A ubiquitous service station on the northbound side of US Route 27 in my little town. It was…read moreformally a Hess. If you are contemplating stopping in, here are four things to note- 1. The gas price will not be the absolute lowest in the area, but it will be close. 2. They have updated pumps with all the latest bells & whistles. 3. The store is clean and well stocked. 4. They have two EV charging stations with easy access. If Chevron is a preferred brand for you, I suspect you will give them four stars!

How many convenience stores, quick stops mini marts, bla bla bla are there? A million or maybe two…read moremillion? Here is what distinguishes these fine folks from all the others. 1. They are owned by an extended family from Michigan that like so many others, moved to sunny Florida for the weather. They are universally friendly and welcoming. 2. The place is spotless I mean eat-off-the-floor spotless. 3. You can get a beer which is extremely important for my next point. 4. What sets them apart from all the others is that on weekends (Saturday & Sunday), A pit master sets up a grill and sells wonderful BBQ at seriously good prices. A friend and I stopped by for a "Q" lunch today. The pit master was doing quarter chickens, ribs and sausage. Each came with homemade Coleslaw and baked beans. A one-meat platter was $5, and a two-meat platter was $10. Are you kidding me! You can have a wonderful BBQ lunch for less than you would spend at a fast food joint! I think I'll stop back tomorrow for another excellent lunch!

Horrible I bought a candy bar there today it went out of date in 2018!!! Are you freaking kidding…read moreme???

"Who the hell are these guys," I exclaimed! I was watching the renovation of a long vacant gas…read morestation and they finally put up the company affiliation. I had never heard of them before. A quick internet search told me the next closest location was Daytona Beach over 130 miles away. How they choose teeny tiny Avon Park is a mystery! They finally opened and they seem to be your typical gas/convenience store combo with an emphasis on pleasant employees, * Being new, everything is spotless. * They have a great location with entrances on Route 27 North and Main St., Avon Park. * They are matching the lowest gas prices around. * The pumps have the appropriate bells and whistles. * The store has beer, ice, an ATM and all the other usual stuff. * My first impressions of the employees is that they are especially pleasant which is always a good thing. Of course, being new, they are trying their hardest to make a good impression. We'll see how they age!

DG has been in the news a lot over the last few years and unfortunately most of it has been bad!…read more I have four DG's in my little town, but this is my closest one, and it's within a three-minute drive from my condo. I last reviewed them 8 years ago. Let's see what's changed. Arriving- Directly on US Route 27 Southbound so it's simple to find. This is a freestanding location with its own smallish parking lot. There are two handicapped spots flanking the main entrance. Ambiance- This location is relatively new so it's big as you can see from my pictures. All the aisles were clear & clean, unlike some of the negative publicity out there. The shelves weren't as nicely organized as my grocery stores, but they weren't bad either. The App- If you have the app it will connect to the store via Bluetooth and let you scan items and add them to your cart which is very cool! See my picture. Products- You know the deal. This is not a full-fledged grocery store but a place for selected discounted items. After a couple of visits, you'll quickly learn when to stop by. If you plan correctly, you can save some bucks! Customer Service- My cashier had a very quiet personality, but he was efficient and gave me a nice smile and a thank you so no problems. Conclusion- My experience is decidedly better than all the negative media. I give this location and this visit four stars!

I visit this dollar general quite frequently so I'm definitely a regular with my kids. The cashiers…read moreare always so helpful with anything we need finding and very friendly. We definitely always hold conversations with the cashiers here. It's always pretty well stocked and cleaner than the others I visited. The prices are always reasonable and if you need to use the restroom you must ask for a key. If you need to get a quick snack they even have a dollar aisle to pick from and it's super organized. I know I will be visiting again soon!

It's been a while since I have reviewed these fine folks and lately, they have reinvented…read morethemselves so it's definitely time for an update! It's a quirky little place that has a one-alley drive-through and a walk-up window and no dine-in. Why did I say alley? Because it looks like a one-alley oil lube place. So much so that to this day, folks drive through and ask how much is an oil change even though all they have is great food and a few sundries! I think it's partly related to their name! So how did they reinvent themselves? Up until about two years ago they were famous for selling case beer. You would pop your trunk and a guy would drop the case right in. You never had to get out of your car. For some reason they quit selling beer to focus on other things. Up until about a year ago they had great food but no fries and this was a major complaint they had to deal with. They fixed this and now they have huge portions of wonderful, glorious skin-on fries! So now you come here for fantastic breakfast sandwiches, great burgers, pulled pork sandwiches and fries. Of course, drinks. On my last visit I ordered a cheeseburger and fries @ $8.87. I'm embarrassed by the picture as there was a huge, juicy, hand-formed burger under there! There were even more fries, but I scoffed some down on the way home! So, you can blow through here for breakfast or lunch and have a great sandwich and patronize a local business at the same time! It doesn't get much better than that!

Another Local Secret! This is a drive thru convenient store (they do have a walk up window in case…read moreyou're set against a drive thru for some reason - kinda defeats the whole purpose I think). The BEST Iced Tea - you can even add Vanilla to your tea to mix it up a bit. Try one of their homemade breakfast sandwiches or a BBQ sandwich for lunch, mmmm!

Germany comes to my little town!…read more Grand Opening on May 1st and jam packed from day #1. This is one of the Winn-Dixie remodels. Some locals are annoyed because the Winn-Dixie had a pharmacy and a liquor store and those are now gone. However, most folks are just thrilled to have them close by! Arriving- They are the anchor of a plaza directly on US Route 27 South. As part of the remodel the entire plaza was repaved, so everything looks great and there is plenty of parking. There is a drive-up ATM in the middle of the parking lot. Very convenient! Ambience- Is there anything different between this one and all the others? I have experienced three other Aldi's. I was surprised to see this one has the carts inside. Oher than that, it looks the same as all the others but maybe a little bigger than some. Customer Service- They had a soft opening a week earlier to give the employees time to train. They are generally fine but need a little more seasoning! Selection- As expected for a discount store, the variety is less than a typical supermarket. I suggest you download the app. It does a nice job of showing you the weekly sale items. Conclusion- If the location is convenient for you, an Aldi is a great place to put on your weekly rotation to snap up some sales.

Love the new store. And everyone is really nice there. Love that Germany doesn't put a lot of…read morechemicals in there food.

Sometimes I think folks have the WRONG expectations for these bakery outlet places! While it's true…read morethat you need to keep an eye on the code of the breads, buns etc., I've found that the snack foods usually have great expiration dates! I was on a snack run and stopped into this very nice and spotless facility. It's usually staffed by just one person and they have always been great! There were tons to choose from and every code I looked at was waaay longer then I needed. My small pile of snacky stuff cost me a whole $6. I would have paid double or triple that at normal retail! Obviously, these folks are Tastykakes and there are mountains of them to choose from. They have several locations in Central Florida and are definitely worth a stop if you have the munchies!

One of my many spies told me there was a new privately-owned liquor store in town so I moseyed on…read moreover to check it out. This tiny little place is right on Route 27 northbound and has the wildly imaginative name of Liquor 27! Atmosphere- It really is a tiny little place and is just getting going. The day I was there the carpenters were still building his cooler so no cold beer yet but it's on the way. I perused the several short aisles and walls of booze. Everything was spotless despite the construction. The Product- The shelves were heavy on the hard liquor and light on wine. This was clearly not the place for buying a bottle of grape. There is also a full selection of lottery and the charge card machine was up and running. My spies had told me the prices were great, so I decided on a test that I had pre approved by 7 statisticians! I bought one bottle of Baileys Irish Cream and it cost me $19.99. I immediately went across the street to a big giant FL chain grocery store that everyone knows. Baileys there was $26.99. Whoa, that got my attention! I then went down the street to the enormous, humongous big-box store that is everywhere. There, Baileys was $20.97. So, it's seems clear that based on my awesomely scientific test that his prices are great! For those of us that prefer to patronize privately owned places as opposed to chains and need a hard liquor buzz, this place will get the job done.

Every time I come into Liquor 27 they always have what I need!!!! Liquor 27 is always stocked like…read morethey anticipate what is needed for the customer!!!! Cashier is always welcoming and provides great service!!!!