![]() But that changed when the Tokyo-based Seven-Eleven Japan Co. At first, it was the same as all the others in the U.S.: Slurpees and sad sandwiches you heated up in a microwave. Over on Oahu, the first 7-Eleven in the state opened in 1978. But his edge was a proprietary kitchen making proprietary chicken.” The Minit Stop would have typical convenience store fare the groceries, the cooler of beverages, coffee, and so on. “At that time, the old adage with was ‘smokes and a Coke.’ But Jimmy decided to go one step further and do food that’s made from scratch. “People thought he was crazy,” says Robello. With Minit Stop, Haynes introduced Maui to self-serve gasoline, “a big thing on the mainland at the time,” says Minit Stop’s merchandising manager Kim Robello, but perhaps more groundbreaking was the fresh fried chicken and potato wedges. Before Maui native Jimmy Haynes founded Minit Stop in 1982, he was an executive with Unocal 76 (now known as 76) and was inspired by his trips to Japan, where convenience stores served everything from oden to onigiri. Some of 7-Eleven Hawai’i’s unique items: char siu fried rice, deluxe Spam musubi, matcha mochi donut, and pork tonkatsu ramen Michelle Mishina Kunzīut the superiority of Hawai’i’s gas station fare has even more to do with the state’s close ties to Japan, where convenience store snacking is an art unto itself. Sushi was being sold at Hawai’i’s general stores as early as the 1920s - add a few gas pumps and you have gas station sushi, a joke elsewhere, but a stellar snack in Hawai’i. ![]() These were often true mom-and-pop shops, some dating back to the late 1800s, that offered their neighbors everything from rubber boots and fishing lures to chicken feed, chili fried chicken bentos, and fresh-baked peanut butter cookies. In many ways, the above-and-beyond gas station offerings are an evolution of Hawai’i’s long tradition of general stores as the anchors of rural communities. It’s a part of our everyday lives - gas stations are where we pick up a fried chicken musubi - aka the local-style energy bar - post surf, where we stop for a longanisa and tocino bento for breakfast on the way to work, where we go so often we know the cashiers. This is gas station food in Hawai’i: equal parts nostalgic and modern, and, just as with so many aspects of Hawai’i’s food culture, at the literal and figurative crossroads of East and West. (But just like the flying saucers at the Maui Fair, which were discontinued about five years ago, Minit Stop, too, plans on retiring them soon.)įried chicken and plate lunches are among the most popular items at Minit Stop. Minit Stop’s version is more similar to a hand pie than the classic fair version, which features two slices of bread sandwiching a sloppy joe mix and pressed into a clamshell, but it more than does the trick, and comes in flavors like lobster melt, chicken adobo, and even vegetarian Impossible cheeseburger. Almost 40 years and 17 locations later, the fried chicken and potato wedges are still a draw for Maui locals, as are more recent menu additions like pork adobo, and flying saucers - a 90-year-old Maui Fair tradition that’s similar to a Hot Pocket. On Maui, there’s Minit Stop, with fried chicken and extra-large potato wedges cut from one-pound potatoes and double breaded in the same mix as the chicken. A shopping basket full of local Hawai’i favorites from 7-Eleven in the Moanalua neighborhood of Honolulu Michelle Mishina Kunz (There’s one bowl left of beef pho, brightened with sprigs of Thai basil and sliced red onions, but you’d better hurry). Schoolchildren race down the aisles to grab a few award-winning Spam musubi, and the newly debuted tonkotsu ramen with fresh noodles is all sold out by the afternoon. ![]() While you wait to pay for your takoyaki corn puffs, the construction worker in front of you is picking up a bento of guisantes, a Filipino tomato-based stew with pork and peas. ![]() On Oahu, that’s 7-Eleven, where you’ll find dark chocolate-glazed mochi doughnuts and warm manapua (bao) of lap cheong wrapped in fluffy, soft dough. They’re fully fledged dining destinations with a side of petrol, and among the best places to eat anywhere on the islands, thanks largely to two standout chains that rule them all. In Hawai’i, gas station convenience stores are way more than just fluorescent-lit purgatories for the high and hangry. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |