In Hawai’i, gas station convenience stores are way more than just fluorescent-lit purgatories for the high and hangry. They’re fully fledged dining destinations with a side of petrol, and among the best places to eat anywhere on the islands, thanks largely to two standout chains that rule them all.
A shopping basket full of local Hawai’i favorites from 7-Eleven in the Moanalua neighborhood of HonoluluOn Maui, there’s Minit Stop, with fried chicken and extra-large potato wedges cut from one-pound potatoes and double breaded in the same mix as the chicken.
Some of 7-Eleven Hawai’i’s unique items: char siu fried rice, deluxe Spam musubi, matcha mochi donut, and pork tonkatsu ramenBut the superiority of Hawai’i’s gas station fare has even more to do with the state’s close ties to Japan, where convenience store snacking is an art unto itself. Before Maui native Jimmy Haynes founded Minit Stop in 1982, he was an executive with Unocal 76
Over on Oahu, the first 7-Eleven in the state opened in 1978. At first, it was the same as all the others in the U.S.: Slurpees and sad sandwiches you heated up in a microwave. But that changed when the Tokyo-based Seven-Eleven Japan Co. bought all of Hawai’i’s stores in 1989 . “Since then, we have been influenced by 7-Eleven Japan’s model,” says Debbie Lee Soon, senior category manager for 7-Eleven Hawai’i, who oversees its fresh foods.
Ube slurpees!!!
Tell me you’ve never lived in Mississippi without telling me you’ve never lived in Mississippi
::Waiting for AlexMcDaniel to enter the chat::
The entire South:
you love this menu?