This Is the Best Convenience Store in the U.S. — And It’s Everywhere in MN

The best convenience store in the U.S. has a footprint in Minnesota that's impossible to miss, with more than 200 locations now spread across the state. And while shoppers may not immediately connect the dots, this award-winning brand’s explosive growth reveals just how much it has captured the loyalty—and cravings—of Minnesotans.

Minnesota’s Gas Station Landscape: Only One Reigns Supreme

Minnesota may have 10,000 Lakes, but did you know that the North Star State is also home to over 3,200 gas stations? Research site Poidata indicates that there are 3,279 gas stations currently operating in Minnesota. Minneapolis has 158, with St. Paul being home to 135 of them.

But only one chain has just been named the gas station and convenience store that's the best in the entire U.S.-- and it's one that just about everywhere here in the Bold North these days. Which chain is it?

Why, that would be... Kwik Trip!

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What Makes This Chain the Best in America

According to this Daily Passport survey of the best roadside convenience stores in the country in 2025, Kwik Trip edged out last year's winner, Wawa, to take the top spot this year. Here's what the Daily Passport noted about Kwik Trip:

Kwik Trip earned top marks for its friendly staff, strong company culture, convenient mobile ordering, and fresh, high-quality food — most of it made in-house or delivered daily. Customer favorites include glazed doughnuts, pizza, sandwiches, and soups.

The familiar chain opened its first store in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, in 1965. Its corporate headquarters are located in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and Kwik Trip says as of February 2025, it operates 898 separate convenience stores, which are spread among six different states:​

• Wisconsin​
• Minnesota​
• Iowa (where it's known as Kwik Star)​
• Illinois​
• South Dakota​
• Michigan

Over 200 Locations Across Minnesota Make It a Destination

There are approximately 217 Kwik Trip locations open across the Bold North, each offering amazing food that helps it become not just a place you stop on a road trip, but an actual destination itself!

Kwik Trip is a massive chain that employs over 35,000 people and has its own bakery, kitchens, dairy, distribution, and transportation divisions. These allow Kwik Trip to produce many of the food items it serves, which are then delivered to each local Kwik Trip store fresh every day.

Here are the top five convenience store chains on the Daily Passport list of the best roadside convenience stores in the U.S. in 2025:

1. Kwik Trip (based in Wisconsin)
2. Wawa (based in Pennsylvania)
3. Sheetz (based in Pennsylvania)
4. Quick Trip (based in Oklahoma)
5. Buc-ee's (based in Texas)

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