Zach Oden
On Monday, thousands of fans got up in the middle of the night to drive to Goodyear and wait in line, in the heat, for a gas station to open. Like every media outlet in town, we had to see what all the hype was about. So, we sent two reporters out into the night to battle their way off Interstate 10, around the designated 6.5-mile traffic loop and into the red and yellow glow of the smiling beaver sign.
To prepare for the madness, we did our research. Ahead of the opening, we called our sister newspaper in Dallas to ask why Texas loves Buc-ee’s so much. In the wee hours of Monday morning, we talked to dozens of people waiting in line. We pushed through the doors with the crowd as the promised land finally opened. And yes, we tried the brisket.
After all of this excitement, we still found ourselves wondering, why the hell do people love this gas station so much?
Turns out, Buc-ee’s purists are ready and willing to defend their beloved beaver. When we shared our perspective on social media, the comments flooded in. Along with plenty of beaver believers, others were ready to heap on the jokes. Some agreed with our writer’s takedown of the mediocre roadside barbecue. Others questioned, why yuck someone’s yum?
Fair enough. But c’mon guys, really? Wake up at 3 a.m.? For re-warmed brisket smoked in Texas and shipped across state lines? For the hungry thousands, the answer, apparently, was yes.
We turned to the Facebook comments to try to understand.
Mario attempted to explain Buc-ee’s, arguing that it’s actually the ideal place to outfit your whole house:
It’s more than a gas station. It’s a great place to grab brisket sandwiches & brisket tacos, beef jerky, desserts, drinks all while buying merch for your home. Which gas station has whole dedicated sections for each room in your home? #BuceesFever #MoreThanAGasStation
Devin guessed the hype was due to novelty:
Arizonans haven’t seen that many gas pumps in one place before, not to mention it’s attached to a building that’s the size of a Walmart.
Christopher invited us to:
Buc around and find out!
Calito offered a hypothesis that fit with our argument, but then revealed that they, too, had been at the opening:
I think it’s that beaver. It might be Lucifer himself in disguise for the followers to worship. On a side note, the beef jerky and the pork rinds were pretty good lol didn’t get to try their brisket and pulled pork burgers though, line was too long.
One of the major draws to Buc-ee’s seems to be the promise of clean bathrooms. Perhaps that’s what Christian meant with this question:
You ever worked 12 hours and ran into a Buc-ee’s? I didn’t think so, you wouldn’t say this if you did lmao.
Thanks to social media, Buc-ee’s has become something of an international phenomenon. In Dallas, they’re even bussing World Cup fans visiting from around the globe to the nearest Buc-ee’s as a tourist experience. Dave wondered:
Disneyland gas station?
And Rob offered:
It’s the Texas embassy opening new branches.
Mark offered a sad, potential truth:
This is American “culture.” Paris has The Louvre. Rome has The Vatican. Shanghai has The Bund. America has this. LMAO.
John’s fully on the Buc-ee’s train. He said:
There’s nothing that Buc-ee can’t do. What a beaver!
Debbie questioned our judgement about the food:
Mediocre BBQ? Did you sample it? It’s pretty tasty!
Yes, Debbie, we sure did. It’s safe to say our writer didn’t much care for it. “With a slimy viscosity and synthetic bite of liquid smoke, the brisket goes down like wet beef jerky, the fibers of the meat fusing with the snotty, reheated fat, while the peppery sauce unsubtly bends the force of your palate’s will to acquiesce to the concept that this is barbecue…”
Yikes. Tim got matter-of-fact:
It’s a gas station with a store. People act like it’s some gift from the Gods.
Andrew is apparently one of those people. He said:
Cult? Don’t disrespect the beaver.
And Jeff offered a simple explanation that might be the closest we get to understanding why people would drive to Goodyear in the middle of the night:
What else to do in AZ in the summer?
Fair point.
Tirion Boan
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