The new menu at the gas pump
Convenience stores are widening their food play to look more like quick-service restaurants. Casey's General Stores, the country's third-largest convenience-store chain, is rolling out a pan pizza with a fluffy interior, a crisp base and cheese all the way to the edge. The pitch is simple: show that a pie from a gas station can go toe to toe with a sit-down or delivery spot, especially at dinner.
Casey's says it plans to set pizza prices $1 to $2 below national competitors. "Good pizza is good pizza," said Andrew Kintigh, the company's culinary director. With about 3,000 U.S. stores, Casey's is also counted as the nation's fifth-largest pizza chain.
Others are pushing too. 7-Eleven plans to put more of its restaurant brands into stores, and QuikTrip is doubling kitchen footprints to expand made-to-order meals. Texas based Buc-ee's has built foodie buzz around its barbecued meats.
Why the pivot now
Two old standbys for convenience stores are fading: cigarettes and gas. According to the National Association of Convenience Stores, prepared food and beverages made up 29% of industry sales excluding fuel last year, compared with 12% twenty years prior.
Gas use is slipping as well. The US Energy Information Administration reports that, by 2025, gasoline use in the U.S. was 4% lower than in 2019. Meanwhile, higher gas prices are nudging diners toward cheaper meals. Research from Technomic finds that brands with restaurant-like offerings - including Casey's, Wawa and Sheetz - account for nearly two-thirds of the sector's food sales even though they represent only about one-quarter of locations.
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Technomic also notes that, at convenience stores, sales of prepared food and drinks increased 3.9% in 2025, while fast-food pizza chains recorded a 0.3% decline last year. "Convenience stores are increasingly in the consumer consideration set" as food quality improves, said Donna Hood Crecca, a senior principal at Technomic.
Casey's playbook and the investor angle
At Casey's, revenue from prepared foods and dispensed beverages climbed about 22% over two years, hitting nearly $1.8 billion for the fiscal year that ended April 30. Roughly 71% of its locations are in communities with fewer than 20,000 residents, where restaurant rivals are often scarce.
The company plans to devote about $800 million to property and equipment during this fiscal year, and about three-quarters of that is slated for opening additional locations and refurbishing existing sites, with kitchen improvements in the mix. Wings, now available in fewer than one-third of stores, are set to be rolled out across the chain. Casey's has trained more than 30,000 employees on pizza-making, and it is betting the new pan pizza will pull in more customers, particularly for dinner.
There is a catch. The updated strategy projects profit growth to decelerate compared with the prior three years, and last quarter's same-store sales missed expectations. Through Oct. 23, shares were up nearly 27% this year, but they have fallen almost 24% since their June peak.
What it means for your portfolio
Food is becoming the traffic driver, not the side attraction. That puts metrics like prepared-food revenue, kitchen capex and same-store sales at the center of the story for c-store names. As chains try to undercut restaurant prices and broaden dinner options, operators with restaurant-like menus could keep pulling ahead of fuel-and-cigarette-heavy models.
Bottom line: watch whether menu investments translate into repeat visits and steadier comps. As Tom Brennan, Casey's chief merchandising officer, put it, "We view ourselves as a restaurant that happens to sell gas." And the bet is clear: "We expect food to deliver outsize growth versus the rest of the business."
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