Buc-ee’s in Sevierville, TN is everything we’d been waiting for. We visited the week it opened and tried to hit it early. By the time we left, traffic was already getting squirrely. The site is massive, crowded, and crazy. It’s everything you want out of a Buc-ee’s. When they add that plus all the other stuff on the site including the Gateway to Adventure at 407, things are certainly going to get interesting.
Does Buc-ee’s have breakfast foods?
Buc-ee’s has several options, including breakfast sandwiches, tacos and sweet cinnamon rolls. After all, Buc-ee’s is more than a convenience store with gas pumps. It’s a magical place with clean bathrooms and more food than you could ever imagine. And reader, I’m going to tell you something I’ve learned over my 49 years on this planet: Any food is breakfast food if you want it to be.
Pizza? Of course. Have we learned nothing from the Ninja Turtles? Sushi? Domo arigato. Now, I recognize that not everyone will agree with me. So I will tell you that yes, the great Buc-ee in all his wisdom also provides great traditional breakfast fare.
What are the Buc-ee’s breakfast hours?
Most Buc-ee’s locations serve breakfast from 4 or 5 am to 11 am, but hours vary by location. The Sevierville location serves breakfast starting at 4:30 am at the time of this writing. Some breakfast items like pastries and fruit are available all day. Let’s take a look at some of my favorite breakfast items from Buc-ee’s:
1. Brisket Egg Taco
This was something of a surprise. I expected to be more on board for some other items, like the Beast or maybe the Hippo (see below). But both of those, while good, are almost overwhelming. Meanwhile, Buc-ee’s brisket is no joke. I know some purists turn up their noses because it’s not smoked on-site, but it’s smoked for 12 to 14 hours and trucked in daily. Right now, there are trucks full of Buc-ee’s brisket crisscrossing the South. So brisket and egg? I wasn’t sure. But it works.
2. Beaver Tail
This long, flattened-out croissant covered in cinnamon and drizzled with icing is the perfect option if you prefer a sweeter breakfast. Plus, it’s less messy than the traditional cinnamon roll. You can get your beaver tail heated at the counter and ready to go. Big enough to share, it’s breakfast perfection if you’re road-tripping or just swinging by.
3. Hippo Taco
This breakfast taco includes bacon, beans, eggs, cheese, potatoes and green salsa. The taste is good, but it’s almost too much. I prefer a simpler breakfast taco.
4. Rhino Taco
There is beauty in a great breakfast taco. The Rhino Taco features sausage, eggs, cheese, potatoes, and green salsa made on flour tortillas. Why is the Hippo rated higher than the Rhino? Bacon trumps sausage.
5. Beast Burrito
This one is just a bit too much. This leviathan is essentially the same as the Hippo Taco but twice the size. It’s the kind of breakfast that if eat it after you wake up, you’ll want to go back to bed. Good for eatin’. Bad for road-trippin’.
6. Kolache
Buc-ee’s offers various varieties and flavors of Kolaches. Don’t ask me to pronounce it. It’s a hearty breakfast pastry popular in Texas following a large migration from what is now the Czech Republic. They are perfect for taking to go because the pastry bread makes it very manageable to eat in the car. There are a variety of options, including sweet and savory. I’ve mostly gone with the boudin, a Cajun sausage with rice just because you can’t just find boudin everywhere. I should probably have some more soon.
7. Donuts and Pastries
Buc-ee’s has a wide array of various donuts and pastries to choose from. They’re not the most exotic breakfast. Also, they might be too sweet for some people. But they’re quite good if that’s your thing.
8. Breakfast Biscuit
A biscuit is not the most unique breakfast item. I’m a bacon, egg and cheese guy, though. And except for Biscuitville, Buc-ee’s does the breakfast biscuit as well as anybody.
9. Biscuits and Gravy
Let me start by saying that I’m a biscuit and gravy snob. I need certain things from the biscuits and gravy including – and not limited – to sufficient amounts of spice. Most commercially available biscuits and gravy are just too bland for my taste. Buc-ee’s is better than many but still falls short of the Gullion family standards.
10. Energy Drinks and Beef Jerky
We are road-trippin’ after all. Have you ever hit that stretch of I-75 between Macon and the Florida state line? You need a little something to push through. A good fruit-flavored Celcius and package or two of garlic Bohemian beef jerky? That’s surely the breakfast of champions. But it’s breakfast, not lunch. Trail mix can also work here as well. Shouldn’t we get a coffee instead of an energy drink? Reportedly, the coffee at Buc-ee’s is good, though I’m no coffee expert.
11. Fruit
Gas station fruit comes in second to gas station sushi on my official “do not want” list. Before Buc-ee’s, a period we refer to as BBN (before Beaver Nuggets), I can’t think of a time I bought a piece of gas station fruit and felt satisfied with that purchase. However, the fruit at Buc-ees is of sufficient quality that I have purchased and consumed it without regret.
12. Yogurt Parfait
I don’t know if there’s much to be said about a yogurt parfait. It’s a fine and comparatively healthy breakfast option. In general, Buc-ee’s cold food case with sub sandwiches, fruits and veggies and salad is a pretty decent place to get a meal.
13. Cinnamon Roll
I like the Beaver Tail a little better. The Buc-ee’s cinnamon roll is good, but it is quite large and a bit too much for one person.
14. Beaver Nuggets
Listen, these nuggets are puffier versions of Honey Smacks, a popular children’s cereal with a Frog mascot from my youth and a time when it was acceptable just to give kids high doses of sugar for breakfast and unleash them on the world. Anyway, Beaver Nuggets are light, sweet and delicious. But are they breakfast food? They can’t be worse for you than a cup of coffee and a donut.
15. Pickled items
Buc-ee’s has pickled eggs, pickled quail eggs and spicy pickled Brussels sprouts. I don’t know what the deal is But somebody in the Buc-ee’s corporate hierarchy is super into pickling things, and, reader, I’m here for it. That said, I don’t know if I can recommend a buffet of various Buc-ee’s pickles for your next road trip. However, I’m not here expressly telling you to not do it.
Have you tried breakfast at the Buc-ee’s in Tennessee? What was your favorite item? Let us know in the comments!
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Love their scones.