This word may sound ridiculous to you. "What is a 'Wawa?'" you may be asking yourself. It's a bird. It's also the name of a really yummy convenience store that's, sadly, only found in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States (basically New Jersey and Pennsylvania down to Virginia), along with some lucky parts of Florida.
It's basically like your average 7-11 or Sheetz, but somuch better. If you're in the area and someone asks you if you want to go on a "Wawa run," or if you're new to the area and want to go check it out for yourself, here are a few of the Wawa go-to's that I recommend getting.
1. Sizzli
GiphyAh, Sizzlis…one of Wawa's classic breakfast items. With nine different kinds, you get a wide variety of deliciousness to choose from. Whether you're in the mood for sausage or bacon, a bagel or a croissant, you're guaranteed to leave Wawa satisfied after picking one up–but make sure you get it before 11 a.m. before they get replaced with other yummy snacks! I recommend the sausage, egg, and cheese on a bagel, but that's just me.
2. Cheese-Stuffed Pretzels
Once the Sizzlis leave the shelves, they get replaced by cheese-stuffed pretzels, chicken nuggets, mozzarella sticks, and even pot stickers! Out of all of these, however, the wide variety of cheese-stuffed pretzels reign supreme. If you're craving something sweet, grab yourself a pretzel stuffed with cream cheese. Want something with a kick? Get one with jalapeno cheese. Or a classic cheese-stuffed pretzel? Grab the one stuffed with cheddar. The cream cheese one is always my go-to on the menu, and I highly recommend it.
3. Coffee
This item is probably what Wawa is most famous for, next to their sandwiches: their coffee. If you want just a classic or flavored roast, or you want a frozen drink that you can order from a touch screen, this is your place to go. Why waste $5 on a medium-sized coffee anywhere else when you can get any size coffee for less than $2 at Wawa?
Say you don't like coffee…I know plenty of people like this. Don't worry! There's plenty of other amazing drinks you can choose from, such as their hot chocolate! Depending on the time of year, there can be different flavors of hot chocolate such as s'mores, mint, white chocolate, caramel, and more! I'm telling you, they've got everything.
4. Smoothies
GiphyAnother one of my favorites from Wawa that I get every single time I go in there is a smoothie. Regardless of the weather, I'm always in there ordering from the touch screen menu, getting a plain strawberry smoothie (16oz) with whipped cream. If you want to get my order, that's what it is, nothing else added. If you're like me and like smoothies regardless of the weather, but strawberry isn't your favorite, they have plenty of other flavors to choose from: fruit flavors like mango, strawberry-banana, and peach, creamy smoothies such as caramel cream, or even a chai tea. If you want to be even more healthy, you can add a protein or immune boost to your delicious smoothie!
5. Mac and Cheese
GiphyNow we're starting to get into the really good stuff. This is another item that I always get whenever I go to Wawa. On New Year's Day, about an hour after the ball dropped, my friend and I took our first Wawa run of the year, and I got myself a mac and cheese. So yeah, the first food I had in 2019 was mac and cheese from Wawa...don't judge!
It's a really good 1 a.m. snack! I personally prefer this over any mac and cheese I've ever had in my life. I prefer plain, but you could also get it with bacon, buffalo chicken, and a lot more. I would rate it 11 on a scale of 1-10.
6. The famous Wawa Hoagie
The final item that everyone has to get when they go to Wawa is a hoagie. While in Philly, these sandwiches are not called "subs" or "heroes." They're hoagies, and Wawa makes them the best. At the touch screen menu, you can customize your own hoagie to have whatever meats, cheeses, vegetables, and condiments you want.
During the summer months, Wawa holds their annual Hoagiefest where they use bright colors to decorate their store and the paper around the sandwich, and the hoagies come really cheap. There are so many options that you can choose from; it's sometimes so hard to choose just one!
7. The Secret Menu
Wawa has a secret menu! If you go to the touch screen menu, press the goose in the bottom left corner, open the vault, and there will be a few items on the menu for every season. During Valentine's Day, they have drinks full of strawberries, raspberries, and chocolate. During St. Patrick's Day, they have a minty green milkshake with rainbow candy coming out of the whipped cream on top, and during Halloween, every drink is spooky with purple and green colors!
It was a fairly hard adjustment for me coming to college and having the closest Wawa be a 20-minute journey by subway, compared to having one just a two-minute car ride at home. However, this makes it that much more enjoyable when you haven't had it in a while. If you're new to Philly or the Mid-Atlantic region, or you just want to see what all of the hype is about, be sure to make the trip and try it for yourself. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.
