarm and going very early when they appeared last minute with bonuses. I guess someone must have flaked (or perhaps overcommitted) as there was a strict time window attached but the job itself was relatively simple and straightforward.

thanks for the info on these shops. I have not seen them in Central CA eventhough a truck stop center opened last year.

I haven't tried one of these yet but I will say the stores by me usually seem to have fresh looking food. I wasn't impressed by the pizza but people natively from Chicago are notorious for being a bit picky with pizza.

CoolMusic, does the report ask a fair amount of questions about the quality of the food?
Sounds bad so maybe the feedback will be helpful (I know, I am nuts).

I never considered food at those places, thinking I would be the one that got the old, reheated or just not prepared with Food Safety standards. Then I tried those soft tacos in the South, at a QT. They had brisket, pork or chicken. They were very good. Then I was in Alabama 2 months ago and finally went to Buc-ee's. The one I went to was so clean and the food prep areas were also clean. Expensive food items, but all was surprisingly good and the staff are so kind and helpful. The bathrooms were super clean, too. The pump islands were perfectly clean and stocked. Too bad it is not a shop, but there were at least 60 pumps, so not for me unless they started at $400.00, lol.

I would love to visit an actual Cinnabon location. Yum! Yum! That would be heaven.

@hbbigdaddy wrote:

The Pilot at Ehrenberg, AZ (Interstate 10) border of CA/AZ is super busy. They also have a Cinnabon location in this one. The hot foods there look fresh. I had their 5 SPICY WINGS one time and now I look forward to them when driving back and forth between CA/AZ. They were large (GMO), fresh, and tasted great.

But I don't do these types of shops. I'll gladly pay the $8.xx and enjoy them.

I'm not sure why you got your hopes up about gas station hot food. I would say most of the time, i would expect it to suck and be pleasantly surprised if it did not.

I'm sure you could have seen the potato wedges looking dry thru the glass before buying them.

Shopping Arkansas, Louisiana, & Mississippi.

If you have a Cinnaholic in your state, you will never think about Cinnabon again. Better ingredients, better taste, better selections.

@hbbigdaddy wrote:

I'm not sure why you got your hopes up about gas station hot food. I would say most of the time, i would expect it to suck and be pleasantly surprised if it did not.

I used to knock out all of the ampm stores in my area back in the day. They would often be in the same center as other shops I was doing. I would not consider eating a corn dog from there now that I know about the date and time codes. Oldest was a corn dog that had been in the warmer for over 7 hours. Barf.

I see men stopping in for pizza, hot dogs, etc after work or at lunch. I guess they sell plenty, but I never could do it.

We took a page out of Cool's book and drove overnight to a VERY well bonused lighting audit because they close while the sun is still up in the evening. By the time I got home I was a physical mess, and I couldn't sleep. I'm not doing that again unless I can find a way to sleep, I don't do hotel rooms.

no hot dogs on the roller grill? im type 2 as well.. just get them without a bun.

shopping north west PA and south west ny

@thunderdeacon wrote:

If you went to the small location in Richfield, then they don't have the full selection.

Shopped that one on my last loop under the older program. The Best Western there was really nice!

This one was Rock Springs, WY. Shopped it the next day before leaving town as a competitor shop. :-D

Have synthesizers, will travel...

@cooldude581 wrote:

no hot dogs on the roller grill? im type 2 as well.. just get them without a bun.

Those are not allowed. The purchase has to be made from the hot bar with a specific list of allowed mains and side items.

Have synthesizers, will travel...

@BarefootBliss wrote:

CoolMusic, does the report ask a fair amount of questions about the quality of the food?
Sounds bad so maybe the feedback will be helpful (I know, I am nuts).

Just a list of check boxes with a range of positive and negative adjectives. No narratives.

Have synthesizers, will travel...

@joanna81 wrote:

...but people natively from Chicago are notorious for being a bit picky with pizza.

Where I was born!

I'm all about Lou Malnati's, but want to do Pequod's next visit, along with a place doing tavern-style.

What's your Chicago pizza jam?

Have synthesizers, will travel...

CoolMusic, I think we're similar in some ways. Type 2 Diabetes, Dallas, Chicago, but I don't play music!

Our hotel tonight and tomorrow is less than a mile from a Pilot.....hmmm...maybe check it out lol. If it's a bust, there's always Steak n Shake next door....have never eaten anything from either place.
- big sign out the window here "Live Baby Alligators"
The US of A, baby - get your wings and gators all in one stop lol.

@CoolMusic wrote:

@joanna81 wrote:

...but people natively from Chicago are notorious for being a bit picky with pizza.

Where I was born!

I'm all about Lou Malnati's, but want to do Pequod's next visit, along with a place doing tavern-style.

What's your Chicago pizza jam?

We get Lou's for Super Bowl Sunday, that's my husband's thing. I like a place called Arrenello's - they only have two or three locations I believe - they're my #1, followed by Aurelios, and Beggers. Paisan's is pretty good too. There's a whole fb group dedicated to Chicago tavern style pizza, check it out for whatever part of the city you're in!

@purpleicee wrote:

I never considered food at those places, thinking I would be the one that got the old, reheated or just not prepared with Food Safety standards. Then I tried those soft tacos in the South, at a QT. They had brisket, pork or chicken. They were very good. Then I was in Alabama 2 months ago and finally went to Buc-ee's. The one I went to was so clean and the food prep areas were also clean. Expensive food items, but all was surprisingly good and the staff are so kind and helpful. The bathrooms were super clean, too. The pump islands were perfectly clean and stocked. Too bad it is not a shop, but there were at least 60 pumps, so not for me unless they started at $400.00, lol.

I've never really considered the food at them either, but I'm on a pretty high travel route and the Pilots and Flying J's have stepped up their game in terms of food. It almost always looks fresh. There are three in my area. One has a Cinnabon and Wendy's, one has a Denny's, and one has a Taco Bell/Subway/Cinnabon and they also serve hot food.

The competitor store (Love's) gets stupid busy and gross. I haven't been able to figure out why they're always busy because their pumps are really close together & terrible to navigate and bathrooms are usually a mess too. There's a TA/BP that is outdated and really needs a facelift. It previously had a family restaurant that was mediocre but that is being taken over by Burger King.

That Best Western is nice. I have also stayed at the super 8 and the quality inn in Richfield. Those were both nice as well. The quality inn was the best, but it was, not surprisingly, the most expensive.

If you ever need to stay in Rock Springs, the "Motel 8" and the Studio 6 are both great at a budget price.

@CoolMusic wrote:

@thunderdeacon wrote:

If you went to the small location in Richfield, then they don't have the full selection.

Shopped that one on my last loop under the older program. The Best Western there was really nice!

This one was Rock Springs, WY. Shopped it the next day before leaving town as a competitor shop. :-D

@Okie wrote:

...Dallas,...but I don't play music!

While Big D in July is not a prime travel choice, my poor snakebitten Atlanta Braves are playing the Rangers my birthday weekend, and we are a big time baseball family, so coming home for a couple of games, along with BBQ and TexMex!

As for the music... if everybody played, there would be nobody to listen ;-)

Have synthesizers, will travel...

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/05/2025 12:31AM by CoolMusic.

@thunderdeacon wrote:

If you ever need to stay in Rock Springs, the "Motel 8" and the Studio 6 are both great at a budget price.

The 8 was my goto for years when I was traveling my sales territory, and when mystery shopping during tight times.

As posted elsewhere, I'm working my Best Western perks these days after having my BW rewards card tied up with a long-term low interest balance transfer.

That's now paid off, and I received a windfall this year, so I'm going exclusively BW whenever possible for max rewards and tax write-offs. My most recent set of routes netted me a couple of $50 gift cards to keep the thing rolling.

So this past trip was the Outlaw in RS. Sorry to see their lounge/restaurant is shut down. It was nice being able to get a real draft beer after spending the day working my way in from Utah. Now I head for Old Chicago.

Have synthesizers, will travel...

Yeah, the poor Braves need to erect a pole with the copper snake wrapped around it, so they can look at it and move on.

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