Pit Stop

• 279 County Road 655
• Paw Paw, MI 49079
• (269) 415-8132
• Website
• No Online Menu

Y’all know I like gas station chicken, right? 

I was driving around in the snow storm Monday night and got a little break around dinner time. I didn’t really have any plans. I was just kind of driving aimlessly as one does when the TV news is telling you to stay off the roads. 

I was heading back to Kalamazoo after completing my task in Western Van Buren County. I really needed to find a bathroom though and I was close to the Paw Paw exit. 

I usually get off and go to the Speedway on the northside of the highway, but there’s a new gas station that opened on the southside. I’ve stopped there a few times late at night and always wondered about their chicken game. It was dinner time so I assumed they’d have something to eat. 

The Pit Stop is a locally owned Sunoco gas station on County Road 655 and M-40 in the far southern part of the Village of Paw Paw. The gas station is right off the eastbound ramps at the I-94 Interchange. 

So, first thing I had to do was find the restroom. After that, I walked out in the convenience store part of the building. It’s a huge area with nice wide aisles and a large selection. I grabbed a bottle of CORE water and a Pepsi then headed to the hot food area. 

I was a little disappointed with the selection being it was only 6:00. There was no one actually working the counter and the TV screens with the menus were turned off. There was enough to choose from in the glass warming cabinets so I went through with my plan to get dinner here and get back on the road to Kalamazoo. 

The food is already portioned out in to little paper boats. You just have to reach in and grab one. They did have a couple of slices of pizza but I decided to wait on that and I’ll do a separate blog post just on the pizza one day. I grabbed one of the specials. A broaster chicken breast, a wing, and wedges. 

The cost of the chicken and wedges was a little over $6 with tax. I didn’t see anywhere to eat inside so I just went back to the car to dig in. 

I started with the wedges. They were nice, big hunks of potatoes but you could tell they had been sitting there for a little bit. They were a little cold in the middle but warm on the outside. Pretty standard chicken shop wedges though. Really fluffy and potato-y in the middle. 

The chicken was really good. I like broaster chicken and I also like it more at room temperature than super hot right out of the fryer. I started with the breast which had a really nice crispy breading. The meat was still juicy despite not being super hot. Broaster chicken was a really big thing when I was growing up and not something you see a lot of anymore outside of truck stop diners. This breast and wing were both really tasty. 

Pit Stop is what it is. It’s a gas station with hot food. That’s always a plus. A colleague asked me not too long ago when I’m on the road, what is my go-to fast food for lunch. I told him it’s usually gas stations, not a drive thru. I like being able to grab drinks I want (I’m a Pepsi guy and most places have Coke) and hot food. I was a little bummed at the selection of food at the time, but I do really like this kind of chicken….so I was happy for that.