The real lesson behind OnCue being named America’s Best Gas Station Food according to Steven Johnson, Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® are below:
For years, the convenience-store industry has fought an image problem: Gas station food.
OnCue just delivered another powerful reminder that the phrase no longer tells the whole story.
The Stillwater, Oklahoma-based convenience retailer has been named the No. 1 Best Gas Station Food in Reviewed’s 2026 Readers’ Choice Awards after readers selected it from 10 national finalists.
That recognition is important. But from my perspective as the Grocerant Guru®, the bigger story isn't the award.
The bigger story is why consumers voted for OnCue.
Readers repeatedly pointed to three things:
Quality. Speed. Value.
Those three words describe much more than a successful convenience-store food program. They describe the modern consumer's definition of foodservice value.
And OnCue appears to understand something that many traditional restaurant operators still struggle to understand:
Consumers don't care what channel sells the food. They care whether the food fits their life.
That's the Grocerant Revolution.
The consumer doesn't see channels — the consumer sees food
Today's consumer can buy a burger from a restaurant, a grocery store, a convenience store, a dollar store or increasingly from other retail formats.
The consumer doesn't walk around thinking in industry silos.
They think:
“I'm hungry.”
“What sounds good?”
“How fast can I get it?”
“How much will it cost?”
“Is it worth it?”
That is why OnCue's success matters.
The retailer is competing for the same stomach share, meal occasions and food dollars as traditional restaurants.
And the competitive landscape is getting bigger.
NACS reports that U.S. convenience-store foodservice and merchandise sales reached $341.2 billion in 2025, with foodservice accounting for 28.5% of in-store sales and an even more impressive 38.9% of in-store gross-profit dollars. Prepared food — including pizza, chicken, burgers, sandwiches, wraps and salads — represented 73.9% of convenience-store foodservice sales.
That's not a side business.
That's a food business.
OnCue understands the power of knowing its customer
OnCue's foodservice strategy includes The Grill, where customers can order made-to-order burgers, breakfast tacos, pizza and other foods while customizing their selections through an in-store touchscreen or online.
That is important because customization isn't simply a technology feature.
It is a consumer-insight strategy.
The retailer is learning what customers want, how they want it prepared and which combinations create repeat visits.
That matters because the modern foodservice consumer increasingly expects personalization without sacrificing speed.
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The National Restaurant Association's 2025 Off-Premises Restaurant Trends research identifies speedy service, good customer service, intuitive technology, value offers and loyalty programs as essential components of repeat business.
In other words:
Technology isn't the product. Technology removes friction between the consumer and the food.
That distinction is important.
Handheld food is perfectly designed for the convenience consumer
Look at what consumers are buying from OnCue: burgers, breakfast tacos, pizza, chicken quesadillas and other portable foods.
That's no accident.
Handheld food is one of the most powerful formats in modern foodservice.
Why?
Because handheld food is portable, familiar, customizable, easy to eat and compatible with today's increasingly mobile lifestyles.
Technomic specifically identifies sandwiches, wraps and handhelds as a major category within convenience-store prepared food, alongside breakfast items, pizza, burgers and other ready-to-eat foods.
Datassential's sandwich research also illustrates the enormous scale of the opportunity: the average sandwich eater consumes about 72 sandwiches per year, while younger consumers increasingly seek unique, premium and customizable sandwich experiences.
The lesson for foodservice operators is simple:
Don't underestimate the hand.
The hand may be one of the most important pieces of foodservice real estate in America.
I have called this Hand-Held Marketing for years.
Put great food in the consumer's hand and you've also put your brand in the consumer's life.
Speed is part of the food
One of the most revealing comments from an OnCue customer was:
“The food is restaurant quality food, but fast!”
That sentence should be posted in every restaurant executive's conference room.
Fast is not separate from quality.
Fast is part of the quality equation.
The National Restaurant Association reports that 94% of consumers say speed is critical when ordering off-premises, while more than 80% use value-oriented deals such as BOGO offers, combo meals and real-time specials.
That's a profound change in the definition of value.
The consumer doesn't necessarily want the cheapest food.
The consumer wants food that is worth the money and worth the time.
And those are two very different things.
Price is important. Value is bigger.
OnCue customers also highlighted the ability to get a tasty lunch or dinner for less than $5.
That is powerful marketing.
But the lesson isn't simply:
“Keep prices below $5.”
The lesson is:
Give consumers a reason to believe the food is worth what you charge.
NACS research found that when consumers were asked what is most important about their food, 46% selected “good value,” compared with 33% selecting high quality and 31% healthy. But NACS also found that consumers define value in multiple ways — including getting a good deal, receiving good quality and getting something worth its cost.
That's the Price/Value Equation.
Price gets the consumer's attention.
Quality earns the consumer's trust.
Convenience saves the consumer time.
Speed reduces friction.
And the combination creates value.
OnCue's menu is also a lesson in Mix-and-Match Meal Component Bundling
Burger.
Pizza.
Chicken quesadilla.
Fried pickles.
Breakfast taco.
Coffee.
Bakery.
Roller grill.
Those aren't just individual menu items.
They are meal components.
One consumer may want a burger and beverage.
Another wants a breakfast taco and coffee.
Another wants pizza.
Another wants a snack.
Another wants something indulgent after work.
This is why convenience foodservice is increasingly competing with restaurants throughout the entire day rather than simply during traditional meal periods.
The consumer doesn't always want a three-course meal.
Sometimes they want a mini-meal.
Sometimes they want a snack.
Sometimes they want a beverage.
Sometimes they want a handheld meal they can eat immediately.
The smartest retailers aren't simply selling menu items.
They're selling solutions to eating occasions.
The c-store foodservice revolution is already here
The industry's numbers make the transformation impossible to ignore.
Foodservice accounted for only 11.9% of convenience-store in-store sales in 2005.
In 2025, it reached 28.5%.
That's not incremental change.
That's a fundamental transformation of the convenience-store business model.
And prepared food is driving the transformation.
NACS reports that prepared food represented 73.9% of c-store foodservice sales in 2025, up from 66.4% in 2021.
The convenience store is no longer simply the place consumers stop for gasoline, cigarettes, packaged snacks and beverages.
Increasingly, it is becoming a food destination.
Datassential's 2026 c-store research reinforces the point: 40% of consumers say convenience-store offerings are improving, while 35% see improvements in quality and 33% in freshness. Yet price remains a challenge, with 31% saying prices are getting worse.
That combination creates an enormous opportunity.
Improve the food. Improve the experience. Improve the value perception.
Then tell consumers about it.
The real competitive advantage: knowing your customer
This may be the most important lesson from OnCue.
Winning foodservice isn't necessarily about having the biggest menu.
It isn't about copying the nearest restaurant.
It isn't about having the most expensive ingredients.
And it isn't about adding technology simply because technology is fashionable.
It begins with understanding the consumer.
Who is coming through the door?
What daypart are they shopping?
Are they buying breakfast, lunch, dinner or a snack?
Are they alone?
Are they buying for a family?
Are they driving?
Are they working?
Are they looking for indulgence?
Are they looking for protein?
Are they looking for value?
Are they willing to customize?
Do they want grab-and-go or made-to-order?
The answers should determine the menu.
Not the other way around.
NACS itself has emphasized that today's convenience consumer isn't the same consumer who walked into the store five or even ten years ago.
That is why foodservice operators need to continually measure purchasing behavior rather than relying on yesterday's assumptions.
The restaurant industry should be paying attention
OnCue's recognition isn't a threat to restaurants.
It's a wake-up call.
Consumers are expanding the number of places where they are willing to purchase restaurant-quality food.
The National Restaurant Association reports that nearly 75% of restaurant traffic now occurs off-premises, including takeout, delivery and drive-thru.
That means consumers are already prioritizing convenience.
Convenience stores simply have a different starting point:
They already own convenience.
Now they're adding better food.
When you combine location + speed + food + technology + value, the traditional restaurant definition becomes increasingly irrelevant.
That is precisely what the Grocerant movement has been predicting.
OnCue isn't selling gas-station food. It's selling food.
And that may be the most important lesson of all.
OnCue's award demonstrates that consumers are perfectly willing to change their perception of a channel when the food earns it.
The customer doesn't need to be convinced that a convenience store should sell good food.
The customer simply needs to experience good food.
Then the perception changes.
Quality changes the conversation.
Speed changes the occasion.
Handheld food changes portability.
Technology changes convenience.
And value changes frequency.
That's how a foodservice program becomes a brand.
That's how a convenience retailer becomes a competitor for restaurant occasions.
And that's how “gas station food” becomes simply “food.”
Three Insights from the Grocerant Guru®
1. Know the consumer, not just the channel.
The consumer doesn't care whether the food comes from a restaurant, grocery store or convenience store. They care about taste, quality, price, speed and convenience. The winning foodservice operator studies the consumer's occasion first and builds the menu second.
2. Handheld food is a strategic weapon.
Burgers, breakfast tacos, sandwiches, wraps, quesadillas and pizza are more than menu items. They are portable meal solutions designed for today's mobile consumer. Hand-Held Marketing® puts the food — and the brand — directly into the consumer's hand.
3. The new value equation is Price + Quality + Speed + Convenience.
Low price alone doesn't create loyalty. Consumers increasingly define value as getting something that is genuinely worth what they paid and worth the time they spent getting it. OnCue's success demonstrates what happens when quality, speed and affordability converge.
The bottom line from the Grocerant Guru®:
The next great foodservice competitor may not look like a restaurant. It may look like a convenience store, grocery store, dollar store, club store or another retailer that understands one simple truth:
Consumers don't have foodservice silos in their minds — they have hunger, occasions and expectations.
Stay Ahead of the Competition with Fresh Ideas
Is your food marketing keeping up with tomorrow’s trends—or stuck in yesterday’s playbook? If you're ready for fresh ideations that set your brand apart, we’re here to help.
At Foodservice Solutions®, we specialize in consumer-driven retail food strategies that enhance convenience, differentiation, and individualization—key factors in driving growth.
Email us at Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us Connect with us on social media: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter
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