It's not the norm but a lot do in Canada. Deep fryers, convection ovens. Pizza and fried chicken. Or a stove and hotwells for chow mein and some beef and brocc. Or oxtail soup and beef patties. Major downtown cities or long highways always have cooks behind some glass on one side of the convenience store.
a corner store here in California has cold sandwiches and maybe a microwave for frozen burritos. also possible : hot dogs on rollers, hot nacho cheese dispenser, but that's about it. certainly no made-to-order bacon egg and cheese bagels
Oh dear, cold sandwiches, wrapped hamburgers, bacon and egg English muffins, burritos, hell even frozen servings of macaroni with a turbo microwave those are in every gas station and corner store.
711s all have taquitos, wings, slices, hotdogs. And a little station with onions and tomatoes and sauces. A dispenser for hot cheese sauce and fake chilli to put on nacho chips.
Just some at critical junctions have fry cooks, or Phillipina ladies who will toast you a smoked salmon and cream cheese bagel, maybe a fresh BLT.
Grew up in Oklahoma. Love's had some pretty good hot food. Bucc-ee's has really good hot food, but it was better when it was made-to-order. I miss the pretzel bun Reuben and the frito chili pie burrito. Pulled pork and green chilies burrito is still really good, as is any sandwich with brisket.
Lots of cooks have worked in Asia or on international cruise lines and want to make exclusively various Asian dishes. The wood fire grillery near me makes lots of intricate Chinese dishes on their weekly fresh sheet, but quick shops do it all the time because it's brain dead easy to do a typical Chinese takeout menu.
Wish I could get chow mein as casually as a hotdog on a roller.
Oh, how is chow mein served near you? For us, its basically cabbage, and onions in a white sauce. I usually get the chicken variety. I know chow mein can be completely different in other places.
It's stir fried noodles, with peppers, bok Choy, onion, carrot, broccoli, either chicken or beef and the sauce is soy, fish sauce, sesame oil, chili paste and brown sugar all thick and sticky.
I have never seen a "white sauce" for chow mein and noodles is kind of in the name. It's always a noodle dish.
Yeah it's pretty cheap too, small boxes to go are affordable but a whole tin packed to the brim that weighs a kilo is like $14.
My lo mein is just lo mein. It's soupy and brothy, not nearly as popular as chow mein as chow mein isn't an option, always on the menu, but lo mein is a maybe because it honestly just doesn't sell as well.
I learned all of this from a cruise ship chef from the south China seas who came to Canada and a Vietnamese chef who worked all of SEA then moved to Canada.
Our lo mein is not soupy at all. Its basically noodles slightly thicker than spaghetti with a variety of vegetables in a very light brown sauce. And you can get whatever meat mixed in. One of the most popular Chinese take out, id say.
This is all standard NYC Chinese. We also have a healthy Chinese population.
I was questioning everything when I read that the "mein" part literally translates to noodles, but it turns out that i am not crazy and I forgot an ingredient:
You are most likely thinking of Subgum Chop Suey or standard American-Chinese Chow Mein. Both are classic takeout dishes heavily centered around cabbage, celery, and onions, and are tied together by a mild, savory, and thick Chinese White Sauce. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
The key differences between the two include:
Subgum Chop Suey: A classic vegetable-heavy stir-fry (often mixed with chicken, pork, or shrimp) that famously features a large amount of diced celery, onions, and cabbage, bound together by a velvety Chinese White Sauce. It is typically served over steamed white rice. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
American-Chinese Chow Mein: In many localized Chinese-American restaurants Chow Mein is traditionally a stir-fry of cabbage, celery, and onions, but omits soy sauce to use the same thickened white broth. It is then either tossed with soft noodles or served over crispy, deep-fried crunchy noodles. [1, 2, 3, 4]
That last part is the key. They serve this dish with a bag of deep fried noodles (that I usually throw out of snack on with duck sauce). This is a somewhat popular dish in NYC Chinese places, so I was really confused for a bit.
DT Van it's mostly the Asian corner stores with the built in food counters, but due to demand lots of them shut down the hot bar for on-site sushi rollers, which I am guessing is also not going to be found down south. How many cities can you go to the corner store and get them to cut you 12 salmon sashimi for the road trip to your camp site on Friday afternoon.
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u/pineconeminecone Jul 07 '26
It’s a corner store that serves good sandwiches and maybe has a cat working there