What's the best road food?

Hit up my first Buc-cees in Florence, SC on Christmas heading South to visit family.  I was clearly unprepared for the experience. It was an absolute mad-house.  Could hardly move. Some strange combination of KMart, Dollar General, fast food chain, and a religious cult.  If it wasn't so busy, it might have been slightly less distasteful. The bathrooms were super clean. Normally my only long trips are towing, and food is whatever nastiness the gas station with the easiest in / out has, and then back on the road.

Water and snacks from a gas station if you're trying to make time vs lazily enjoy the journey. 

If you stay a little hungry, your nervous system stays on edge and helps keep you awake and not get drowsy like if you eat a burger/fries or some other similar fare.

The fee times in long drives I've really needed to stop and have a meal, I go somewhere like Panera or similar and get a salad and keep it light.

And if you have someone with you, they are not allowed to refill their 64oz coke at every bathroom break, or you'll be stopping every hour to go to them to go to the restroom.

Learned this with my ex-wife's mom on a road trip to Montana. I finally told her "do you know how much more time we could make if we weren't stopping for 10-15 minutes every hour?"

Because you have to figure in getting off the highway, getting to the gas station parking lot, inside, getting back ok the highway. Can be a real time sink.

Check out Roadfood by J & M Stern. Last edition was 2017 so it's not exactly up to date. There was (and may still be) Roadfood on PBS which was interesting.  The Roadfood website is sort of hard for me to navigate but I've found some good suggestions on it. 

The only time I have Combos is on road trips. Throw in beef jerky and water to round things out. I look for diners with counter seating when stopping for a meal. I grew up on LI and ate in many growing up. It's comforting when on a trip to unknown parts to sit down on vinyl surrounded by chrome. Bonus points if there's a juke box at the booth. If I'm heading back to LI for any reason then it's gotta be a deli breakfast (two eggs, sausage and cheese, salt pepper ketchup, on a hard roll), a salted bagel lightly toasted with butter and grape jelly, or a buttered roll (and possibly some Entenmann's chocolate covered donuts).