A Slice of Gased Pizza?

Ratings (five stars = best or highest)
Pie crust: * (what crust? is there pie crust?)
Toppings/stuff: * (melted cheese rivals the 1989 Exxon Valdez's oil spill in Alaska)
Pizza sauce: *** (surprise, surprise!)
Overall: **1/2 (wholesome, oil lickin' goodness!)

Ever since I arrived in the US in 2001, I never came across a gas station that operates its own pizza kitchen anywhere in Ohio. Either I just missed it or that I never stopped for gas from a gas station like that, until I came to Illinois. In M-town, in the middle of corn and soybean fields miles away from the nearest cities with a regional airport, you'll find a couple of gas stations, Casey's, which looks, well, pretty ordinary. When I looked up for a list of pizza places in town, Casey's is on the list. Upon checking out the company's website, I was wowed to see that each station has it's own pizza corner, with its own team of 'pizzaiolo' (the person who make the pie**). They even boast to making the pizza from scratch. Not bad for a pizza chain 'chained' to a gas station.

So, I went to check it out couple nights ago. Gosh, if it's not because I am responsible for this project, I wouldn't dare to venture into tasting this seemingly gased pizza from a gas station. I must have been out of my mind when I decided to give it a try. I thought, hey, it wouldn't be that bad.

Or, would it?

Take a good look at the pizza (right click the photo and open in new window). It is a small, thin crust cheese pizza ($1.59 + tax), that is midget compare to the Sbarro I had the other day. I picked it up from a food warmer on the counter. Glancing at the menu sign, it's called Breakfast Pizza. Hmm, I wonder if it means it's been sitting in the warmer all day.

The crust, if there is any, is thin but neither crispy nor soft. I could not decide if I like the crust, but I guess it's not bad for a slice of gas station pie. One star for trying to be edible. Sorry, Casey's.

Toppings, er, the cheese is pretty horrible. Only one word describes it best: Oily. If you look at the photo closely, you would notice whitish patches over islands of burned cheese around the center of the photo. The whitish color on the oil pools is nothing but...foams... eeeks! It seems to me that the foams took form after the pizza has been kept warm all day. One star, for I was getting drawn in these foamy oil pools before I could even have a bite. Uh oh, are you having a 1989 Exxon Valdez's oil spill deja-vu all over again yet?

When I peeked under the cheesy blanket, I found a thin spread of tomato sauce. Surprisingly though, I could taste the familiar sweetness and tangyness of tomatoes, even at an almost nonexistent layer of sauce. Though salty aftertaste triggered my sodium alert, I can't help but to give it 3 stars.

Overall, I give this midget, oily slice of pizza 2 1/2 stars. Mm, mm, mm, wholesome oil lickin' goodness, indeed.

Here's my two cents, pizzas from a gas station is better left where they belong. Unless you're on the road, starving, and clinging to a couple of crampled uncle bucks in your pocket, treat yourself to a more decent slice of pizza somewhere else.