I Tried Gas Station Food Around the World-These Are the 5 Tastiest Spots

"I was on an assignment to photograph the poppy fields of Tuscany in 2018, driving along Italy's Autostrada A1, when my stomach started to growl. Fresh off a red-eye flight to Rome, I had barely eaten anything since leaving New York City. Then, somewhere near the tiny village of Foglia, after miles of endless fields, I saw a red-and-white sign for the Italian gas-station chain Autogrill."

"At first, I resigned myself to a soggy sandwich and can of Pringles. But after parking my Fiat 500, I found myself in an Eataly-style food court. A deli case was filled with fresh panini and piadine stuffed with salumi, cheeses, tomatoes, and arugula. Nearby, an oven churned out focaccia-style pizzas, finished with fresh basil. At the steaming pasta station, the day's specials included linguine with bright-green pesto."

A gas-station Autogrill on Italy's Autostrada A1 offered fresh panini, piadine, focaccia-style pizzas, pesto linguine, cornetto and espresso instead of typical highway junk food. The Tuscan meal included a toasted prosciutto-and-mozzarella sandwich and a Nutella-filled cornetto served outdoors under the sun, prompting regular stops at highway rest areas when traveling. In Japan, a 7-Eleven konbini in Itano presented artfully packaged onigiri, bento boxes, ramen bowls and crustless sandwiches, along with ready-to-eat items like karaage, demonstrating how roadside and convenience outlets can showcase local culinary variety.

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