Pizza from Wawa in Casselberry, FL

I was getting gas at a Wawa in Casselberry. I was using their rewards app to get discounts on gas when I noticed they had dropped a coupon for a free 14" pizza into my account. I was aware that Wawa sold pizza, but I wasn't about to go out of my way to try pizza from a gas station. If the pizza was free though, that was different. 

I ordered a pepperoni and sausage pizza. I selected the garlic crust option when ordering. Upon first glance when opening up the box, it had the look of a chain pizza similar to Hungry Howie's or Little Caesars. The crust/sauce/cheese/topping ratio was good. Everything seemed well balanced and the pizza held together. The garlic taste/smell on the pizza was surprisingly strong for gas station food. 

Overall, I went in with very low expectations. The pizza was okay, on par with other fast food pizzas. Definitely wouldn't be my first choice of pizza in Orlando, but I might pick Wawa if it was between them or a Little Caesars...

Wawa in Orlando, FL (Sea World)

Everyone seems to love Wawa. This gas station/convenience store chain recently expanded from the Northeastern United States to the Central Florida area. I've heard coffee drinkers rave about their coffee. People love their milkshakes. Above all else, I've heard people explain how wonderful their sandwiches are. I recently stopped into the Wawa across the street from Sea World to finally give one of these amazing sandwiches a try.

This Wawa had a large deli area. Orders are placed at several touch-screen computers set up throughout the area. While I do see the usefulness of this computerized ordering system, I just found it to prolong the ordering process and make it more confusing. Several orders could be placed at once using the computers and I'm sure they can keep track of inventory better, but it would have been much easier to directly order with the sandwich maker since the Wawa was empty at the time. Another thing that bothered me was the upcharge for wheat bread. Most other places don't charge extra for a sightlier healthier choice. I ordered a turkey sandwich topped with spinach, tomato, cucumbers, onions, pickles, jalapenos, mayonnaise, and mustard on my first visit to Wawa. 

I actually returned to this same Wawa for a second time to try another sandwich. On this visit, I had a buffalo chicken sandwich. This consisted of fried chicken, topped with cheese, spinach, tomato, onions, pickles, and jalapenos. Whoever made this sandwich definitely went way overboard on the buffalo sauce. There was a large pool of sauce that dripped out of the sandwich by the time I finished. Otherwise, it was tasty enough.

The sandwiches from Wawa were tasty enough and way beyond sandwiches I've seen at other gas stations. Wawa's sandwiches were pretty equivalent to a Subway in my opinion. Alright for what they are when you want to get a sandwich quickly and you're already getting gas, but there's far better sandwiches out there elsewhere...

R&R Taqueria in Elkridge, MD

It's funny how TV changes people's opinions of restaurants. I was traveling up north along I-95 a couple of years ago and stopped to get gas in a Shell station in Elkridge, MD. Attached to the gas station's store was a Mexican restaurant. I suggested that we try the tacos there but my travel companions objected to getting food from a creepy gas station and we ended up snacking on some sad looking foods from a supermarket across the street. Fast forward a bit and I'm making the same trip along I-95 with the same people and it's lunch time once again. After looking through the various smartphone apps for a place to eat, it is decided that we try a Mexican restaurant that was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives called R&R Taqueria. We follow the directions and end up pulling into the same Shell gas station. I recognized it as the place that was rejected for being gross gas station tacos, but it was now okay to eat at since it had been legitimized by the Food Network.

There was a good amount of people inside the tiny restaurant. It was separated from the gas station store by large windows, and the walls were decorated with Guy Fieri's portrait. R&R Taqueria is the second restaurant I've dined at that was featured on his show.

I tried two of their tacos at R&R. First was a taco al pastor, filled with nicely marinated pork, onions, and cilantro on a corn tortilla. Next was a pollo taco, consisting of the same fillings with the pork exchanged for chicken. While I liked the al pastor, the chicken was very dry and bland. The salsa served on the side helped it out.

I also tasted part of a chicken huarache. This was a thick tortilla topped with refried beans, meat, cheese, sour cream, and avocado. This was my first time trying a huarache, and it was definitely interesting. I'll need to try another one of these at some point.

 

I liked R&R Taqueria. It was good, simple, and cheap Mexican food all inside a cramped gas station. I'd stop there again on my next road trip up I-95!