Yesway's Allsup's brand has claimed a No. 4 national ranking in both the Best Gas Station Brand and Best Gas Station Food categories of USA TODAY's 2026 10Best Readers' Choice Awards — putting the Fort Worth-based chain ahead of several convenience retail giants with far larger footprints. The dual top-five finish signals that regional operators with sharp foodservice identities can compete directly with national chains on brand perception.
Allsup's has long leaned on its signature deep-fried burrito as a foodservice anchor, pairing it with a broad selection of grocery staples and private-label products. That combination appears to be resonating with consumers who are increasingly treating the convenience channel as a legitimate food destination — a shift that has broad implications for restaurant and foodservice operators watching c-store competition.
Yesway, listed on Nasdaq as YSWY, operates 450 stores across Texas, New Mexico, South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Wyoming, Oklahoma, and Nebraska under both the Yesway and Allsup's banners. The company positions itself as one of the fastest-growing convenience store chains in the country since its founding in 2015, and the recognition from a national consumer audience adds a public-facing validation to that growth narrative.
For hospitality and foodservice professionals, the Allsup's result underscores a continuing pattern: convenience store foodservice is no longer a side category — it is a direct competitor for snack, lunch, and on-the-go meal occasions. Operators in the quick-service and fast-casual segments have tracked this trend closely, as c-stores invest in made-to-order programs, proprietary recipes, and private-label SKUs that mirror restaurant strategies. Coverage of that evolving competitive landscape is part of ongoing beverage and food industry analysis across the F&B Network, including reporting from Food & Beverage Magazine.
The USA TODAY 10Best Readers' Choice Awards are determined by public vote, making the rankings a direct measure of consumer sentiment rather than industry-panel judgment — arguably a more meaningful signal for operators trying to gauge where loyalty is shifting in the convenience and travel-center space.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
