I Tried Gas Station Food Around the World—These Are the 5 Tastiest Spots

I was on an assignment to photograph the poppy fields of Tuscany in 2018, driving along Italy’s Autostrada A1, when my stomach started to growl. Fresh off a red-eye flight to Rome, I had barely eaten anything since leaving New York City. Then, somewhere near the tiny village of Foglia, after miles of endless fields, I saw a red-and-white sign for the Italian gas-station chain Autogrill. 

At first, I resigned myself to a soggy sandwich and can of Pringles. But after parking my Fiat 500, I found myself in an Eataly-style food court. A deli case was filled with fresh panini and piadine stuffed with salumi, cheeses, tomatoes, and arugula. Nearby, an oven churned out focaccia-style pizzas, finished with fresh basil. At the steaming pasta station, the day’s specials included linguine with bright-green pesto.

This was a far cry from the gas stations in upstate New York where I grew up, with their hot dogs and heat-lamp pizzas. I sat outside under the Tuscan sun and bit into a toasted prosciutto-and-mozzarella sandwich, followed by a Nutella-filled cornetto and a double espresso made by a uniformed barista.

That meal not only introduced me to the joys of Autogrill but also opened my eyes to the gourmet delights available in gas stations across the world. Whenever I travel now, I make a point of popping in to highway rest stops for an unpolished glimpse of the local food culture.

My best roadside fast food may have been in Japan. In 2024 I was on a temple-to-temple hike through Shikoku, the smallest of the country’s four main islands, when I walked into a 7-Eleven in the village of Itano. Inside I found aisle after aisle of artfully packaged delicacies: onigiri, or rice balls, stuffed with everything from plum to mackerel; bento with chicken katsu, shrimp tempura, and pickled daikon; ramen bowls; and a long shelf of crustless sandwiches. This was my first konbini, a Japanese convenience store. I was famished, so I bought a little bit of everything: karaage (fried chicken), an egg-salad sandwich, hijiki with tofu, and gyoza. I took my haul to a bench outside Konsenji, a ninth-century Buddhist temple, and had an impromptu picnic.

In some pockets of the world, gas stations are synonymous with street food. During a visit to Quebec, where I went kayaking at Saguenay Fjord National Park in 2019, I stopped to refill at a Sonic along Route 170 and left with a bag of cheese curds—a popular snack that’s a key ingredient in poutine, the signature dish of Quebec. The curds were not only warm and farm-fresh but also fun to eat, squeaking with every bite.

In Iceland, gas stations sell a kind of hot dog called a pylsa, usually made with organic local lamb. It is often topped with crispy and raw onions, slathered with piquant sauces (including rémoulade and sweet brown mustard), and served on a toasted bun. Bill Clinton famously ordered one in 2004 with mustard only—a peculiar request that has since become known as “The Clinton.” I prefer mine fully loaded.

In Tasmania, Australia, where I went road-tripping in 2024, I stopped in to a Shell station in the fishing village of Dunalley and ordered two beef pies that had been toasted in an oven. Flakes of pastry fell on my lap as I ate the warm, savory pies while driving my rented Toyota SUV back to Hobart for one last night on the town.

Gas stations in the U.S., the birthplace of the drive-thru, have also gotten the memo. At Circle K shops throughout the South, customers can buy hand-breaded Krispy Krunchy Chicken. Casey’s, a Midwest-based chain, is known for its breakfast pizzas, which are prepared on site and baked to order.

Change has even come to my childhood home in upstate New York, where a family-run enterprise called Flory’s operates five gas-and-deli locations with made-in-house sandwiches, salads, and soups, as well as hot foods like lasagna. The question now is not where I’ll stop for gas, but what delicious surprise might be waiting for me when I do. 

A version of this story first appeared in the December 2025 issue of Travel + Leisure under the headline “Time to Refuel.”