Why Andrew Zimmern Says Your Next Great Meal Might Be At A Gas Station

Chef and television personality Andrew Zimmern may be best known for eating such fare as coral worms in destinations like Samoa on his series "Bizarre Foods," but there's a much less remote locale where he loves to chow down: gas stations. "I love gas station food," he told the Des Moines Register in May 2025. Zimmern has traveled extensively across the United States over the last 25 years and by dint of this has eaten a lot of meals at gas stations. He's come to appreciate these down-home dishes, whether it's boudin — the unique sausage made from pork, rice, and spices — in Louisiana (we can attest to this one) or breakfast burritos chock full of chorizo when he's in the Southwest.

Yes, gas stations have had a questionable reputation vis-a-vis food. There was the 2017 botulism outbreak in California linked to gas station nachos, specifically the cheese, for instance. But on the other hand, gas stations have given birth to such well-respected establishments as Island Burgers & Bites, which was named the best cheeseburger in North Carolina in 2022 by Yelp and one of the best restaurants in the state two years later. For Zimmern, convenience stores and gas stations, at least the good ones, can offer the chance to deeply explore regional culture through food. 

When he isn't chowing down on bizarre foods, you're likely to find Andrew Zimmern enjoying a lox bagel in New York City, or some gas station pizza, of which he says he's an aficionado. He even teamed up with Casey's, a Midwest gas station chain, to promote its barbecue brisket pizza. Eating gas station fare isn't just about convenience or cost, although those are important factors, but also the adventure of culinary discovery, according to Zimmern, who claims not to be an elitist regarding food.

Walking into a gas station in Arizona, you may discover that the three elderly women in back are making homemade breakfast burritos, which adds up to a "very, very, very special place, and you're about to eat something really extraordinary — and they're all hiding in plain sight," he told Fox News Digital in May 2025. He enjoys Chester's Fried Chicken, clam shacks in New England, and even those day-go colored sweet and salty Kool-Aid pickles when he's down South. So next time you stop for gas, peruse the food options like Zimmern does. You may find a unique treat in the most unexpected of places.