This QuikTrip is not only the newest in town, but it's also the newest of their store models. While I'm a fan of all QT's, this generation is the most modern with all of the bells and whistles one could possibly want and need in a convenience store. Tons of fountain drinks and slush-type drinks, a large freshly brewed tea area (with so many flavors), coffee galore, a big pastry case (try the Orange Dreamsicle donut mmm), etc.
We recently had the opportunity to attend a QT private tasting event at this location which featured their new "QT Kitchens" made-to-order menu. This menu is brand new, and has been rolling out to all stores in Tucson and around the country. Some stores in town did not have a kitchen, while some had a kitchen with a small menu. All stores have been or will be remodeled to fit the new and improved kitchen/menu. The new menu has a pretty good variety, with a lot of items that you don't really see at typical fast food restaurants. We were told that this is a big part of their concept. We didn't get to try everything since our tummies got full fast, but we did get to try a lot of stuff.
I'll start with the breakfast items on their menu, the Kolaches. I've never had a Kolache before, so I'm not entirely sure how authentic they are to the cultural food of their namesake, but I can say that the bacon, egg, and cheese kolache at QT is pretty good. It's egg and cheese wrapped in dough with bacon on the top. All of it gets toasted. The dough is the star. It was just a tad sweet, which helped to balance the saltiness of the bacon. It was tasty and handheld (for lack of better words) to take on the go.
My husband went for the sandwiches, in particular, the American Bacon Cheddar. It's like a grilled cheese sandwich with bacon. Said ingredients were put together and melted on a toasted sourdough. The sourdough was thick and pretty hearty. The flavors were good, but maybe it could have used just a tad more cheese to get more of that grilled cheese feel. It was a pretty big sandwich though, definitely a good sized meal.
We also sampled some of their flatbreads. My favorite was the Chicken, Bacon & Ranch. Actually, this was my favorite item of the day. The chicken was diced and put inside of a softish flatbread with Swiss, cheddar, bacon, and finished off with some yummy ranch. It was creamy and tasty and addicting! I refuse to admit how many times I went back to that sample tray.
My husband enjoyed the Spicy BBQ Steak flatbread more. Actually, we were both surprised by how good it was. I'm usually really skeptical about steak anything when it's served anywhere other than at a nice steakhouses or at a cheesesteak place. This steak wasn't a filet mignon or anything, but it was decent. Very tasty, actually. The best part was the crispy jalapeños, though! Those added a great crunch and a nice flavor. Really great idea for this kind of item.
We tried their pizza just to be thorough. It was good, and definitely better than the pizza at some of our local restaurants here in town. It seems like it would be the messiest item to try to eat in the car, though.
We went overboard with sampling their drinks. My husband especially. He looooved the blueberry lemonade. We tried all three flavors which also included regular lemonade and strawberry, but the blueberry was the best. It was also the least sweet of the three. The strawberry was a tad too sweet for me, but it was still nice and refreshing.
I really liked the latte. Again, a tad on the sweet side, but it was a refreshing coffee drink. I'd definitely order this again.
And the whole process was made simple with their computers that do the ordering for you. Just tap on the screen what you want, and it'll be made. Easy. And another plus -- everything is really reasonably priced!
Overall, we tried a lot of stuff and liked basically everything. We never would have considered a convenience store for a quick bite to eat, but this menu changes that. I go to QT after my shopping trip every week and usually hit a coffee shop for a drink after that, but now I can just pick up food/coffee at QT and enjoy it just the same. read more