# Buc-ee's - world's largest service plaza **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 29, 2023, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buc-ees-worlds-largest-service-plaza/986309 "2023-06-29T19:36:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buc-ees-worlds-largest-service-plaza/986309/1 "2023-06-29T19:36:29Z")
Anybody been there? Looks crazy big. 120 gas pumps, 350 employees, their own Bar B Que restaurant, bakery, etc. A wall of soda dispensers. Gift shops and who knows what else. Voted the best bathrooms. No trucks allowed. Oh, and fudge. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WksA55t6f9o&t=241s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WksA55t6f9o&t=241s) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buc-ees-worlds-largest-service-plaza/986309/2 "2023-06-29T19:43:49Z")
I’ve driven past a couple, and they are trying to build one in my closest city, but have never been in one. They seem like a distopian nightmare. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buc-ees-worlds-largest-service-plaza/986309/3 "2023-06-29T19:59:43Z")
The guy in the video called it a travel destination. No, a gas station is a place you pass through on your way to a destination. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buc-ees-worlds-largest-service-plaza/986309/4 "2023-06-29T20:04:28Z")
They’re more or less ubiquitous along major Texas highways now. You don’t really go for gas. Or at least that’s not the main draw for me. Clean bathrooms without having to wait, better food than you’d get at regular gas stations or even most fast food joints (and depending somewhat on which one you’re at - good jerky and/or bakery), and a nice area for the pets if they need to go. ETA: Oh, and they actually pay their employees (starting pay well above minimum, paid vacations, 401K) ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buc-ees-worlds-largest-service-plaza/986309/5 "2023-06-29T20:36:36Z")
The beef brisket alone is worth stopping for. They crank out brisket sandwichs in style (choped up guys and gals in cowboy gear) and them as fast as they can make them. The wall of nuts and beef jerky is impressive. They do not allow semi trucks, its very family oriented. I have coworker inTexas who moved there from Michigan about a year ago and told hime to go to Buc-ee’s, he held out for about 3 months and then went there. He was sending vidios back to our team about the place bragging about how everything is bigger and better in Texas. Whenever we go to Texas (about once a year) I stop by Buc-ee’s and pick up 6 or 8 sandwichs to eat on the way back to Michigan. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buc-ees-worlds-largest-service-plaza/986309/6 "2023-06-29T20:44:59Z")
I really want to not like Buc-ee’s but the food is good and reasonably priced, the restrooms are very clean, and there are all sorts of wonderful snacks to throw in the car for your drive. Sure, you have to get used to being around people packing weapons, but think of it as ambience or as a floor show. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buc-ees-worlds-largest-service-plaza/986309/7 "2023-06-29T20:45:42Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > The beef brisket alone is worth stopping for That, and similar at other non-Buc-ee’s service centers is why I stick by my belief that gas station barbecue in Texas is just as good, or better than, premium barbecue here (Colorado). ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buc-ees-worlds-largest-service-plaza/986309/8 "2023-06-29T20:53:24Z")
I saw a [report](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbV4XWpfMyE) on CBS News Sunday Morning about this store. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buc-ees-worlds-largest-service-plaza/986309/9 "2023-06-29T20:56:23Z")
Yeah, and even the regular packaged sandwiches, cheeses, and such are pretty good. There’s plenty of fresh packaged fruits and salads if you want something a bit greener. It is a good way to feed the family on road trips that isn’t a chain fast food restaurant or local eatery of questionable quality. And if you’re near central Texas, the kolaches are better than you’ll get at chain donut/kolache bakeries though maybe not as good as that Czech grandmother down the street makes. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buc-ees-worlds-largest-service-plaza/986309/10 "2023-06-29T21:10:15Z")
You have to eat in your car tho note. Had one in Florida that I occ. visited, and the entire place certainly unnerved me. A pretty significant number of passing motorists had to patronise the durned thing to explain the crowds that I saw. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buc-ees-worlds-largest-service-plaza/986309/11 "2023-06-29T21:24:43Z")
> [@echoreply](#): > > That, and similar at other non-Buc-ee’s service centers is why I stick by my belief that gas station barbecue in Texas is just as good, or better than, premium barbecue here (Colorado). I imagine you’re talking about Rudy’s as the non-Buc-ee’s option? That’s the best BBQ I’ve had from a gas station other than Metzler’s in Denton (which is fucking divine). I’m not a great big fan of Buc-ee’s, especially the largest ones. Nightmare of a parking lot to navigate, and simply way too many folks. I’ll still stop there, but it’s not my first choice. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buc-ees-worlds-largest-service-plaza/986309/12 "2023-06-29T21:32:24Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > you’re talking about Rudy’s as the non-Buc-ee’s option That one, or a random Shell station between Ft. Worth and Wichita Falls, for example. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buc-ees-worlds-largest-service-plaza/986309/13 "2023-06-29T21:33:57Z")
Dang, I have no reason to go to Wichita Falls at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buc-ees-worlds-largest-service-plaza/986309/14 "2023-06-29T21:47:12Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > I have no reason to go to Wichita Falls at the moment No reason to make a special trip for this barbecue. It is not terribly special by Texas standards, but is far superior to the Dickie’s, Brother’s, K-T, or other chains in my area, and at least as good, if not better, than the independent places. It is certainly no Stiles Switch, Southside Market, or even County Line. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buc-ees-worlds-largest-service-plaza/986309/15 "2023-06-29T22:02:52Z")
It’s a novelty for sure. But it’s worth checking out at least once. Buc-ee’s gets a lot of snark from left-minded people because the store is seen as a Mecca for MAGA type people. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buc-ees-worlds-largest-service-plaza/986309/16 "2023-06-29T22:17:26Z")
Buc-ee’s wanted to build one of these behemoths in my county. The county declined their zoning request, so they are now trying again a little farther up the road in the next county over. They may succeed over there. ---
**Author:** ![Rhodes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhodes/32/273_2.png) [@Rhodes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhodes)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buc-ees-worlds-largest-service-plaza/986309/17 "2023-06-29T22:21:04Z")
My kids are obsessed. And my family does a LOT of road trips across Texas. We used to stop at the huge one in Luling. Now they’ve built a bunch that gotta be twice that size. The restrooms are clean, there’s a fuktillion gas pumps at a decent price, and the food is pretty good. And the billboards are fun. Now there’s a Buc-ee’s in Florida and in Baytown TX. But a few years ago they had a billboard in Florida for the Luling store: “You can hold it. 989 miles” ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buc-ees-worlds-largest-service-plaza/986309/18 "2023-06-29T22:24:45Z")
Googling, they have locations in Alabama, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky, as well as Texas. If I’m near one anytime soon, I plan to stop just to visit (and probably use the bathroom). ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buc-ees-worlds-largest-service-plaza/986309/19 "2023-06-29T22:42:49Z")
Also, lots of privacy stalls, and little light indicators to let you know if they are occupied or not. It’s the small things. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2023, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buc-ees-worlds-largest-service-plaza/986309/20 "2023-06-29T22:51:01Z")
> [@Rhodes](#): > > And the billboards are fun. Now there’s a Buc-ee’s in Florida and in Baytown TX. But a few years ago they had a billboard in Florida for the Luling store: “You can hold it. 989 miles” Hehe, my favorite billboard of that type was a billboard for Carlsbad Caverns that was in Grand Prairie, TX. It advised you to take the next exit, turn around and drive 439 miles to Carlsbad. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/buc-ees-worlds-largest-service-plaza/986309.md?page=2)