The South's Best Travel Stops 2024

These Southern convenience stores offer everything from barbecue and biscuits to friendly service and family-run charm.

When you hit the road to embark on a family trip to the beach, visit distant relatives for the holidays, or explore a new Southern small-town getaway with friends, there is the inevitability of needing to stop for three reasons. Firstly, to get gas. Secondly, to go to the bathroom. Lastly, because you’re bored and want a snack. Luckily, the South has been the founding ground of some of the best travel stops in the country, which our readers called out during this year’s South’s Best voting.

Some of these Southern travel stops are known for impressive regional in-house foods, including barbecue and biscuits, while others are applauded for offering the cleanest bathrooms, friendly staff, and good prices. Moreover, many of these convenience stores started as a family business decades ago, and remain so today. There might even be a state-specific travel stop you've never heard of, but can certainly depend on for your next road trip.

Whenever you’re in need of a driving break or something other than our Biscuits & Jam podcast to pass the time, you won’t go wrong at these 8 gas stations that originated in the South and were voted the best of the best.

South's Best Voting Process

An online survey was conducted by third-party agency Proof Insights among Southern Living consumers, asking them to rate their favorite places across the South for the South's Best Awards 2024. The survey was fielded from July 12 to August 23, 2023, and had over 20,000 respondents.

8. Spinx

This South Carolina convenience store has word-of-mouth popularity—particularly for its biscuits, and its fried chicken biscuits especially. You'll find plenty of locals stopping into Spinx for its hot-and-ready breakfasts each day, or telling newcomers to try it for themselves. The chain of more than 80 locations celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2022, with founder Stewart Spinx then being honored with a road being named after him in the chain's hometown of Greenville to honor a lifetime of contributions to the community.

7. Parker's Kitchen

Parker’s founder and CEO Greg Parker opened his first convenience store in Midway, Georgia in 1976, and the chain has now expanded throughout Georgia and South Carolina, with plans to expand to Florida this year. Headquartered in Savannah, Georgia, Parker’s Kitchen offers slightly more hospitality-focused amenities beyond the basic gas station. At select locations, you can find in-house grab-and-go options, as well as a hot bar serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Additionally, Parker’s is known for its focus on charity. In 2020, the Parker’s Community Fund was created by a generous donation of $20 million from Greg Parker and Parker’s to give back to the communities where the company does business.

6. Stuckey's

Founded in Georgia in 1937 by W.S. "Sylvester" Stuckey as a pecan stand, this old-fashioned roadside store that your Southern grandparents might remember from their childhoods is still thriving and full of nostalgia. Known for its beloved pecan logs, Stuckey's still offers many sweet Southern delicacies you won't find at other gas stations, such as nut brittle, chocolate-covered confections, and kettle corn. Presently, Stuckey's boasts around 50 licensed locations across the South.

Related: This Old-Fashioned Pecan Logs Recipe Tastes Just Like Our Childhood Trips to Stuckey's

5. 7-Eleven

Dubbing itself the "world's first convenience store" after its founding in 1927 in Dallas, Texas, 7-Eleven has since become a worldwide sensation with locations in over 15 countries numbering in the thousands. It's known for an impressive selection of ready-to-eat and in-house food and drink items, of which one is perhaps the most famous: the Slurpee. Each year on July 11th, the company gives out its iconic frozen Slurpees—which were originally licensed by 7-Eleven in 1965—for free in celebration of the company's birthday.

4. Circle K

Circle K's roots go back to 1951 when founder Fred Hervey purchased three Kay’s Food Stores in El Paso, Texas, which later became the gas station chain we know today and an internationally-branched operation. The dependable travel stop has made headlines in recent years for prioritizing its customers, even slashing its gas prices on the Thursday before Memorial Day to help out those hitting the road for the holiday weekend in 2023.

3. QuikTrip

This Oklahoma-based gas station chain goes back to 1958 and became so quickly successful that there were over 40 stores by 1967. In 2021, the company opened its 800th store in San Antonio, Texas. Those who are loyal customers of QuikTrip—whether in their hometowns or on road trips—are quick to assert its supremacy of one classic gas station food: the roller grill. The QuikTrip Roller Grill goes beyond dried-out meats to include everything from taquitos and egg rolls to smoked sausage and hot dogs. You can also choose from in-house grab-and-go sandwiches.

2. Love's Travel Stops

Founded in 1964 and headquartered in Oklahoma City, Love’s Travel Stops has 642 locations in 42 states, and it remains a family-run company 60 years later. Aside from a huge selection of snacks that provide weary Southern road-trippers a welcome break—including a company-branded candy line, which includes everything from gummy bears and peach rings to frosted heart pretzels and saltwater taffy—Love's goes above and beyond by giving back to the community. All locations donate a portion of their budget to a local nonprofit of their choice, and Love’s participates in the Children’s Miracle Network. (To date, Love’s has raised more than $50 million for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals.)

Related: 10 Reasons We Love Love’s Travel Stops

1. Buc-ee's

This behemoth of a convenience store, which started in 1982, might have been a Texan secret for a long time, but it's no longer confined to the Lone Star State—and folks throughout the South can't get enough of the souped-up gas station. Beyond the "cleanest bathrooms in America," you can expect unique amenities such as made-in-house food stations for everything including barbecue (get the brisket sandwich), fudge, breakfast tacos, kolaches (a Texan-Czech pastry), and much more.

Currently, Buc-ee’s has more than 45 stores, including in Texas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Virginia, and Tennessee with plans to open new stores in Colorado, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Wisconsin.

Related: How Buc-ee's Became The Most Popular Convenience Store In Texas

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Read the original article on Southern Living.