Twizzlers,, Pringles (regular) and Reeces Pieces. How can one possibly go on a road trip without them.
1
Beaver Nuggets are exclusive to a particular Texas convenience store chain. They are highly addictive and are a valued gift for a whole group of friends when we travel.
5
I warmly endorse this recommendation!
Route 11 Potato Chip when you are on Route 11. Take a factory tour when you are in Virginia. http://www.rt11.com
OMG! Pack your own food!
4
This is like a joke! Is it meant to be satire? This was such a disappointment to see. How did it get past the editors? What about at least suggesting leaving home with good snacks and gas stations supplementing? Why not talk about starting in the car with crisp apples, carrots, granola bars or trail mix, grapes, etc....for some fun food, maybe peanut butter filled pretzels, oh-and let's not forget some plain, unadulterated water! or perhaps enhanced with fresh mint or lemon.
2
A woman after my own heart! We do healthy at home 360 days a year! So, on the rare occasions I do a 5-6 hour road trip (2-6 times a year), it's definitely junk-food time! Starbucks mochas or Dr. Pepper or sweet tea for the caffeine, taco bell or Doritos or kettle corn for the crunching to keep me awake, and Butterfingers--well, just because!!!
3
The only real option on that list is the banana. Most places have yogurt and other fruit, whole grain and/or protein bars, iced tea and fruit juices... The local potato chips are a treat, not nutrition. The fat and sodium in many of the options listed are unhealthy at best. Pack your own food - that’s what I do. Take a cooler. There’s always ice.
2
On all road trips of more than 2 hours or so, I pack a cooler with my own homemade sandwiches, hard boiled eggs, fruit, oatmeal cookies and the like -- things that pack well, last a long time and don't crumble or fall apart & make a huge mess in the car. I have a variety of little ice packs to stick in the insulated cooler -- generally even in summer, this will keep everything cool until evening or longer. (Much longer in winter, even to the next day.) I also bring cans of soda -- on sale, they can cost as little as 30 cents each vs. paying $1.50 and more in a Kwickie Mart. Any freeway purveyor of food is a rip off -- they know they have a captive audience of desperate, hungry, bored travelers. My parents did this, and of course as a kid I hated it -- I wanted to eat the barbecue chips and greasy hot dogs and overpriced sodas at the freeway stops. But my parents saw this as a rip off (they were less concerned 50 years ago about the poor nutritional value). And of course, I did it on trips with MY kids in the 80s and 90s....and they hated it too. They wanted to impulse-buy junk food. But it's one thing for one adult to indulge for themselves and another for a parent who has to buy food for 2 adults and 3-4 kids!
2
Now I’m sitting at home wishing I had Funyuns and a Big Gulp. We used to drive up the coast of California with coffee nips, twizzlers, and lemon drops, stopping for ice cream and hamburgers at a local greasy spoon when we got hungry. I miss doing it.
7
Eating in the car is a mindless activity. Might as well mindlessly eat mostly healthy things like baby carrots, clementines, nuts, etc, and maybe a few junk food. Then you consume less salt, get less thirsty, need fewer bathroom stops too.
2
Nothing that involving pork rinds could ever be considered "smarter living." Nothing.
2
Love a road trip, with a map, not a gps. Sure I pack the healthy stuff, nuts, apples, banana and bottled water...but the pleasure of "oh well, middle of nowhere, I guess I'd better gas up, and hitting the road again with 2 small cartons of whole milk and a Snickers bar. Mmm.
2
No sunflower seeds? Travesty.
3
#1. Do not substitue any "Diet Coke" for the Mexican Coke. The local Diet Coke sometimes has a chemical taste and aftertaste.
#9. Definitely Cornnuts, but only the original flavor.
I doubt that my dentist would be impressed with the gummi candy.
2
FYI, I worked at a convenience store for a few months in college, and we never changed the roller dogs. Rolling when I came in for the day, rolling when I went home.
3
Oh goodness...What a list; as terrible and nutritionally-lacking as it is.
This "treats" list will only strongly encourage travelers to
pack waters, fresh fruit/veggies before backing out
of their driveways.
I'll take the train ...
7
Ever since I discovered them on a United flight, I don't travel anywhere without Dutch stroopwafels. They're great right out of the package, but they can also be warmed, on a 'to-go' coffee, on the dashboard, a heated seat... lots of creative options.
6
The brand is "Daelmans". I'm seeing them everywhere now.
The headline said, "snacks," not "junk food," so, yes, I was expecting at least a few things on the list to be lower in sugar, salt, and/or fat, and that's why I clicked on this. (But, I'll admit that I probably should have been clued in by the phrase "gas station"-- my mistake.) To those who are saying, "But this is supposed to be fun food, for when I'm on vacation," I do have to respond that when you're actually doing a long drive in the car is the absolute worst time to be eating things like this. I had gestational diabetes during a pregnancy, and had to check my blood glucose regularly. It would be high as a result of long car rides (i.e., inertia) even if I ate the way I was supposed to. Truly, if we must eat junk food, it should be indulged in at times we're able to do at least moderate activity.
4
Vienna sausages and saltine crackers. Second choice would be Spam sandwiches with onion and yellow mustard on white bread. Pork skins are great too!
4
Pork rinds for the win. I look for local ones with a bit of meat in them as opposed to pure skin cracklings. One of the best was in Milton Keynes in the UK on the commute to London. It was so good, I brought a couple on the plane for the 7-hour haul across the pond on the plane ride home.
Instead of salsa, I opt for spicy vinegar.
3
As a former long-distance commuter, I made a serious mistake by always having a bottle of Coca-Cola within grabbing distance. The cane sugar content of Mexican Coke added to my already widening waistline, as did the physical immobility driving demands hour after hour on various turnpikes and expressways. Coke’s addictive caffeine content led to gritted teeth and physical tension, along with an urgent need to eyeball the horizon for available bathrooms. The trick, I finally discovered, was to sidestep the heavily-salted packaged snacks that triggered thirst. Switching to bottled water and the apples and other fruits available at most rest stops made for a happier and healthier drive, as well as a slightly slimmer silhouette.
9
Pringles are NOT potato chips. Period.
17
C'mon people! This list is for road trips, not every day eating. Everything in moderation, even moderation in moderation. Especially with boiled pnuts!
7
Can someone enlighten me please? how do you identify "mexican coke"? Is it labelled as such? would love to try it. thanks!
3
Read the ingredients. Mexican Coke, and almost every soda outside the US, is made with either cane sugar or regular sugar. If the ingredients include High Fructose Corn Syrup, it’s American!
10
Stores and restaurants that sell Mexican Coke advertise it as such. Like the writer of this story, I am not a soda drinker, but occasionally will make the exception for Mexican Coke. Unlike the writer, I prefer it with lime to lemon, or unadulterated.
6
Mexican Coke, Gummi Bears, & Beef Sticks.
Rate your junk food. Right.
Underripe bananas are not particularly healthy, but who cares.
For more healthy and lasting (if calorific, but who's counting), try trail mix.
(Speaking as one of those elistists who cares about your health ...)
5
This point of a gas station junk food list is not health. It’s tasty fun indulgence. I also disagree with the inclusion of banana. Substitute Doritos and the list is perfect.
10
I thought this piece was satire or dark humor at first, like the recipe I once came across in a satirical book on southern cooking for a potato chip sandwich, which merely required white bread, mayonnaise, and potato chips.
7
mayo sammiches are real, forget the potato chips and add dill pickles if you want the high faluten version.
10
I would have loved to hear about the regional specialties! In the Southern US, I like Whoopie pies (or their equivalents) and in British Columbia, Canada, I love Nanaimo bars. The author is to be commended for her effort but this is a pretty bland list. I suspect they don't eat much junk food in general. There is a time to be healthy and a time to relax!
BTW, not gas station food, but a few decades ago, Jane and Michael Stern wrote the classic "Road Food" about their travels eating across the US.
7
We live almost two hours from the closest airport with good connections to international flights. So, after a 15 hour overnight flight back with several connections, gas station sandwiches are a special treat for the long drive home. And this being France, I can always find my favorite, smoked salmon with a fresh cream dill sauce.
13
Look for as close to whole foods as possible. Morning coffee with fat free milk and a banana. Later on the day look for nuts, trail mix and dried fruit. Drink water. Need something sweet, go for a pure chocolate bar, perferably dark chocolate. Snickers bars are ok too.
6
You missed the point. That is how I live my everyday life too. But vacations and holidays are fun and there are no rules. Junk food and day drinking are allowed. It is when I will actually let my kids have McDonalds. Holiday treats are not monitored. We are healthy and active so we can pull this off 4 week’s out of 52.
10
low fat milk isn't healthy, it's just pasteurized homogenized to sugar water
3
I look for candy I used to enjoy as a kid, specifically Big Cherry Bars and Big Mountain Bars. Can't get 'em in the Midwest.
3
I bought some pork rinds one time, and left the ones I did not eat in the bag overnight in the car, and in the morning they were soft and soggy, but nothing beats a super cold Pepsi in a can.
1
Roller grill hot dogs are revolting. You would have to be desperate, indeed. I love a good dog, and those things are an insult to frankfurters of all sorts. MuckyD is preferable.
2
Ms. Severson, you forgot the ice-cream fridge, with an array of overwhelming choices in colorful wrappers, a children's oasis of sweet delights! The best selection of coffee is also to be found at Our Town's Gas Station from Ethiopia to Farmland Brew at 99 cents a pop and is much better than what is on offer at our coffee house for the tourists. We also have a choice of Chai for tea drinkers, and at least a variety of twenty-one sodas on tap in plastic bottles.
The roller-grill hot dog is sizzling away on a 24/7 basis, and pizza slices smothered in cheese and choriso is another great favorite for those on the highway.
The pastries are deliciously sticky, and the muffins topped with colorful icing are fit for Henry the VIII. The gigantic cupcakes have sugar green toppings, white icing and chocolate sprinkles (the ingredients are listed, but it helps if you have a taken a course in chemistry and are able to pronounce these, let alone recognize what you are eating).
Two egg and sausage fried rolls, with a jumbo soda, cost less than $4.99, and a satisfying way to begin breakfast.
I bet the French would have trouble topping this, and the office of our Town Doctor is to be seen at a near distance. Let's keep wolfing down these snacks and candies, and save the peanuts for the elephants.
For those who are not in a party-mood, there is always a bowl by the counter with three lonely apples and a banana. They are made of plastic and make us feel jazzy.
8
Peanut M&Ms "can hang around on the console for long-term, intermittent snacking"? Not in my experience!
5
One item overlooked.
Years ago, rest stops on the New York Thruway (I think they were called "Hot Shoppes"), would sometimes stock fresh hard boiled eggs.
Granted, shell fragments could litter your lap and the car; but if you knew how to blow the egg out of the shell, that greatly diminishes the mess.
If you feel the need for salt, just put the egg in one of your empty Chip Bags and shake it in the bag.
7
Hot jalapeño burger off the rolling grill, followed by a Snickers bar-- from a truck stop in Lamar, Pennsylvania.
4
Disgusting - pack a cooler!
17
i agree with you! There are absolutely no places on any road in this country that serve "food". Everything else at a rest stop would either make me too sick to continue, or too miserable to my copilot. Bring good snacks, and you don't need to eat a lot anyhow, because you are just sitting there!
tip: stop every hour to stretch or do some yoga for fifteen minutes, you'll feel a lot better than eating any of those "recommended foods".
2
Cheerwine. Pepsi, never Coke. Broaden your horizons NYT.
2
Literally never Pepsi.
6
I cringe at the thought of "dumping on" a "packet of salsa" into a bag of pork rinds. But I can attest to the joy of Better Mades in Michigan.
4
Around Cleveland OH, we have something called "Gas Station Hummus" which is a true on road pleasure.
2
A mistake was made here...Corn Nuts are #2 on the list, after soda -- they require a lot of chewing, keeping you awake, and take a relatively long time to eat, occupying you for longer. Also super salty -- delicious.
After reading this article I no longer wonder why America has an obesity problem.
28
My late husband and I moved 14 times in our 31 years of marriage. We always drove when we moved. This funny article brought back a few memories. Fanta orange soda in 107 degree weather in the middle of Kansas in August when my husband said after he chugged the whole can of Fanta "I was so hot I thought my eyes were going to roll back in my head."
8
Yes, Mexican Coke, in a glass bottle is a real treat -- altogether different from Coke made with high fructose corn syrup. Mexican Dr. Pepper is also excellent as a treat.
My favorite roadside snack? Cheetos, hands down.
11
Beef jerky is rather astronomically high in sodium and more "binding" than cheese. There is a plus. During summer travel it does rather save on times with "rest stops".
2
I lived on the Mexican border in Arizona, and I could tell the difference between American Coke and Mexican Coke. The Mexican version seemed sweeter, but it was a lot less expensive, maybe half the price for a case of returnables.
1
What a great article. I will relate one of our experiences. Once, in the middle of nowhere, at a gas station in the middle of nowhere by itself, they had something called redhot hot dogs. The cashier warned they were quite spicy. Well, they weren't all that spicy, and they were delicious. So much so that I asked if they had packages of them to sell. They did have frozen packs of them to sell us, and we bought 3. Some local brand, we hoarded them as long as we could. I also look for those pretzels shaped liked flowers with sunflower seeds sprinkled on top. Yum.
5
Twizzlers, artificial flavor but chewy consistancy, lasts a long time and helps keep you awake while driving.
16
Just reading this article brought several flashbacks of road trips from years ago, with children. Thanks.
Glad to see pork rinds getting their due - great idea about the salsa, although clean up in the car might be troublesome. I will definitely be more locally courageous when purchasing potato chips in future - Miss Vickie's Sweet Chili & Sour Cream (the blue bag) are current favourites and maybe only in Canada? Very interesting about the cane sugar but any full sugar soda - never! As for meat - i'm not brave enough yet but if that day ever comes I will be taking your advice.
4
Anything from Wawa if you're in New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania or Maryland. People are obsessed with it for a reason. I'm particularly fond of the fresh salads and the sliced mangoes.
12
Stuckey's pecan log rolls.
Nuff said.
14
Yes. These actually should be the ONLY thing on the list. The idea of heat- lamp hotdogs, packaged pork rinds, Gummi bears, or a can of Pringles makes me ill.
5
All gross except for Mexican cane sugar coke. Most entertaining article.
7
America could improve gas station snacks (and other comestible options) tremendously by emulating the Auto Grills found in Italy.
https://www.dalluva.com/wine-journal/italian-fast-food-autogrill-style/
11
Thanks for the link. I am now interested in road tripping in Italy. They deserve high marks indeed if this is their "road food"!
1
The dazzling array of excellent choices in Italy’s Auto Grills is enough to make a grown person weep (from envy and knowing that there’s nothing like them here in the U.S.).
2
Pack some fruit. Spread some peanut butter between two slices of bread. Fill your water bottle with....water. Healthier, cheaper, more refreshing and (YES) so much easier.
24
Where is the fun in that!
18
This is what my husband and I do on our car trips. This approach produces very little trash; the food doesn't go bad in hot weather, so a cooler isn't needed; everything comes from your own kitchen, so it saves time, and (last but not least) it's good for you.
6
I fear you have completely missed the point. A shame.
19
You guys totally discredited yourselves by mentioning Pringles. If you can't find a good local brand of chips, why in the world would you recommend Pringles as the next best thing? Even a bag of plain old Lays are better, but the best chips of all are any of the specialty flavors by Cape Cod Potato Chips.
If you're gonna eat Pringles, wash them down with some Bud Lite - another national bland --oops I meant brand
17
The packaging.
6
Tim's jalepeno potato chips found in Oregon and Washington are the superior regional chip.
3
Mexican Coke with a bag of peanuts poured in. That's what a Texan calls lunch and a good one at that.
8
Should have included some local drug stores for antidotes!
3
The sentiment "tight as twizzlers" makes me hungry for road tripping with friends and family. The actual twizzlers, not so much.
2
Adding literary excitement to a terrible list of options; local bad food is still bad. Add alka-seltzer, or just get some fruits from home.
2
Our annual six hour road trip across northern New England manages to avoid the Interstate and host many opportunities for excellent snackage. If we leave in the morning by lunch we're on the hunt for gas station lobster rolls and Maine crabmeat sandwiches...In Vermont a real maple Creemee is on often on offer, but in Maine there's a switch to hard ice cream...often blueberry. And don't forget the stack of whoopie pies behind the counter.
21
Maybe its just me, but "gas station" and "lobster" (or crab) just do not go together. I'd worry a lot about if they kept it fresh or cold enough! You can get horribly sick on spoiled seafood -- and on a road trip! the horror!
1
In between the gas station stops, I go with PB&J, a camp stove and Nescafé Classic, and a bottle of whiskey for a sip at the end of the day.
8
Have to agree with the cracklin' comment, especially if you're taking I-10 through Louisiana. I bought a bag of fresh, hot cracklin's once in Scott, Louisiana, thinking it would last me to San Antonio.
They didn't even make it as far as Lake Charles.
5
My pro tip is to find a different weird flavor of potato chips at each gas station. (My all-time favorites: prime rib and buffalo chicken dip.) I agree on the peanut m&m's. Consider an ice cream bar if they have a selection, as well. And in certain places you may find regional sodas as well as regional potato chips. Branch out beyond Coca-Cola.
5
Ahhh. Cane sugar (Mexican Coke). In my routine life I never drink "sugared" beverages. I preach to my patients the evils of corn syrup. But.... REAL COKE. The ice may make it last longer, the lemon does not improve the taste of this world's most perfect refreshment. "Mainline" it ice cold, undiluted with a salty local chip and experience the Grand Canyon while you're still traveling in Kansas.
14
You had me at peanut M&M's
What a wonderful invention.
12
Pretzel sticks are great for this road trip driver when boredom and sleepiness set in. The crunch seems to lessen the chance of falling into a lull of inattention. (Of course I do pull off the road if I'm truly sleepy.}
6
Caramel corn in Wisconsin made with butter available in machines at rest stops and gas stations. Pepperoni rolls in WV. Gas station fried chicken in Ohio.
1
I say this as someone who loves reading the NY Times Food column and respects all the authors who contribute to making it such a good section of the paper: writing these summer food articles was a great idea in theory but pretty bad in execution. They're a good example of why a lot of people think y'all are East coast elites. Get the most expensive beef jerky? Curly Fries are only for people under 12? You have to realize how pretentious that sounds. Road trip food is deeply personal and nostalgic, evoking memories of that trip to Galveston with Mom or that summer Dad took us on a road trip through the Southwest. If I want to get the most unhealthy, preservative laden, delicious candy and chips 7-Eleven has to offer, that's what I'm going go do. I will eat the mysterious but utterly fantastic gas station tacos. I will put all 10 brands of soda in my cup aavailable at the soda fountain and my 20 year old self will love it. Don't try to push your opinions into my experiences. Instead, tell me a story, tell me why you love corn nuts and hate steak fries. Tell me about the first time you tried Mexican Coke. But let me keep my jalapeno kettle chips and pretzel M&M's.
42
Speaking as a pretentious elitist, your choices sound better than those in the article.
3
This is the comments section, but there's always the Op Ed section if you think you can channel your inner Hemmingway and reach an audience of more than 27 readers...
1
If possible, point your road wagon to a near-by supermarket with international offerings; once there, look for quicos corn nuts (if I'm not mistaken, Goya, maybe Badia?, sells a version for around $1 a small bag), which are by far more delicate and tender than the national-brand Corn Nuts, which are akin to chewing teeth. As for regional chips, even though they've been bought by one of the conglomerates and are now perhaps nationally distributed, Cape Cod reduced-sodium chips are seriously addictive.
3
Hi there,
Just a note on bananas; they’re best eaten a little more ripe and bruised than unripe and green yellow and ‘perfect’ looking. This is actually not good for your digestion.
15
I agree on the better banana, but based on the rest of this author's choices, I'm not sure that "good for your digestion" is a huge priority...
11
And how hard is it to dispose of the peel? Out the window! It's biodegradable.
5
A friend of mine tried that once, it landed on the windshield of the cop behind her - instant ticket.
3
I'm critical of your reconmmendation for potato chips if or when traveling through Pennsylvania. Gibbles is about average.
Look for Middleswarth brand as top pick, secret ingredient is buttermilk powder. Utz is pretty good, avoid Herr's. Also on the list Martin's and Good's.
3
Utz potato chips rock!
I love traveling back to Virginia where I can get them.
2
When I drove my 13 year old and 15 year old on our first road trip to the Grand Canyon from Philadelphia in 2013, we discovered the joy of cold Mexican cokes in Texas or New Mexico, and have included them ever since in our road trips to the Great Smoky Mountains, Yellowstone National Park, and Nova Scotia.
16
I remember buying commercially packaged, deeply roasted shelled peanuts in a little cup from a gas station near Padre Island TX. They were dusted with chili powder and came with a packet of hot sauce. Very addicting.
4
and breath mints....
6
Yes, the two-pound box, please, given these recommendations.
3
OMG, this is us! (Why is it that we only buy Corn Nuts when we're on the road?)
7
mexican ice? bad idea.
5
Mexican Coke, not Mexican ice.
5
Fritos get tiresome? Please pass that tiresome bag to me.
My mother, a Florida native, liked boiled and green peanuts and on car trips south would stop at the first roadside stand over the Florida line to get her peanuts. I never acquired a taste for either one.
5
One does not need to wait for summer to drink Coca Cola made with Cane sugar, just buy Kosher for Passover Coca Cola.
13
Also, just as a side note: Kosher Coke or Mexican Coke (IMHO, they taste the same) make for a wonderful brisket. Pour it over a seasoned brisket and a lot of chopped onions to just cover the meat and cook for hours & hours. Add a bit more as it is evaporates during cooking. It adds amazing depth of flavor. DO NOT try this with "regular Coke" as it has some kind of awful corn syrup sweetener in it. And Diet Coke does NOT work at all, as the artificial sweetener in it gets very bitter with heat.
2
Corn Dog Mustard Dr Pepper...done
8
Geez, this is not a trip I'd want to be on. The regional chips and Mexican Coke are the only things worth eating!
1
Corn nuts are my go to on the many cross country camping trips my family has taken over the years. A concern- choking on them as I toss them in my mouth while driving. And, yes, our Better Made chips are a home state favorite.
2
This was so extremely enjoyable to read. Made me smile and remember road trips and desperate food choices. If you have a road trip buddy, it truly is the best fun to let them tackle the gas station food selections. Terribly humorous to see what they return with and makes for great fodder for miles of driving.
10
West Coast road trips usually include a pack of dried chili mangoes.
5
What about "koolickles" -- dill pickles marinated in double-strength Kool-Aid? They're found in convenience stores in Mississippi, I'm told.
6
"Peanut M& Ms can hang around on the console, for long term, intermittent snacking. " ?!
Any Peanut M & MS. purchased by me, are not going to be hanging out on the console or anywhere else. for "long term intermittent snacking. "
43
Truth
5
I thought the *exact* same thing. King size, family pack, no matter--gone.
5
Peanut M & M's got me out of a speeding ticket many years ago. I still think of that officer whenever I eat them in the car.
3
The gummy bears will be improved with salted pumpkin seeds eaten with their shells. Salty, sweet, salty, sweet. The only downside is that after a couple hundred miles your jaw will begin to ache.
10