Sheetz vs. Wawa: Round 3
ROUND 3: The Touch-Screen of Wonderment
Sheetz has this cute little way of adding “Sh” to the front of their Made-To-Order foods, and if that doesn’t make phonetic sense then they will throw a “Z” on the end of the item. Bagels become Shmaglez, Quesadillas are Queszadillaz, and even Garlic French Fries become Fryz. The menu is wide-ranging but not very adventurous. You’ll find typical fare such as hamburgers, hot dogs, hot and cold subs, even salads and some sides.
Breakfast is perhaps the MTO’s strongest move in this round. A wide range of breakfast items interchange breakfast meats, cheeses, egg, and a variety of toppings ranging from tabasco to pesto sauce and sandwich options such as English muffins and pretzel rolls. At the top of the MTO breakfast mountain is the Shmonster - a glorious two egg, double meat, double cheese heart stopper that can’t be topped or easily digested.
A fan favorite for many is the Mac-and-Cheese offerings and Sheetz also offers via the touch screen a premium coffee and latte menu branded under “Sheetz Bros.” at most locations. Limited time promotions come and go and feature such favorites as pulled pork sandwiches, pizza, and panini-style Ruben sandwiches though every now and then Sheetz wanders in to bad culinary territory (spicy burritos, blts, and fried chicken) causing you to experience overpriced flavor abortionz.
Wawa really knows how to make touch screen ordering as stress-free as possible. Not only does Wawa feature a spread of food options, they allow orders to be placed with customizable specifics such as “just a lil’ bit of mayo”, or on the side, and there is even a button to call out a special request if the pages and pages of buttons don’t give you what you want.
Wawa’s Hoagies surpass the quality of subs offered at Sheetz. Hoagie selections include diced chicken breast and bacon carbonara and the bread is always soft and warm. If you order your sandwich with a lot of goodies on top Wawa goes the extra step of putting a layer of plastic over the sandwich so it doesn’t leak out and seep through the paper wrapping around the hoagie.
Wawa’s variety is quite good also. Wawa avoids the temptation to offer crappy burgers and hot dogs and instead provides soups, chicken strips, rice bowls, and wraps. More significantly Wawa offers healthier options such as sliced apples, flatbread low-carb sandwiches, and for the real asshole patron there is even hummus.
Although Wawa doesn’t have a breakfast behemoth to pit against the mighty Schmonster (EDIT: There is a breakfast hoagie that may just be a contender), Wawa does have the greatest seasonal item of all the land - the Gobbler. The Gobbler combines all of the greatest toppings from your Thanksgiving meal (turkey, gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce) and puts it all on a warm roll for you to inhale as its gooey amazingness spills out of all crevices.
ADVANTAGE: Leaving price aside, Wawa squeaks by on their consistent great taste, wide variety and special limited time offerings.
Dood, have you seen the breakfast hoagies yet? You can grab a classic sized with eggs, cheese, bacon, steak, etc. I actually like it better than the schmonster.
I honestly can’t remember the last time I had Sheetz breakfast but even as a Wawa fan boy I still can’t get behind Wawa’s breakfast.
I don’t however object to a 9am sub or chicken sandwich as a suitable alternative.
I eat companies like this for breakfast
Is this blog still relevant?
More posts and more comments in one week than in the entire history of that ego feeding massacre of server space known as “http://jeffbutt.blogspot.com/” so I’d say its at least on the map.
It’s interesting that Sheetz and Wawa both use the same Touchscreen hardware and software (from Radiant Systems out of Georgia), yet Wawa seems to customize theirs a little better.