Burgers, Dogs, & Pizza, Oh My!

Posts Tagged ‘Gas Station Food’

I’ve reviewed a lot of products that I commonly call “gas station foods,” or ready to eat and heat and eat sandwiches.

Often these are from one of the industry giants, Advance Pierre, (hereinafter AP) which also recently acquired a sizable competitor, Landshire. Past reviews on this site include Advance Pierre’s Sausage and Cheese Biscuit, Big Az Cheeseburger, and their Pretzel Cheeseburger.

Today I checked out their cheeseburger sliders, which were found at Dollar Tree, packaged two in a box. These can generally be thought to compete with frozen White Castle sliders.

The Advance Pierre sliders are microwave ready, about a minute, but using the “old method” of removing the sandwiches from their plastic wrapping and tucking them into a paper towel.  This used to be White Castle’s instructions also, but now theirs are heating directly in their packaging.

In the case of either sandwich, it can be difficult to master the heating process.  One can end up with a part that’s rock hard or ice cold. Today, heating worked out pretty universally successful.

The AP‘s buns are much softer than White Castle’s, tho substantial enough to deal with the burger and any toppings you care to add. The burger has less flavor than White Castle, probably due to the latter having the equivalent of the restaurant’s flavor/method of being cooked on a bed of onions.

The AP ingredient list lists “cooked onion” but the flavor isn’t evident.  I was surprised, but happy about the fact, that AP’s patties aren’t bathed in liquid smoke, as a lot of heat and eat burgers are, a method to simulate outdoor grilling.

All in all, with condiments of my (or your choice), this is a pretty good product for a quick snack, or to pop something economical in your kid’s mouths. They aren’t terribly unhealthy in terms of fat, sodium, or carbs.

I’ll buy them again, and keep a few on hand. Why not?

Frozen out of package

After 60 seconds in microwave

Fast Bites Sliders Review Advance Pierre

I have a constant curiousity about what I call “gas station burgers” and the like. I’ve written a few of those up before, as well as the one buck fish sandwich from the Dollar Store.

So when i saw empanadas at the Dollar Store the other day (labeled “Jamaican Beef Pies”)  I had to give them a whirl. I love empanadas, one of my favorite places in Los Angeles is a drive-thru on the west side, and we had some outstanding Salvadoran style in Aberdeen, WA.

I think these are probably called “Jamaican style” as the ground meat is heavily flavored and a little spicy, much like you will find any ground beef concoction in Jamaica.

The product is made by Golden Krust Bakery, a fast-growing franchise of Caribbean food; it’s based out of the Bronx; they currently have over 100 locations up and down the east coast of the  U.S.  At the restaurants, in addition to meat pies, you’ll find jerk chicken and other Caribbean specialities.

The ingredients are fairly straight forward; the item is apparently meant to be available at convenience stores, as it has microwave instructions for both “in store” and “at home”.

The pie comes wrapped in the type of paper that assists with microwave “browning”, and at home it suggests two minutes in the oven, and a two minute rest.

I’m quite surprised at the outcome.  I like these. Other than the fact they are very high in carbs, the microwaving works out well, which surprises me, the crust crisps up nicely, and the meat filling is tasty and peppery.

Very few frozen food companies, in my opinion, are able to figure out “crisp” in the microwave, so kudos to Golden Krust for that.

The best thing?  If you’ve ever been to Jamaica, you know that ordering and waiting for food can sometimes be “a challenge.”   With these pies, there’s no wait   But then, there’s no pristine beach like Negril, to eat them at, either!

Unbaked Meat Pie

Microwave food tests

I have opined on my take on AM/PM Mini Mart ready to eat foods in the past, my opinion hasn’t changed – adequate hot food, great value proposition.

There are few dollar menus that can beat the proposition AM/FM has to offer – two hot dogs for $1.50, two larger dogs or burgers for $2.50.  It’s a “dress your own” affair with a condiment bar that offers pickle chips, relish, mayo, mustard, ketchup, jalapenos, cheese, and chili.  Some stores have diced onions as well.

My affair with this food started in Los Angeles in the mid-80s, occasionally I would grab two burgers for breakfast (seems like they were 2/ $1 at the time, IIRC,  and while the price has edged up a little, the quality has improved by light years. (Not that they were bad then, just that heat and eat technology has improved.

I had a dog and a burger yesterday, $2.50.   The ultimate of “dining in on  the hood’.

I like ’em.  So sue me.  “Hey kids, wanna go out to dinner?”

AM/PM Logo

They’ve been doing this a long time, those AM/PM folks.  I remember getting two burgers or two dogs at Los Angeles area AM/PM in the mid 80s for next to no $.   AM/PM were an afterthought to ARCO gas stations in the West in the mid 70s, to bring in more customers, but surely they can only be regarded as the leading pioneer in the scheme of take-out food/gas mash-up.

They have come a long way since those days of the 2 for $1 dogs.   The quality has improved, as has the selection, but the prices have not increased proportionately.  Thank you, AM/PM. (or Oh Thank Heaven for AM/PM?)   I have previously discussed 7-Eleven’s heat and eat burger, which they don’t make themselves.  They do not offer a comparable food selection to AM/PM, but 7-Eleven is in a real expansion mode in this realm, adding wings and fresh pizza in many stores.

But AM/PM’s depth of product is very deep:  hamburgers, hot dogs, corn dogs, chicken , burritos, pizza, breakfast sandwiches.   But what really makes AM/PM  the binge burger boy’s choice is the (usually) exceptionally clean and varied selection condiment bar.   You take your hot sandwich, decorate it anyway you want, and then pay and eat.  (The condiment bar is reminiscent of the gone but not forgotten Midwestern  chain “Burger Chef,” once 1000 locations strong until being swallowed whole by Hardees).

AM/PM

The world of gas station food is constantly evolving.  I’ve written about it more than I should, with posts about Hunt Brothers Pizza, Chester Fried Chicken and the like.  There is n even deeper selection in the deep south, where they have “fry delis,” where you can grab a hunk o fried chicken, catfish, shrimp, biscuits and the like.  Now that’s good gas station eatin’.

The more variety the better, in my opinion.   And I am especially delighted to saunter into any gas station or truck-stop that does NOT have a Subway attached.  Just a personal thing of mine.  I guess it’s just that I think there are far too many of them.

How about you guys who operate in malls?  When will we see a Sbarro in a gas station? Soon, I hope.

In the meantime, check out AM/PM’s selection.   BurgerDogBoy says that the Big A heat and eat burgers at 7-Eleven are a little better, but AM/PM kicks butt in the value proposition.

AM/PM Mini Mart Cheeseburger

am/pm mini market

am/pm mini market