McLEAN, VA – Another day, another major media source touting the enhanced fare at gas stations and convenience stores. USA Today highlighted the upscale food options at gas stations, a growing nationwide trend.
“If you've never chowed down at a gas station, well, maybe it's time to reconsider,” USA Today writes. “Five-star filling stations are popping up across the nation. And they will surprise you, in a good way. I'm talking pork-belly sandwiches, tapenade-topped goat burgers and pan-seared sea scallops. Not your standard gas-station fare.”
The Valero gas station in the U Street area of Washington, D.C. is one station that is turning heads with its food. Its Fast Gourmet convenience store offers yellow fin tuna steak, spinach pie, eggplant fries, and chivito, a tenderloin-and-ham sandwich. (See more on Fast Gourmet in the recently released 2013 NACS “Ideas 2 Go” DVD)
Frequent customer Daniel Shorstein says it's "a legit food establishment hiding in a gas station, but it really does have delicious food."
It’s not alone, says Jeff Lenard, vice president of strategic industry initiatives at the National Association of Convenience Stores, predicting that there will be many more of this new breed of gas station in the future.
"It just makes sense,” Lenard said, likening it to great restaurants located in hotels.
"They are where people gather, and they have a built-in customer base," he said. "The same characteristics that gas stations have. The potential is there. However, restaurants cost millions, and gas stations do not."
Paula Nwaeze, co-owner of Chef Point Café in Watauga, Texas, a restaurant attached to a gas station, attests to that.
"We could not get a loan for a restaurant, but banks were very willing to lend for a c-store 10 years ago," she said. "Just making lemonade out of lemons."
Greg Parker, president and CEO of Parker’s Market Urban Gourmet in Savannah, Georgia, is also finding upscale foodservice success.
"We currently do $6 million in annual sales," he said. "Our store was actually picked by TripAdvisor last year as the fourth-best restaurant in the city.”
Other stores cited in the article include The Green Spot (Dallas, TX), Uptown Chevron Food Mart & Car Wash (Maui, HI), Tioga Gas Mart (Lee Vining, CA), and Saxapahaw General Store (Saxapahaw, NC).