12 Foods To Order And 6 Foods To Always Avoid At Sheetz

Sheetz is a convenient store that markets itself as a "one-stop solution for basically everything" — and that includes made-to-order food. Although their first store was opened in Altoona, Pennsylvania, in 1952, today you can find Sheetz throughout Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Ohio, Virginia, and North Carolina. For those who're familiar with the Pennsylvania store chain Wawa, Sheetz is very similar. But if you're making your first visit to one of these popular stores for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, how do you know what to order?

Sheetz sells some distinctive and unique snacks but while many of the food items are fantastic, there are some that fall flat — it's bound to happen with such a large menu. Thankfully, you don't have to figure out which ones those are through experimentation, since I'm here to enlighten you as to which foods you should or shouldn't order. Having a West Virginia-based family, I've visited many Sheetz and my family who visit religiously also weighed in. Ready to discover what should be your first (or next) order at Sheetz? Let's get into it.

My sister, who has spent nearly half her life in West Virginia, was the first to eagerly weigh in on her Sheetz favorites — and this Taco Box topped her personal charts. At the store local to my sister in Fayetteville, West Virginia, you can get six tacos for $6, and I'm sold based on that amazing deal alone. The fact that they taste amazing only solidifies my and my sister's commitment to Sheetz tacos.

The best part of this deal is that it's fully customizable. You start with soft shell tacos topped with well-seasoned ground beef, and then you get to choose your favorite toppings from the offerings. Options include taco sauce, jalapeños, sour cream, shredded cheese, and lettuce. My personal preference is to load the tacos up with all of those because, well, why not?

These mac n' cheese bites are rich, gooey, and creamy with their cheese and macaroni filling. All this cheesy goodness is stuffed inside breading and deep-fried until it has a nice, crisp texture. The complex texture is my favorite part and this is also one of my sister's top recommendations.

You can eat this as-is or "shake it up," which means having it tossed in your choice of seasoning — among which are ranch dust, Cajun kick, nacho cheeze, voodoo, and Old Bay. All are fantastic choices, so feel free to choose based on personal preference. Once you have that choice out of the way, you can also pick from various dipping sauces — extra boom boom, golden BBQ, buffalo garlic blitz, taco sauce, and marinara can help you create a dish that's truly yours.

My opinion is that you should skip the breakfast sub. It's not bad, but it's just mediocre. The bread isn't as fresh or flavorful as I'd like, and the toppings aren't as well seasoned as I prefer. Now, I'll be the first to admit that I may be biased after living in New Jersey in the Greater Philadelphia Region for more than a decade — an area known for its hoagies — but I'm just not impressed.

I prefer Wawa subs over Sheetz, and by a large amount. If you're looking for a truly good sub, check out which Wawa subs ranked best (and worst) in a previous article of mine. If you're at Sheetz, though, choose any recommendation on this list instead, like the Classic Breakfast Platter. Trust me on this one.

When I asked my brother-in-law, a West Virginia local, what his favorite Sheetz order was, chicken strips were his first recommendation. You can get these crispy chicken strips in three or five pieces, and you're definitely going to want the five. The chicken is tender and juicy, with a light umami flavor profile encased in the starchy, well-seasoned breading. Choose to have them "shaken up" or devour them plain. And, of course, you have your choice of numerous dipping sauces — all of which are pretty good, in my opinion.

My brother-in-law likes his chicken strips plain, but I personally enjoy having mine "shaken up" with Cajun kick seasoning. Then, I like to dip them into some Jalapeño Ranch for a spicy meal that's perfectly paired with a large fountain drink.

My brother-in-law's second biggest recommendation is the salted pretzel. Sheetz pretzels are delicious, starchy, and salty just like they should be — and this is coming from someone who's lived almost two decades in a region known for its pretzels. There's also an unsalted pretzel option for those who have to watch their sodium. Although I haven't personally tasted the plain ones or had them recommended by my other Sheetz experts, I imagine they're likely pretty good, too.

Regardless of which pretzel you get, it comes with various dipping sauces. If you want to go with a classic combination, I recommend the yellow mustard, but the Cinnabon cream cheese frosting is an excellent choice if you're craving something sweet with your salty treat. Of course, if you want a nice kick with your snack, Sheetz garlic sauce is a great option.

My daughter's a big fan of Asian food, but she says these Fried Pork Stickerz fell way flat. They're reminiscent of something you'd find in a cheap discount dollar store rather than the delicious umami pork potstickers they're meant to be.

The flavor here is weird in a way that I can't quite explain, and the texture is overly mushy. It's not a pleasant experience. If you have a craving that needs satisfying, I recommend skipping this and opting for a pack of frozen potstickers instead. Or, if you're feeling daring, you could always try making homemade potstickers.

Looking for something fresh, spicy, and filling for your lunch or supper? The Spicy Caesar Salad is exactly what you're looking for — and it comes as another one of my sister's must-try recommendations. As she said, "I love the Spicy Caesar Salad because the croutons give it a nice texture and they contrast really well with the spicy chicken."

Alongside those delicious croutons and spicy chicken slices, this salad also comes with Parmesan, fresh crisp lettuce, and creamy Caesar dressing. Of course, if you're looking for something with less kick to it, you could try the made-to-order chicken salad instead and choose Caesar dressing.

Nachos are something my sister and I both love to eat, for just about any meal of the day — thankfully, this is where Sheetz delivers on both quality and quantity. The chains' Grande Stuffed Nachos start with perfectly salty tortilla chips and well-seasoned beef chili. From there, they can come as heaping as you want them to.

Start with your choice of saucy spread and then choose as many toppings as you'd like. I personally think buffalo sauce or taco sauce are ideal for this dish. My favorite toppings include nacho cheese, shredded cheese, shredded lettuce, jalapeños, and guacamole (for 69 cents extra). That said, feel free to create a unique dish each time you order by switching up the 16 available toppings because they all work well here!

My children and I love to split an ooey, gooey mess of a loaded fry platter. We got excited when we saw how many customization options the Sheetz loaded fries offered — and I wish I could say that it was as good as it sounded. Unfortunately, the fries themselves just fell flat. According to my son, they were "mushy and greasy and not in a good way." My daughter chimed in, saying that there was an off taste to the fries that just didn't go well with the toppings.

Do yourself a favor and skip the fries at Sheetz, but especially the Loaded Fryz Platter. Thankfully, the chain's tater tots and Curly Fryz are excellent, so you won't be missing out.

This is an affordable, nicely done Classic Breakfast Platter. For less than $7, you get your choice of meat, egg toppings, and bread, with scrambled eggs and hashbrowns. Although it's not my usual order, I like that they have a vegetarian-friendly option where you can get rice and beans instead of the standard meat.

My favorite go-to order is to top my eggs with cooked onions and peppers, with a side of sausage and sliced sourdough spread with grape jelly. However, if you choose a bagel for your bread, you can hack your way to a decent breakfast sandwich that's much better than the sub option I mentioned earlier — choose cheese with bacon or sausage to complete the dish!

Once you taste the Sheetz Cheesy Bacon Tater Bombs, you'll have zero doubts about why we picked them out as one of the best fast food tater tots you can order right now. Crispy tater tots are starchy and well-seasoned before being stuffed with creamy cheese and richly umami bacon. It's a perfectly balanced dish that makes me want to immediately order more.

Like other dishes from Sheetz, you can choose to have these shaken up with various seasonings before getting to pick from varying dipping sauces. I recommend ranch dust seasoning and ranch dipping sauce for extra creaminess and a bit of earthiness.

Homemade French toast is one of my son's favorite things in the world, so I'm always excited when an option I don't have to make lives up to his expectations. When we first got these from Sheetz, I had high hopes these would meet his expectations because they looked fantastic. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case.

The buttery, cinnamon taste my son looks for in his French toast sticks just wasn't there — not even a ghost of those flavors was in these. Instead, they just tasted overly sweet and the interior was kind of mushy in a way that felt gross. Skip this and order a breakfast platter instead if you need something for the first meal of the day.

If you're not familiar with pepperoni rolls, they're West Virginia's signature dish. With so many Sheetz locations within the wild and wonderful state, it would be a real shame if they couldn't make a good pepperoni roll. Thankfully, this variation of the state dish lives up to all my expectations — and my partner agrees with me.

The pepperoni's fat seeps into the baked bread beautifully, creating a deep umami flavor and mild greasiness that I love indulging in once in a while. Although there are definitely better pepperoni rolls in West Virginia, like those at Tudor's Biscuit World, these are a quick and satisfying option.

No list of things to order would be complete without a sweet treat you can indulge in after a great meal. For this list, that would be the Shweetz Gourmet Chocolate Chip Cookie. It's a warm, soft cookie with gooey chocolate chips throughout. These generously sized cookies feature hints of brown sugar, butter, and chocolate in a sweetly starchy base.

No matter what else you order, you should definitely get this as a dessert. Just craving a snack and not a whole meal? Create a classic pairing for this cookie by getting a single-serving container of milk to go with it.

As you heard earlier in this article, the pretzels are really good. They're soft on the inside, with a harder exterior that creates textural complexity I adore. Taste-wise, the pretzels themselves are deliciously salty and starchy — but they don't pair well with the cinnamon and sugar in this specific item, unfortunately.

I really wanted to like this, but it's just a weird flavor and texture combo. The whole snack tastes overly sweet and makes my hands sticky. Overall, I'm just not happy with it and think you should skip it in lieu of better options. For example, if you want something salty, choose the standard salty pretzel instead. If you need something sweet, grab one of the cookies instead.

My partner is obsessed with mozzarella sticks, so when he recommends that you order these, it's a big endorsement. In favor of this Sheetz appetizer, he said, "I really like these mozzarella sticks because the cheese is very flavorful and seems high-quality." Since the cheese is the starring ingredient, it's crucial it be delicious.

That creamy, high-quality cheese is coated in a crisp exterior that's well-seasoned and offers a nice crunch when you bite into it. Per the Sheetz status quo, you can have your mozzarella sticks shaken up with various seasonings and pair them with your choice of dippers. The most classic pairing is to order them plain and pair them with marinara sauce, but if you like spicy foods, choose the Cajun kick seasoning and pair it with the extreme boom boom sauce.

The loaded fry platter may have been a letdown, but the Curly Fryz option most certainly wasn't. These crispy, well-seasoned curly fries come in a large container and can be topped with up to two spreads, two toppings, one cheese, and one "whoppin' topping." As an individual ingredient, these fries are massively better than their straight-shaped counterparts, and they seem to go better with the available toppings.

My personal combination recommendation is to choose beef chili, shredded cheese, pico, sour cream, and buffalo sauce. This creates a classic nacho flavor profile except with the soft and crispy deliciousness of these uniquely shaped fries. On the other hand, if you're looking for something a little heartier, you could go with steak for an extra dollar, and top it with shredded cheese, caramelized onions, cooked peppers, and jalapeño ranch for a spicy, filling dish.

I think these cheese bites are supposed to be the chain's take on fried cheese curds which, surprisingly, are a Wisconsin specialty version of an Ancient Roman dish. Since Sheetz did the West Virginia signature dish so well, I had high hopes they'd do Wisconsin's right, too. Unfortunately, my hopes were dashed when the attempt fell flat. The cheese and breading taste weird, like it's a bargain-basement knock-off of the dish they're trying to recreate.

If you're craving something fried and cheesy, opt for the mozzarella sticks or the Cheesy Tater Bombs to satisfy that specific craving. My daughter and I both agree you should skip the My Wisconsin Cheese Bites or risk facing disappointment.

To pick out the best and worst Sheetz foods, I used a combination of personal preference and recommendations from my family who either live in West Virginia, or regularly visit West Virginia with me. I leaned most heavily on recommendations from my sister and brother-in-law, who live in the state and routinely visit Sheetz.

To get the most comprehensive overview, I also relied on personal preference, as well as the opinion of my partner and children. Where applicable, I fell back on my more than fifteen years of experience in the food industry, where I cross-trained in hot foods and bakeries, to assess the quality of each item.