A Texas food critic ranked eight Buc-ee's breakfast offerings on a 10-point scale, and customers online rushed to defend the items he panned while agreeing on his top pick.
Matthew Odam, a food critic for the Austin American-Statesman, worked his way through eight items on the Buc-ee's breakfast menu and published scored reviews of each one. The results split sharply between a handful of winners and a bottom tier that Odam found barely worth the stop. His verdict landed on Reddit, where loyal Buc-ee's customers pushed back on some calls and enthusiastically endorsed others.
The clear champion: Beaver Tots, the chain's seasoned tater tots, which Odam scored at 9.5 out of 10. He called them the "Platonic ideal of a tater tot." No other item on the list came close.
Odam's full rankings show a steep drop-off after the top two spots. The Hot Cinnamon Pull Apart earned an 8 out of 10, making it the only other item to clear the upper tier. From there the scores fell fast: the Beast Breakfast Burrito pulled a 7.3, and the Sausage, Egg and Cheese Biscuit landed at 6.9, respectable but unremarkable.
Below that line, Odam's reviews turned pointed. The Bacon, Egg and Cheese Croissant scored just 4.1. The Sausage and Cheese Kolache came in at 4. The Mixed Berry Parfait managed a 3.9. And at the very bottom sat the Brisket and Egg Taco, pulling a dismal 2 out of 10.
Buc-ee's operates more than 50 travel centers across the country and serves breakfast daily from 4 a.m. until 10:30 a.m. The chain offers more than a dozen breakfast items, meaning Odam reviewed roughly half the morning lineup. The locations are known for brisket sandwiches, homemade fudge, Beaver Nuggets, and restrooms that have become a minor cultural institution.
The chain has been expanding rapidly nationwide, and its food quality is a recurring point of pride for fans who treat the gas-station chain less like a pit stop and more like a destination.
The croissant drew some of Odam's sharpest language. He wrote that the item marked the point where "things start to go sideways with the breakfast options."
"Maybe if they didn't call it a croissant. The laminated layers disappear in a smush, and the bread has little flavor, while the bacon is more a broken promise than anything."
The Mixed Berry Parfait fared no better. Odam compared the berry component to something between candy and children's medicine, writing that it "is as useful as neither."
His lowest score went to the Brisket and Egg Taco at 2 out of 10, a surprising bottom finish given that brisket is arguably the signature protein Buc-ee's is best known for. That score set off the loudest pushback online.
Buc-ee's has built a loyal following in part by paying its workers well above typical gas-station wages, which fans often cite as a reason the food and service quality stays high. That loyalty showed up fast in the Reddit threads.
One Reddit commenter zeroed in on Odam's method, noting that the critic had apparently added barbecue sauce to the brisket and egg taco. "The dude put BBQ sauce on a brisket and egg taco lol," the user wrote. Another commenter pointed out that any suggestion of swapping ingredients was moot: "Buc-ee's doesn't allow substitutions, so that would never happen."
Not every commenter defended the chain. One Reddit user offered a blunt warning about the eggs across the menu: "The eggs are [gross]. So avoid anything with eggs." That advice, if taken seriously, would knock out several of the eight items Odam reviewed.
Odam himself seemed aware that the Beaver Tots stood apart. He even offered a cross-menu hack with the Hot Cinnamon Pull Apart, suggesting fans dip one into the other's whipped frosting.
"If you wanna take it to a sicko level, swipe one of the Beaver tots through the whipped frosting."
The chain's strict house rules, from its no-substitutions policy to its other customer-facing regulations, have drawn debate before. But the breakfast rankings touched something different: the question of whether a gas-station chain can genuinely compete on food quality, or whether the cult following papers over mediocre offerings.
By the numbers, Odam's review painted a mixed picture. Four of the eight items scored above a 6.9. The other four, the croissant, the kolache, the parfait, and the brisket taco, all landed between 2 and 4.1. That bottom half dragged the overall average well below what Buc-ee's fans might expect from a brand they treat as a road-trip highlight.
The kolache score may sting in Texas, where Czech bakeries have set a high bar for the pastry. Odam scored the Sausage and Cheese Kolache at just 4 out of 10, suggesting the chain version doesn't hold up against the regional standard.
Buc-ee's has not publicly responded to the ranking. The chain continues to open new locations, including a massive travel center in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, as it pushes beyond its Texas base.
Whether the breakfast menu keeps up with the expansion is a fair question. A chain can build the cleanest restrooms in America and still serve a 2-out-of-10 taco. Beaver Tots, at least, appear safe from criticism, and from the sound of it, they've earned the loyalty all on their own.