Why Italian Gas Station Food Is An Unexpected Delight For Your Palate

Would you order seafood at a gas station? If you live in the United States, that probably sounds impossible (and even if it was an option, it might seem like asking for a stomach ache). However, in Italy, you might just be in for a delicious meal. The rest stops Americans are familiar with typically offer chips and sodas, and potentially a fast food chain burger, but in Italy, gas stations can be full-blown restaurants serving hot, fresh food, cappuccinos, and wine.

Believe it or not, while these gas stations may not be able to compete with the best places to eat in Rome, they have fresh ingredients and can provide you with a tasty full meal while you're on the road. Not all gas station meals are equally delicious, with the chain Autogrill generally being considered the best, but chances are no matter where you go, you'll have access to at least a far wider range of snacks than you'd expect back at home. Fortunately, gas stations are some of the best places to eat in Italy on a budget, so it's not going to cost too much if you want to try a little of everything. Even if you load your plate up with multiple kinds of pasta, sandwiches, and desserts and finish it off with an espresso, you probably won't blow through your spending money for your trip.

Even if you're exploring Italy on an extremely tight budget, you should be able to get something tasty to eat at a gas station like Autogrill. Sandwiches are a staple, and if you're in the mood for fresh meat, mozzarella, tomato, on a baguette, warmed up on a sandwich press, you're in luck. You should also be able to get a surprisingly delicious slice of pizza. Many will also have a wide variety of pasta dishes, from tortellini to seafood pasta.

If you are craving snacks, you're in luck. Many Italian gas stations have markets with chips and candy (especially chocolate), as well as fresh regional foods like cheeses, sodas, jars of vegetables, meats, pastas, and even beer and wine. Unlike some of the shrink-wrapped foods you might've encountered at less delectable gas stations, you'll find lots of fresh ingredients here — including the bread, which is often freshly baked.

Many Italian gas stations have coffee — and they're not the bitter instant or automatic machine coffees a lot of truck stops in the U.S. have to offer. These coffee counters are like mini cafes, and when you're done with your food, you can order an espresso or a cappuccino that was made on an actual espresso machine by a real barista. Typically, these cost less than $3.

You're probably not going to get a super sweet coffee beverage here, so if you like a little sugar, you may want to order a pastry. In a lot of Italian gas stations, you'll have plenty to choose from. If you don't want an entire panettone bread from the market area, you can try any number of fresh pastries, including delicious Nutella or pistachio cornetti. In some, you may even get to try local favorites like pasticciotti or sfogliatella.