On our last road trip through the great state of Texas, we decided to embark on the most Texas challenge of all: spend 24 hours and eat all three meals at the state’s most famous gas station, Buc-ee’s.

The Challenge

Buc-ee’s has locations all across Texas and other southern states and has gained a sort of cult following, becoming an integral part of road trips (or daily life) for many people. The Buc-ee’s gas station in New Braunfels, Texas is not only the largest of all the Buc-ee’s locations, but it is actually the largest convenience store in the entire world. It has 120 gas pumps, 1,000 parking spots, and 67,000 square feet of space. So it only seemed right that this location would be where we attempted the ultimate Buc-ee’s challenge.

After arriving in New Braunfels, it was time to park our van for the day and see if Buc-ee’s really lives up to all the hype.

Inside a Buc-ee’s

As soon as you walk into a Buc-ee’s for the first time, it’s easy to understand why this particular gas station chain has gained a cult following that competitors like 7-Eleven or Circle K could only dream of having.

Buc-ee’s doesn’t just have your typical gas station fare of food and drink. It has its own culinary director who is in charge of filling the store with savory hot foods, sweet treats, and fun snacks. It also has a massive merch line featuring the face of their iconic mascot, Bucky the Beaver. They have every kind of product imaginable from Buc-ee’s coolers in 20 different colors and Hawaiian shirts, candles, lotions and Bucky onesies (which we of course purchased).

Beyond the amazing food, wide variety of merch, and a crazy number of gas pumps, Buc-ee’s is known for one other thing: their restrooms. Seriously, they’ve won an award for Best Restrooms in America!

We were so pumped to take on 24 hours at Buc-ee’s and had a list of food items that we needed to check off. We found an article online where the culinary director of Buc-ee’s listed his top 10 favorite Buc-ee’s food items: jerky, breakfast tacos, potato chips, fudge, roasted nuts, sausage kolaches, barbecue, banana pudding, reuben sandwich, and beaver nuggets. We decided we needed to try every single one of these items to have the best Buc-ee’s experience possible.

Lunch

• Brisket BBQ Sandwich

• Beaver Chips

• Dark Chocolate Caramel Sea Salt Fudge

We don’t usually trust gas station hot foods, but that changed as soon as we walked into Buc-ee’s for our very first meal of the challenge. When we walked over to the infamous brisket sandwich station, what we saw were chefs pulling fresh slabs of brisket out of the oven, slicing them up and throwing them directly on the sandwich. The Beaver potato chips and dark chocolate caramel fudge that we grabbed to go on the side were also both freshly made that day.

This seems crazy to say, but the barbeque sauce on our sandwich was probably the best we’ve ever had. And we’re from Tennessee, so that’s saying something! Kara also takes her chocolate seriously and she thought the fudge was one of the best she’s ever had. Our first Buc-ee’s meal was already off to an amazing start.

Snack

• Beaver Nuggets

• Garlic Jerky

• Roasted Nuts

• Sizzling Saltines

• Okra

• X-Large Sodas

Beaver nuggets was one thing we heard you couldn’t go to Buc-ee’s without trying so they were the first thing on our snack list. They are a sweet corn puff snack and they tasted like a mix between kettle corn and Captain Crunch. They would be so good in a bowl of milk as a cereal (Buc-ee’s, we’re free to be on your culinary team if you’re looking, just saying).

The garlic beef jerky (chosen out of 13 flavors of jerky) and roasted nuts were also delicious. If we had to rank all of the snacks best to worst, we would say: roasted nuts, beef jerky, Beaver nuggets, okra, and Sizzling Saltines.

Dinner

• Reuben Sandwich

• French Fries

• Banana Pudding

Be warned, the “small” fry at Buc-ee’s is probably bigger than your face. We’re not saying that’s a bad thing, but just be prepared and maybe share a small fry with a friend instead of getting more than one. The Reuben sandwich was served on a pretzel bun and topped with so many yummy things: spicy jalapenos, gooey cheese, sweet, caramelized onions and crispy pastrami.

Honestly, the banana pudding wasn’t quite as good as my family’s recipe but it’s pudding and whipped cream so you can’t really go wrong!

Breakfast

• A bucket of coffee

• Breakfast Tacos

• Sausage Pepper Jack Kolache

When we rolled into Buc-ee's the next morning for our final meal of the challenge, Kara somehow convinced me to walk inside wearing one of the adult sized Bucky the Beaver onesies (complete with a tail and beaver teeth on the hood). It was embarrassing, but it helped us embrace our new status as Buc-ee’s super fans.

We ordered a breakfast taco stuffed with bacon, egg, cheese, potato and pico de gallo. With all those ingredients there was no way this taco could taste anything but amazing. The sausage kolache reminded us of the kolache we had in Ukraine. But the best part was the HUGE reusable Buc-ee’s mug of coffee that cost only $1.07. It really can’t get better than that.

Our Favorite Foods and Was Buc-ee’s Worth the Hype?

So, was Buc-ee’s worth all the hype from our family, friends, and all of social media? After spending 24 hours eating our way through Buc-ee’s best culinary offerings, we can confidently say that YES, it totally lived up to the hype.

My favorite thing we tried over the course of 24 hours ended up being the candied nuts, while Kara fell in love with the brisket sandwich and that dark chocolate caramel fudge. We spent about $50 total for all three meals and snacks and it was worth every penny.

Next time we pass by a Buc-ee’s we will definitely be making a stop (and you should too)! If you try something we didn’t get to and you love it, let us know! We’ll keep it in mind for our next visit.

To watch our full 24-hour adventure at the world’s largest convenience store, check out our YouTube video below.