The Best Gas Station Snack Is a Combo of Gardetto’s and Sour Punch Straws | Eater

"An otherwise anonymous roadside convenience store captures the peculiar nostalgia and small pleasures of the road trip: the snack aisle functions as a compact universe where the author’s ritual pairing of Gardetto’s (a Chex-less mix of rye toasts, pretzels, and miniature breadsticks) with blue raspberry Sour Punch Straws (vigorous, tart, chewy candy) becomes a carefully balanced, highly artificial but oddly harmonious treat that tastes like memory and regret all at once. The visit also reads like a snapshot of pandemic-era retail — plexiglass nearly to the ceiling, a masked, middle-aged cashier who cheerfully demonstrated a TikTok trick for opening plastic bags — and the unexpected warmth of that brief, human exchange lingered as much as the snacks themselves. Between the familiar layout, the whiff of petrol, the consolation of guaranteed finds, and the tiny surprises tucked into the shelves, the stop felt less like a mere waypoint and more like a small, restorative ritual." - Jenny G. Zhang