At Wise Choice gas station, on the way to Charlottesville out of Richmond (Photo by Ella Testin)
1. Wise Choice
1751 Ashland Road, Rockville, VA
Headed to Charlottesville? Hit up this chicken shack within a gas station where breakfast means fried eggs over chicken and waffles. Or, pick up some hand-breaded fried chicken on your return. Juicy bird and killer Southern sides, just outside Short Pump.
2. Kephi Greek Kitchen
1635 Richmond Road, Williamsburg, VA
A slick Greek restaurant with family recipes filling their menu. A large bakery counter in the middle of the dining room stocks a plethora of goodies, such as cheesy tiropita or mille-feuille custard snowballs, to bring to Virginia Beach.
3. The Market at Bellair
2401 Ivy Road, Charlottesville, VA
My everything in an Exxon — barista-run coffee bar, artisan snack and wine emporium, and home to overstuffed heroes named for C’ville landmarks. Bring the Belmont, made with Italian cold cuts and sweet and hot peppers, to a roadside picnic in the New River Valley.
4. Super Rico
2386 Plank Road, Fredericksburg, VA
This fast-casual, Northern Virginia-based restaurant group specializes in marinated pollo a la brasa, flame-licked meats and jumbo sides of rice, beans and creamed spinach. The Richmond outpost of Super Rico has closed, so this Fredericksburg stop is a must on the way to D.C.
5. Kevin’s Store
4511 Caratoke Hwy, Coinjock, NC
A wallet-friendly gas station 30 minutes from the Outer Banks that offers delights from Cindy’s Kitchen next door. You could get chilled keto salads or one of Cindy’s scratch biscuits, but her decadent 12-layer chocolate cake has a two-state following. Silos of iced yellow cake also await by the whole or half cake or by the slice.
