Buc-ee's, the convenience-store chain with a cult following and 'world-famous' bathrooms, is growing outside of Texas for the first time. Here's what its stores are like to visit.

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• Buc-ee's is a convenience-store chain with a cult following across Texas. It recently opened its first location outside of Texas, in Baldwin County, Alabama. 
• The chain serves as a supersized highway pit stop complete with "world famous" bathrooms, branded T-shirts, a beef-jerky bar, a wide-ranging home-decor section, and freshly made fudge.
• We visited Texas to see whether Buc-ee's could live up to the hype — and we were shocked by what we found. 

If you're on a road trip traveling through Texas, Buc-ee's looms large as a highway oasis — and not just because of the endless signs along the road telling travelers how many miles until the nearest location appears on the horizon.

Much like Pennsylvanians worship at the altar of Wawa, hungry road trippers across the Lone Star State have their prayers answered at the gas-station chain Buc-ee's.

Need gas? Buc-ee's apparently has it for cheap. Food? Chefs say their breakfast tacos are some of the best. Clothing? Per sources, Buc-ee's T-shirts — featuring its iconic beaver mascot — are a trademark of a cool Texas teen.

Despite Texans' obsession, most of the world has never even heard of Buc-ee's. The chain, founded in 1982, has about 40 locations. It recently opened its first location outside of Texas, in Baldwin County, Alabama, and has plans to open several stores in Florida. 

We visited Buc-ee's to see whether it lived up to the hype. What we found was like nothing we'd seen before.

We rolled into the Buc-ee's parking lot well aware of the promise that "everything is bigger in Texas." But even the state's self-aggrandizing did not prepare us for what was waiting inside.

Hollis Johnson/Business Insider

Walking into Buc-ee's was like wandering into a mix of a Walmart, a barbecue-centric deli, and the Texas tourism bureau, plus a dash of the Cracker Barrel general store.

Hollis Johnson/Business Insider

The snack aisles carry the classic road-trip rations, like trail mix, dried fruit, and candy — but on a scale unseen anywhere else in the country.

Hollis Johnson/Business Insider


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See Also:

• We tried Cracker Barrel to see if it's better than Waffle House — and the winner is clear
• Inside the career of Brian Cornell, who ran Sam's Club before becoming Target's first-ever outsider CEO
• The Starbucks in Trump Tower is massively successful despite backlash and controversy in the Trump era

SEE ALSO: We visited convenience-store rivals Wawa and Sheetz to see which does it better — and the winner is clear

from Business Insider https://read.bi/2TjTl48