My posts here at Joe’s New Summer have fallen into two categories. The first type of post is me simply describing what I did. The second type is explaining why I did something. This is the second type. Why did I eat at Ricci’s Hoagies? (Not because they won the Philly Mag award this year for Best Hoagie, though that’s definitely where I heard of the place.)
No, I purposely went to Ricci’s, and not my usual place to buy lunch, because... I think I’m ready to give up Wawa for good.
Everyone reading this knows what Wawa is, right? Anyone from out of town I have to explain it to? Okay, real quick, Wawa is basically a convenience store that also has a deli area where you can order all kinds of "freshly made" cold and hot dishes and sandwiches. In the Philly area, people worship Wawa.
Wawa staked their name to quality, but over the past few years, it’s really gone downhill. I hate when people say that kind of shit in general: "Oh I was a fan of that place when it was good, but it’s not good anymore," it just seems so obnoxious. But when something you loved changes and disappoints you over and over, it’s hard not to get bitter about it. And I’m definitely bitter about Wawa.
My main concern is that every time I order a sandwich I feel like I’m getting fucked in terms of quantity. It’s not rare at all to order a chicken salad classic and have an inch of bare bread on either side of the roll. I’ve gotten turkey hoagies and splurged on slices of bacon, only to have one fucking slice on there.
This happens more and more as Wawa expands their empire larger and larger. Which is to be expected when any company expands, sure, but that doesn’t mean it’s fucking excusable.
That’s not to mention that the actual ingredients are not fresh at all. Most of that shit is straight from a hot bag. This is not an exaggeration. I used to make fun of Dunkin Donuts for practically pulling their breakfast sandwich ingredients out of folders in a drawer, but Wawa is just the same nowadays. Combine that with prices that are going up and up, and it’s worth it less and less to get lunch at Wawa.
And the food is emphatically NOT good for you. Go on the Wawa nutritional calculator if you wanna find out for yourself. I blame most of my beer belly on beer. The rest I blame on Wawa. Like everything else that is bad for you, it’s addictive and it makes you feel like shit afterward.
But Wawa gets a free pass with a lot of people in Philly, simply because it’s Wawa. It’s a Philly tradition!
If you think I’m exaggerating about the unearned love of Wawa in Philly, let’s explore an issue that’s being fought over in the Lawndale section of the Great Northeast as we speak. There’s a current controversy surrounding the corner of Longshore Ave. and Rising Sun Ave.
Royal Farms, a convenience store company much in the vein of Wawa, Sheetz, etc., is attempting to expand into Northeast Philly, and has eyed up the east corner of this intersection. Residents of the area have a few issues with this (paraphrased from the Stop Royal Farms Facebook Group):
1) Royal Farms was fined in 2013 for an oil leak at one of their locations; 2) It would cause more traffic; 3) There are already two gas stations on the corner; 4) It would be built over recreational space.
This mostly smells like bullshit to me. #1 is bad but it happened four years ago, and there have been no incidents since. #4 is a legitimate grievance, but Royal Farms isn’t forcing anyone out, they are simply buying land that is for sale. If anything, blame the church who is selling their property.
#3, of course, refers to an A-Plus and a Wawa (A-Plus was on the corner first, for the record). And if #2 is conjecture based on the assumption that more gas stations equals more traffic, well then Wawa is to blame for that too. But Wawa gets a free pass from the NEast mouthbreathers.
Why? The more I think about this, the more it pisses me off. Where were these protestors when Wawa was being built on the corner? Fucking nowhere to be found.
I hate the holier-than-thou attitude of the NEast neighborhoods, like anything that dare challenge their point of view should be fought against by tooth and nail.
You know what? I’m going to go deeper than that. I think the true reason that these Lawndale residents don’t want a Royal Farms in their neighborhood is that they are fucking racist. Note the demographics for Wawa compared to Royal Farms. Notice any difference?
I tried making all these points on that fucking Stop Royal Farms Facebook page, but they deleted my post. Must feel real fucking good to be able to dismiss facts if it doesn’t fit your narrative. Fucking assholes.
Fuck Northeast Philadelphia.
Jesus christ, I got way off track. Where was I?
Um, yeah. Fuck Wawa. I will never step in Wawa ever again for as long as I live.
And, uh, yeah. Ricci’s hoagie was good. I would recommend.
Love,
Joey
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