Magazine shorts Sheetz, picks Wawa as best fast food in Pennsylvania

In the battle between Sheetz and Wawa for Pennsylvania convenience store supremacy, Wawa just found a new supporter.

Wawa, based in southeastern Pennsylvania and stretching only as far west as Lehigh Valley, was named the best fast food in the Keystone State by Food & Wine.

The magazine wrote about the instate rivalry and acknowledged that Pennsylvanians take their convenience stores very seriously, but ruled, “Try the rest — Sheetz, Rutter’s, Turkey Hill, GetGo, we’re probably missing one or two — and then try the best.”

Wawa, the magazine said, is “not only a gas station and a convenience store, it’s also the most popular destination for a quick and affordable bite for generations of hard working people in the southeastern part of the state.”

Food & Wine said that what makes Wawa the best of the convenience stores are three things: the hoagies (“tasty Italians”), coffee (“no convenience store comes close”), and the chain’s no-franchise policy.

Wawa, which currently has 840 stores, covers much of eastern Pennsylvania and has covers much of the mid-Atlantic region with stores in New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. The chain has quickly gotten a hold and expanded in Florida.

The top fast food on the list for neighboring states include Jersey Mike’s for New Jersey; Cincinnati’s Gold Star Chili for Ohio; and Shake Shack for New York.

For its part, Altoona-based Sheetz has strong devotion in Southwestern Pennsylvania, and while Wawa was picked by the national magazine, most consumers on the western side of the state are picking a different convenience store.