The Gas Station Chain That Serves Up Duff Goldman's Favorite Fast Food

There's no harm in liking the occasional fast food or convenience store meal, no matter how great of a cook you are. In fact, some of them can really be pretty good. And while there are some items you maybe shouldn't order at a gas station, Duff Goldman, a chef and Food Network personality, suggests it's worth ordering the meatball sub from Sheetz.

"The two things I love about Sheetz are the bizarrely huge beverage selection and the meatball sub," Goldman told Thrillist of his favorite fast food meal. "I like the way the sauce melts into the bread and it gets all saucy and doughy." It's not necessarily one of the best meatball subs in the U.S.; a Sheetz meatball sub starts out pretty basic. It's just meatballs simmered in tomato sauce, which are added to a long roll and can be topped with cheeses like mozzarella or provolone. You can choose up to two cheese types. The sandwiches are customizable, so you can skip the cheese altogether if you want, or even swap out a long roll for a pretzel roll or wrap.

Interestingly, some Sheetz employees don't love making the sub. In an r/Sheetz subreddit, one presumed employee said making meatball subs gets difficult because of how much people customize them. "We are given the worse sub rolls known to man, and then y'all want the most on them," they wrote. "We get skinny rolls and have to try our best to make it look half way decent." Goldman didn't mention any customizations in his sandwich, so maybe he's one of the good ones.

If you want to try a Sheetz meatball sub, there's nothing wrong with keeping it simple: a no-frills sub on a long roll with your choice of cheese. But Sheetz fans aren't afraid to spice up this classic sub, either. If you don't know what to order at Sheetz or it's your first time, one Reddit user on r/Sheetz wrote, "My go-to is a meatball sub with double provolone and bacon." The suggestion received a handful of replies, with one person saying, "How have I never thought to add bacon to a meatball sub?"

One Facebook user took the customization a step further. In addition to adding melted parmesan cheese, they also picked mozzarella sticks for a boost of crispy, cheesy goodness. The sandwich was made with peppers, onions, and pepperoni as well (probably one of those tougher customizations the previous Redditor mentioned!). Still, it's hard to argue with how good it sounds. Sheetz has a number of "MTO" (made to order) sandwiches, including the meatball sub, which allows customers to add nearly anything they want to their sub. While Duff Goldman might keep it simple, the benefit of customizing seems to have people keep coming back.