>> PAYTON: A wise man once said, it's not the number of miles in your road trip.
It's the number of red flags you give off to your doctor.
♪ When I came up with the name "Flyover Culture," it was very tongue in cheek, ha, ha, it's great.
But when I was growing up on the mean streets of rural Illinois, we didn't fly all that much.
It didn't matter if a trip was 2 hours or 20 hours, I was stuffed in the back of my family's SUV with my Game Boy giving me eye damage.
So that got me thinking, what makes great road trip food?
Hey, friends and welcome to an all new "Flyover Culture," your guided tour to pop culture in the Midwest.
I'm Payton, and today, I am joined by "Earth Eats's" Kayte Young.
"Earth Eats" is a radio show and podcast from WFIU that is all about sustainability and fresh food and green eating.
And Kayte, that is not what we're doing today.
>> KAYTE: No.
It's kind of the opposite.
>> PAYTON: So you have graciously agreed to be dragged along on this trip to find out what is the best gas station food in our area.
We've got to set some ground rules.
Number one, it has to be from a place that sells fuel.
Number two, it cannot be prepackaged.
No pretzels, chips, any of that nonsense.
>> KAYTE: No Funyuns?
>> PAYTON: Absolutely not.
>> KAYTE: Ah.
>> PAYTON: Number three, we have to treat every single dish like we would from an average restaurant.
Nothing is off the table.
>> KAYTE: Okay.
>> PAYTON: It's going to be fun.
Let's get going.
Let's hit the road.
>> KAYTE: Let's go.
♪ >> PAYTON: All right.
So we are in our fresh whip.
I've got Kayte next to me.
We've got videographer Jake, intern Ethan.
Say hi.
>> Hi.
>> PAYTON: I need to ask this because my answer is, of course, yes.
Do you have any chains that you are on the lookout for, that if you see one, you've got to stop?
>> KAYTE: No.
>> PAYTON: Because for me, it is Sheetz.
Sheetz is one of those places that does, like, mega order food and coffee and all of that stuff.
>> KAYTE: Wow.
>> PAYTON: And that's kind of a one-stop shop, wonderful stop.
Our final stop of the day is -- I would venture to say it's the closest to analog that we have to something that's regional, it's got its food, it's got its fervent supporters, and that Casey's.
Now, what is the longest road trip you've ever been on?
>> KAYTE: Oh, that's -- Chico, California, to Burlington, Vermont.
>> PAYTON: Oh, my gosh.
>> KAYTE: I think that was probably the longest.
I used to not stop at lots of different things along the way, but once I had a small child, if you are on a road trip, there's really only so much they can handle.
>> PAYTON: Right.
>> KAYTE: And so, you do end up looking for what would be a fun place where we can all get out and stretch our legs and run around and stuff.
>> PAYTON: Yeah.
♪ >> KAYTE: There's the pig.
I smell it.
>> PAYTON: So my biggest regret with this already is that we have to pace ourselves, because this looks absolutely incredible.
We are here at the BBQ Train, which has its home at the Short Stop Food Mart here in Bloomington.
Let's dig in.
I don't want to talk about it.
Oh.
We've got our pulled pork sandwich with the hot barbecue sauce.
You immediately taste some vinegar.
>> KAYTE: Oh, that is hot!
>> PAYTON: That's good.
>> KAYTE: That's got a little bite to it.
When he said sweet or hot, I knew it would be sweet, and it is, but it's really got the heat.
This is like the real thing.
>> PAYTON: This is the real deal.
>> KAYTE: I mean, I -- I think that this meets your criteria in that -- >> PAYTON: Yes.
>> KAYTE: -- there is fuel being sold.
>> PAYTON: There is a pump just outside of our frame.
>> KAYTE: It's not prepackaged.
>> PAYTON: Absolutely not.
>> KAYTE: Made here on site.
>> PAYTON: Yes.
On the inside, it's, you know, front half is exactly what you expect, food mart, gas station.
You've got wine.
You've got cold drinks, all that good stuff.
But in the back, it's like its own little restaurant carved out its own corner of the building, and they are doing God's work.
>> KAYTE: The mac and cheese is like -- you can see the cheese!
There's like all of this pepper.
>> PAYTON: It holds together.
You've got a little bit of cheese pull.
>> KAYTE: But it's got that soft comfort.
Oh, it's so good.
>> PAYTON: Honestly, like perfect for a day like today that's dreary and depressing.
This is anything but that.
>> KAYTE: Yeah, and we ordered the pulled pork sandwich, and he threw in a chicken leg for us to try because he wanted to make sure we got the full experience.
>> PAYTON: Yes, they were incredibly sweet when we went in there.
It is so tender.
You can see just packed with seasoning.
You may have to get messy.
That's okay.
This is local.
So if you want in, you are going to have to make a little trip, but it's going to be hard to top this, I'm not going to lie.
>> KAYTE: Yeah, this was a really good way to get this started.
Now I'm -- I've warmed up to the idea a little bit.
[ Laughter ] >> PAYTON: We are now at the Mobil station in Bloomington for some Krispy Krunchy Chicken, which as far as I'm aware is only available at gas stations.
I ordered what I thought was a few chicken tenders.
This is a lot.
You went with the fish.
>> KAYTE: Yep.
>> PAYTON: You are not big on meats.
Cheers.
>> KAYTE: All right.
[ Laughter ] >> PAYTON: These are some thick boys.
These are Monsanto level chicken tenders.
It's pretty good.
The crust does come off a little bit easy, but it's got some nice seasoning.
It's got some nice salt to it.
How's the fish?
>> KAYTE: It's very crunchy.
Very crisp.
>> PAYTON: Would you say it's krispy krunchy, both spelled with a K?
>> KAYTE: Pretty salty.
The whole thing tastes like a lot of salt.
>> PAYTON: We got a few of these.
These are honey biscuits.
So cheers.
Kind of falls apart.
A little dry.
>> KAYTE: It looks a little better than it is.
And I don't think it looks that good.
[ Air horn ] >> PAYTON: Honestly, as far as the chicken goes, this is solid.
You could do a lot worse with you're on the road, you stop by for a few minutes, and then you are on your way again.
Good finger food.
It's okay.
>> KAYTE: The fact that this wasn't sitting under a heat lamp, like, it did come fresh out of the fryer, that's pretty good.
>> PAYTON: It's encouraging.
So we are now on our way to our final planned stop which is the one I'm the most excited for, which is Casey's.
>> KAYTE: Okay.
>> PAYTON: Have you ever had Casey's pizza?
>> KAYTE: No.
>> PAYTON: The normal pizza, it's pretty good.
It's fine.
I am hoping/banking on them having breakfast pizza because their breakfast pizza is world class.
>> KAYTE: Really?
>> PAYTON: It is the standard dough, and then a nacho cheese base, a layer of cheese, topped -- >> KAYTE: Did you say a nacho cheese base?
>> PAYTON: I sure did say a nacho cheese base, and then topped off with scrambled eggs and bacon, and it is incredible.
>> KAYTE: You kind of lost me at the nacho cheese base, and then a layer of cheese.
>> PAYTON: Oh, it's amazing.
>> KAYTE: Like -- >> PAYTON: I lost you, but it found me.
>> PAYTON: All right.
So we are at our last scheduled stop for the day.
It is starting to rain.
So we are going to try to knock this out quickly.
We are at my beloved home, Casey's General Store, up here in Martinsville, the city of lights.
I thought this was breakfast pizza.
It is not, but that's okay.
I will roll with these punches.
This is bacon cheeseburger.
So it looks like we've got some sausage, some bacon, some cheese, and a few dill pickles.
And you went?
>> Cheese.
>> KAYTE: Yeah, classic.
You know?
>> PAYTON: No shame.
There's a little bit of shame.
[ Laughter ] And you are not allowed to say, oh, I don't think it's that good.
You got cheese.
You did this to yourself.
>> KAYTE: What I'm really tasting is the cheese.
[ Laughter ] It's really coming through.
>> PAYTON: There's like a mustardy Thousand Islandy base, which is very strange, but it works.
The cheese -- the cheese has kind of solidified a bit.
Solidified is not really an adjective you want to throw around with your food, but -- >> KAYTE: The crust isn't doing a lot for me.
>> PAYTON: Okay.
That is fair.
To their credit, it is 2 p.m. right now.
>> KAYTE: I like a really thin, almost cracker-like crust and so I -- I could appreciate if this were more fresh, it would probably be pretty good.
The sauce isn't bad.
>> PAYTON: I will say, dill pickle on a pizza, kind of underrated.
Adds a nice little bit of saltiness, vinegariness.
It kind of cuts through the creaminess of the rest of the pizza.
Each of these was $2.69 a piece, which is not bad.
It doesn't seem like you are as warm on it, but that's okay.
You've got to come back for the breakfast pizza.
>> KAYTE: Oh, okay.
>> PAYTON: The sequel.
Kayte and I are not the only passengers on this trip.
Ethan had the will power to stop after the really delish BBQ.
Jake, however, you participated.
Where is your head at?
What are you feeling about all of this stuff?
Best one would be the barbecue spot.
That one was my favorite of all I think.
For taste-wise.
It blew everything out of the water.
I mean, you're basically getting you know, top-tier barbecue at this place.
It's really no competition.
Casey's pizza is garbage.
>> PAYTON: Oh!
The dough was undercooked.
The cheese was fine.
Kayte, take the wheel, I'm jumping out.
[ Laughter ] The sauce ratio - the sauce was - I don't even know, was there even sauce on it?
>> KAYTE: He's not wrong!
>> It just seemed fairly plain.
♪ >> KAYTE: It was really pale.
>> PAYTON: You roasted that pizza way more than Casey's did.
>> Yeah.
>> PAYTON: Hi.
So we have finished our lovely little tour of the area, our mini road trip.
>> KAYTE: Yep.
>> PAYTON: I got to ask, what is your rating?
>> KAYTE: Well, I think it's obvious.
The barbecue place is number one.
>> PAYTON: I think that is more than fair to say.
BBQ Train was A+ all across the board.
Meat was fantastic.
Flavor was excellent.
Texture was great.
For the price, unbeatable.
The two chains we went to, how are you feeling?
Ignore the bells.
>> KAYTE: I didn't realize you could get, like, crispy fried fish at a gas station.
So that was news to me, and it wasn't bad.
>> PAYTON: I think for the price that it was, it didn't do it for me.
It wasn't anything exciting about it.
Exciting, it is gas station chicken.
Final ranking, where do you put two and three?
>> KAYTE: I would put the fish above the pizza.
>> PAYTON: Okay.
That's fair.
I'll take that.
Well, Kayte, I appreciate you coming along on this journey.
>> KAYTE: Thanks for bringing me out in the cold to eat -- >> PAYTON: Food that you didn't want.
>> KAYTE: -- gas station food.
>> PAYTON: Yes, but this was fun.
I enjoyed it.
I hope you all enjoyed it too.
>> KAYTE: Thanks for having me.
It was fun to be here.
>> PAYTON: Any time.
That will do it for this episode of "Flyover Culture."
A huge thanks again to Kayte Young for joining me today.
You can find "Earth Eats" wherever you get your podcasts.
New episodes come out every week.
Thanks, and I will see you next time.
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