Iama Critic Rating - Quiktrip - 4 Stars
4701 Augusta Road, Greenville, SC
Overall:
Ah... the life of a food critic... it is the life for me. Sometimes you eat at the finest restaurants in the country and sometime you get to eat at QT!
My food truck gets like nine miles to the gallon. So I stop for gas all the time, and while I don't normally review gas stations, QT obviously is trying to be more than just a gas station.
So recently one of my food critic friends and I decided it was time to walk in through the door and see what QuikTrip offers.
QuikTrip has a near limitless selection of drinks, funky snacks and over a dozen ROTO-DOGS of every description. They have donuts and pizza and fried chicken and bagels and even a condiment bar for all those ROTO-DOGS. If it is so-called "junk" food, you can find it at QT.
The Service:
There obviously is no wait service at QT, but the employees there do a very good job of making sure everything is neat and clean and all the condiments are full and in order. All the steamed hotdog buns were perfect, fresh and without creases. Something you rarely find in a real restaurant! We were seriously impressed with the overall cleanliness and care the employees put into maintaining the store.
The Food:
$1.50 Red Velvet Muffin - 4 Stars
Are you kidding me? A red velvet muffin at a gas station! This muffin was magically crusty on the outside and moist on the inside. Just as good as any decent coffee boutique, but much cheaper!!!
$1.11 Chicago Hot dog - 4 Stars
This roto-dog was a standard, big, plump dog, loaded with everything that makes a dog a Chicago dog. Including the NEON RELISH!!! QT offers a complete selection of condiments, everything from onions to sliced jalapenos and cucumbers.
$1.11 Jalapeno Dog - 4 Stars
This roto-dog has jalapenos in it and I topped it with slaw. The dog was great, the slaw..... not so much. But for just over a buck I ain't complaining!
$1.11 Buffalo Chicken Dog - 4 Stars
This roto-dog was probably not meant to be eaten on a bun. It is a breaded buffalo chicken flavored dog that is normally eaten alone. But I put it in a bun and added jalapenos and onions. This dog was Smokin' good and by far the spiciest dog on the menu.
$1.11 Breakfast Sausage - 4 Stars
This roto-dog came with a breakfast sausage. I added sauerkraut, which I understand is rather odd, but with a little mustard it was easily one of the best and certainly most unusual QT roto-dogs.
$1.50 Jumbo Drink - 5 Stars
This drink is the largest cup size, and it is huge! I choice a little mixed tropical berry slushy and filled the rest of cup with diet Mountain Dew. The lids for this size cup are phenomenal. I dropped a filled cup in my friend's car and the lid did not come off, or even leak!
Final Thoughts:
Yea I know, it's a gas station! So how can a chef rate gas station food four stars? Well first you got to understand how I rate food. See I HATE hot dogs! But my opinion or preferences are irrelevant. Who cares what I like? I do not rate food that I like, highly and food that I dislike, poorly. Instead I always rate food based on what is available at competing providers for the same price. So a good hotdog is good regardless of where it comes from or whether I like it or not. And there are four star $1 dogs and four star $5 dogs, but I do not compare $1 dogs to $5 dogs, as that would be unfair. So when it comes to rating QT's hotdogs the question is "Who's $1.11 hotdog is the best?"
And when it comes to QT's roto-dogs, you will be hard pressed to find anyone that matches the flavors and condiment selection of this QuikTrip "restaurant"! And that is how a gas station can earn four stars. However, if you hate hotdogs like I do, you can always have donuts or pizza or fried chicken or bagels or sub sandwiches or burritos or fresh fruit or salads or microwave burgers or any of the other countless items QT offers. read more