The Wawa vs. Sheetz debate is taking over Happy Valley.

Following the announcement that Wawa is coming to State College and the surrounding area last week, it will compete against local competitor Sheetz, which dominates Western Pennsylvania. With Wawa hoping to open the doors of its first locations in 2026 and expanding over the next few years in Centre County, two of our staffers debated which convenience store chain is superior.

Fernando Martinez: Wawa

Let me make myself clear: Sheetz is still a really good convenience store chain. I have tried it before, and it has a really good menu, so I have nothing against it.

However, it’s no Wawa. Wawa is just so special because of the deals it offers, the quality of the food, the endless number of options, and its overall convenience. First off, it offers one of the best deals across the East Coast, which has become very popular every summer, called Hoagiefest. Hoagiefest runs from late June to late July, where Wawa offers hoagies, club sandwiches, quesadillas, and more for $6 or less. That’s a very good price for high-quality food. Even though not a lot of students are usually here in the summer, a lot of people in Centre County can take full advantage of this magnificent deal. It still offers reasonable prices for its items even without its deals, as it typically costs around $5 for a meal and under $10 for larger items. Wawa offers deals almost every day for customers to take advantage of.

The thing that makes Wawa stand out over Sheetz is the quality of its food. The freshness of it from their hoagies, chicken tenders, quesadillas, mac and cheese bowls, etc., makes it so satisfying and delicious to eat. It is healthier than Sheetz’s greasy food, as Wawa’s ingredients are more deli-style than fast food. There are healthier options than Sheetz, offering items like fruit cups, wraps, and smoothies. With how fast and convenient Wawa is, customers are going to feel like they are getting restaurant-level deli food at a great value while being able to fuel up their cars in the process. You could eat there for all three meals of the day, as it offers various food items for every meal of the day.

Not only does Wawa offer great food, but it also offers a great selection of beverages like coffee and smoothies. Its coffee is so good that it has built up a reputation as one of the best convenience store coffee stops. It’s really good that some people prefer to drink Wawa coffee over popular coffee shops like Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts. You can get a hot, iced, or frozen coffee, which has so many flavors, including seasonal ones like pumpkin mocha, s’mores, and so much more.

Even if you don’t like coffee, you can get other delicious beverages like a Wawa-brand mango iced tea, milkshakes, or refreshers and rechargers like frozen lemonade refreshers. Just like Sheetz, it’s open 24/7, which makes it a convenient place whenever someone needs a late-night bite. While Sheetz has almost the same number of options, the endless number of options at Wawa is just too much to pass up on, considering how high-quality they are.

Wawa has become a huge part of the community in the Mid-Atlantic region, especially in the Philadelphia region. This goes to show how much people around the Mid-Atlantic region love Wawa, which is why people like me, who are from that area, get annoyed when people prefer Sheetz over Wawa. Sheetz is good, but the clear winner is Wawa due to all the reasons I listed above and its cultural impact across the East Coast. I’m so excited that Wawa is finally coming to State College, and I can’t wait for people who haven’t tried it to finally get a taste of it, which will show why it’s better than Sheetz.

CJ Gill: Sheetz

Growing up in Central Pennsylvania, it’s always been Sheetz, and it will always be Sheetz, no matter how many Wawa stores pop up in the area. I have been going to Sheetz my entire life, and I have had plenty of different items on Sheetz’s made-to-order menu. When I am in Wawa country, I often get it, and it’s good. I have no complaints when it comes to Wawa. The food is good. The service is good. The people are good. But it’s no Sheetz, and that’s okay.

For me, what sets Sheetz apart from Wawa and its competitors is its variety of options when comparing the two menus. Sheetz has always had an impressive made-to-order menu with countless go-to options that don’t disappoint. Wawa has its famous hoagies along with some other good items, but top-to-bottom, it can’t compete with Sheetz’s menu. The MTO menu offers anything you could ever want, from mac and cheese bites to burgers to specialty pizzas to breakfast food to milkshakes. Wawa has great hoagies and select other options, but that’s not for everyone. At Sheetz, everyone can find something they really enjoy.

Hoagiesfest sounds great. For 30 days out of the year, you can get a hoagie for $6. But at Sheetz, you can get deals through their app during the entire year, not just one month. And they have deals on their entire menu, not just hoagies, and a few other items. Every time you order at Sheetz, you can rack up points that go toward free food and drinks on the full menu. And a Sheetz sub costs between $5-7 already, so folks in the western half of the state don’t need to wait 11 months to score on a great deal at Sheetz.

Sheetz is Western Pennsylvania-born, right down the road from State College in Altoona. It just feels like this area of the state. Great options of fried food, delicious snacks, and iconic appetizers have made the once dairy store so popular. It represents this area and the people who were raised here. And if you go to school in Sheetz country, you might as well hop on the bandwagon while you’re here.

For students at Penn State, it doesn’t get any better than that. Good deals year-round and a menu that consists of almost everything you could ever want to choose from. No matter the time of day and your craving, Sheetz comes through at a great price. And to be fair, I am excited about Wawa coming over to the better half of the Commonwealth. I’ll go once and a while because it’s actually pretty good, but it’s not great.