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7/11/11

Could you eat at a gas station? Yes, you can! Fast Gourmet in DC

We all lead such busy lives. Sometimes it takes almost a month {or more} before I'm able to come up with a date for a get together with a friend that works for both of us.

One such get together finally happened last month with my friend Jenna, who has been especially busy lately ever since she's opened up Whisked! with Stephanie

But back to our get together: Jenna and I decided to go see Bridesmaids and then have dinner at Fast Gourmet. The movie was great: I laughed, I cried, I cringed, and left the theater knowing how lucky I am to have friendships with some amazing girls in my life.

And then it was time for dinner. You know where we had dinner? At a gas station. That's right! A gas station.

But although Fast Gourmet is attached to a gas station, this was not your typical gas station food establishment. From their website:


We are Fast Gourmet, a place where you will find tasteful dishes on the go to satisfy your taste.

You’ll find that not only do we serve high quality food but we’re an eco friendly business as well with our sustainable natural free trade coffee from around the world, natural fruit juices, organic bread and our environmentally friendly to-go containers. You’ll be glad to know that we don’t serve processed food.
Everything is prepared fresh daily at your request by our chef. Free WIFI, hip ambiance and sharp service. We also deliver!
So the question you have to ask yourself is. Are you tired of unsatisfying food? If you are step up to Fast Gourmet and treat yourself the bistro way!



After admiring the urban decor of the Fast Gourmet, and inhaling the delicious smell of food, it was time to pay attention to the menu, which was quite extensive. It took us a few minutes to decide what we wanted.


In the end, I chose a pulled pork sandwich and the Russian potato salad. If you've been following my blog, you have read about my love for the Russian potato salad with peas, carrots, pickles, eggs, mayo, etc. I was eager to try Fast Gourmet's version.


The pulled pork was incredibly tender, with combination of sweet and tangy flavors. The bun seemed to have been toasted to withstand the big scoop of pulled pork, which was also topped off with some cole slaw.

The Russian potato salad looked right, but lacked salt, which was easy enough to fix. I was quite pleased with my meal.


Jenna ordered a side of sweet plantains and a Cubano sandwich. The plantains were spot on and brought back the memories of plantains my friend Laura, who is Puerto Rican, cooks any time we get together.


The Cubano showed up with gorgeous grill marks, full of delicous meat and with a side of hot, crispy fries.


I was definitely impressed with this gas station food and look forward to trying other items on their menu.

What's the best gas station food you have ever had?

17 comments:

Delicious Dishings said...

That's such an interesting concept. We have a great burger place in an old gas station... but it replaced the gas station. The best gas station food... hmm... maybe a Snickers bar? Ha ha.

Leslie said...

I would totally eat at THAT gas station. I ate a a gas station in Miami that was simpler to this..it was amazing!

Gastronomer said...

Capers Comfort Foods located inside a BP gas station in Alabama: http://gastronomyblog.com/2006/10/23/capers-comfort-foods-alabaster/

Johnna said...

Kansas City is full of great gas station food. Our most popular is Oklahoma Joe's BBQ, so good the president ate there the last time he was in town. Come visit, we'll go on a gas station food crawl!

Alejandra Ramos said...

Um...this all looks amazing! I would definitely eat here!

Rachel @ Not Rachael Ray said...

That is one impressive gas station! Nothing like that around here! :)

Meister @ The Nervous Cook said...

One of my favorite joints in Oklahoma (of all places) is attached to a gas station (of all things), so I can definitely get on board with this!

(PS: The spot in Oklahoma is called <a href="http://route66.com/>Pops</a>, and it's a soda-lover's dream come true.)

Kenny J Almodovar said...

I am very impressed. The Cuban sandwich is my favorite and this one looks super yummy. I must try it next time I visit DC.

Cecilia said...

mmm plantains!

Jenna said...

Great post Olga! I really think you captured how amazingly delicious that Cuban sandwich was. We should definitely do these food outings more often - I had a great time.

lms said...

Next time you have to try their chivito sandwich - amazing!

Wendy said...

Have been meaning to get over there too! Glad to hear how good it is. Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

I don't drive, haha. But this food looks incredible!

Jennifer M said...

Spaces where one eats are part of their experience, don't care where one eats as long as it is clean ;) Great piece Olga!

City Girl said...

Wow! Everything looked so good! I want to go fill up -- in every sense of the phrase! xoxo

Laura said...

What a fantastic combo of the movie and FG! Your post and delish photos convinced me to go ASAP.

Simones Kitchen said...

Fun outings with friends are really the best even if you have to wait a while for it... I like the concept of that gasstation; it's getting better and better here too. Until not too long ago the only thing you could find was a terrible sticky old sandwich but now most gasstations have fresh bakeries and delicious baguettes and stuff like that... Not complaining! Not as extensive as fast gourmet but hey, you never know what might happen!