Jul 14, 2025 - Food and Drink

Minnesota's "Best" late night food is at … Kwik Trip?

Kyle Stokes

A Kwik Trip convenience store sign with gas prices and a sign for "Hot Food" — My favorite drunk food comes from a hot-dog roller. *Who are you calling sad?* Photo: Lauren Justice/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Go home, "Minnesota's Best" award voters — you're drunk.

Or maybe … just go to Kwik Trip! 🤷

The latest: Voters in the Star Tribune-sponsored contest picked the gas station chain's food as Minnesota's "best late night eats."

Our thought bubble: Uh, The Nicollet Diner, anyone? Literally any 24/7 Perkins?

Driving the news: Kwik Trip's gold medal, unveiled in an ad insert to Sunday's paper, drew some online eye-rolls.

So did the Minnesota Zoo's victory in the "best yoga" category over actual yoga studios.
Also rankling: Cub Foods and Hy-Vee placing in the "best bakery" voting over every spot in our guide to the Twin Cities' best doughnuts.

Between the lines: The contest was "born during the pandemic to buoy struggling local businesses," Star Tribune spokesperson Chris Iles said in an email. More than 1 million online votes were compiled to select winners in 392 categories.

The bottom line: The contest isn't a product of the Strib newsroom. If you don't like those results, blame your neighbors, not the paper's food writers!

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Minnesota's "Best" late night food is at … Kwik Trip?

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