Everything You Need To Know About The World's Largest Wawa

You won't be in southeastern Pennsylvania for long without running into Wawa convenience stores at seemingly every intersection. The chain, which doubles as a gas station at many of its 1,050 locations (and counting), has a cult-like following. Its fans are loudly enthusiastic about Wawa's made-to-order hoagies and other best-ranked dinner items, along with its not-so-secret menu items.

Wawa locations are predominantly based in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, where they've been a longstanding tradition since the 1960s. The company has since expanded its stores to include locations in six other states and Washington, D.C. The chain continues expanding, but the largest Wawa in the world is located close to its roots, less than 30 miles from where the company began in Wawa, Pennsylvania. The biggest Wawa is more than double the size of a typical store and is located in the heart of Philadelphia itself. It doesn't have a gas station, but it makes up for it with a historic location and plentiful food options. 

My family is a Wawa family. My husband's idea of treating himself is a pit stop at the nearest Wawa, and I've been known to request an Italian sub from Wawa after giving birth to our children. Our kids are also fan club members, given their propensity to scarf down any Wawa meatballs set in front of them. Long story short, I was eager to visit the Wawa to top all Wawas to see if it lived up to the hype. Here's what I discovered.

First, I ought to provide some context before we get to the world's largest Wawa in Philadelphia, For a short time, the honor of being the largest Wawa location didn't go to a place in Pennsylvania or even New Jersey. Instead, it went to a location in Washington, D.C. The chain opened a 9,200-square-foot location in the nation's capital in 2017. Yet Philadelphia residents were not impressed.

"Oh no!" one dismayed Philadelphia local told CBS Philadelphia when the D.C. location opened. "That's terrible; it should be in Philly." The decision caused an outcry on social media, too, so much so that Wawa told the CBS affiliate that it was simply a matter of space available in Washington, D.C. compared to Philadelphia. "There's plenty of space in Philadelphia," one local rebutted.

Wawa officials likely hoped to appease those Philadelphia-based Wawa fans when the company announced the world's biggest location would open in Pennsylvania a year later. The largest Wawa has been in Philadelphia since the doors opened in December 2018 and currently clocks in at a staggering 11,500 square feet. By comparison, a typical Wawa location is normally somewhere between 5,500 and 6,000 square feet, making the Philadelphia spot about double the footprint of a normal store.

If the Wawa team wanted to solidify the company's ties to historic Pennsylvania, then it certainly picked the right spot for its flagship location. The Wawa store is located at the corner of 6th and Chestnut in Center City Philadelphia, smack in the middle of the city's historic district. In fact, it's literally across the street from Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were signed. If you step onto the corner of the intersection, it's also within eyesight of the building where the Liberty Bell is now housed.

This Wawa is clearly tucked amongst busy city blocks with plenty of tourists and locals around, but it's also within walking distance of several green spaces like Washington Square. These are easily accessible if the weather is nice and you'd rather eat your Sizzli or hoagie outside while surrounded by memorials to George Washington and soldiers from the American Revolution.

Those monuments make all the more sense when you learn that Philadelphia was the nation's capital from 1790 until 1800, at which point it moved to Washington, D.C. The historic center of Philly still has loads to offer — all within less than a mile of the recently renovated Wawa. If you're in the area, you can visit the Museum of the American Revolution, the National Constitution Center, and Penn's Landing, a waterfront area on the Delaware River that is named for Pennsylvania Colony founder William Penn.

When this Wawa store opened in 2018, one of the key decor features repeatedly mentioned in promotional materials and news pieces were the two murals located inside the building. Aside from the culture of Wawa itself, the company also linked this spot in another way with Philadelphia, which is sometimes known as the "mural capital of the world." These particular artworks were completed in a partnership with Mural Arts Philadelphia, the largest public art program in the country.

The murals were dubbed "Philly Firsts" and, to that end, depict historical events and inventions that originated in the City of Brotherly Love. The brightly colored murals showcase the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, the Philadelphia Navy Yard, an electric trolley, and the city skyline. Philadelphia locals will also recognize the Philadelphia Zoo logo and the statue of William Penn that is perched above City Hall, among other details.

The larger of the two murals is located straight inside the main entrance, while the other mural has been placed to the right. Both are welcome pops of color against the otherwise black, gray, and bronze palette inside the Wawa. A note on that: When Wawa officials announced this store opening, they said the space would "weave together industrial and art deco elements," according to Philadelphia magazine. It certainly does that, but I think that the murals add warmth to the space that makes the atmosphere as welcoming as a more typical Wawa.

Longtime Wawa customers know that you can order lunch or dinner at a store's kiosk and be walking out the door within 10 minutes — or even faster if you ordered ahead for pickup. The Independence Mall location was at the peak of the weekday lunch rush when I arrived with my family during our visit, but even then I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly we received our order.

The advantage of having double the space of a normal Wawa location was that the food ordering kiosks weren't directly in front of the preparation area and food pickup counter, unlike in a normal Wawa. This helps to spread out the crowd a bit and makes it easier for people to move around. Our food (an Italian hoagie, hot panini, and medium meatballs) was prepared exactly how we ordered it and was ready at the counter after a surprisingly short wait, given how many people were packed into the space.

Other visitors, especially tourists who are new to the Wawa experience, have noted that they were wowed by their initiation to the convenience store. "Wawa is like Buccees [sic] but even better in my personal opinion. They have everything and it is not super overwhelming," one Yelp reviewer from Texas wrote of this location. "Despite this being a pretty dirty city, and expectations of convenience stores as being dirty and full of stale food, Wawa was the total opposite," another visitor from Arizona noted.

The building where this Wawa is housed wasn't always meant to feature grab-and-go sandwiches and bags of chips. Today, it's known as the Public Ledger Building, so named for the first penny paper sold in Philadelphia in the 1800s. The building housed the paper's operations for several decades between 1867 and the 1930s.

The Public Ledger Building is listed on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, putting it in good company with locations such as the Betsy Ross House and Reading Terminal Market. To be honest, that distinction isn't terribly difficult to come by, given that the designation belongs to more than 13,000 establishments across what's widely acknowledged as a historic city. However, it still cements the location as part of the storied architecture of the city.

It also explains this particular Wawa's high, arched ceilings, curved windows, and other aesthetic touches that give the spot a classier feel than what you might encounter at your typical convenience store. Today, the rest of the Public Ledger Building is mostly reserved for private use, including residential apartments and office spaces for lease located on the floors above Wawa. 

If you're in need of a spot to sit and sip your morning coffee or take a quick lunch break, this Wawa offers room for both. The expansive store location includes both free WiFi and small seating areas throughout the space, so you can easily order your Wawa pizza and eat it, too.

To be fair, free WiFi at Wawa locations is fairly common, so that's not a surprising feature for loyal customers. However, the café space in the midst of Philly is unique to this spot. Most Wawa stores don't have any indoor seating given their relatively small footprints, but the extra square footage in this downtown location allows for small tables, couches, and coffee tables where patrons can eat before heading back to the rest of their itinerary.

That said, you'll need to be patient if you want to score a seat during peak business hours. Though the seating areas can accommodate roughly 25 people if everyone shares a table, that can be cut in half for solo diners on their lunch break or during especially busy times with lots of customers in the store.

Visiting Wawa goes hand in hand with stocking up on snacks from beloved companies based in the Mid-Atlantic region, including Tastykake snack cakes and Herr's chips, among others. Both company's products were heavily featured in the Philadelphia Wawa, not only in the snack aisles but also on end caps and one display of "local eats." The Herr's chips section on that rack, for example, featured "Flavored by Philly" flavors like pierogi, special hot stromboli, and cheese ravioli.

Other products on the display included Utz pretzels and cheese balls, another snack company based in Pennsylvania. Philadelphia dessert icon Tastykake took up an entire shelf's worth of mini donuts, Krimpets, and its ever-popular chocolate and peanut butter Kandy Kakes.

At one point, Google reviewers posted pictures of a Philadelphia-based Federal Donuts pop-up in Wawa's bakery section. (When it opened, the bakery also prepared fresh croissants and French bread daily.) However, those features seem to be replaced with the typical Wawa-branded donuts and baked goods you'll find in any Wawa in the region. A Wawa spokeswoman didn't respond directly about the changing food options in the Philadelphia spot, but wrote via email that "we make changes to operations as needed."

In case you haven't realized it yet, this location really tries to hammer home the equation that Wawa equals Philadelphia. If the murals and historic location aren't enough, the walls are also adorned with smaller works of art that pay homage to Philadelphia's icons and accomplishments.

One such display includes a bright image and plaque commemorating Benjamin Franklin's Bucket Brigade, a group of volunteers who established the Union Fire Company in 1736. As a tie to the present day, the plaque also mentions the Wawa Foundation's support of local first responders — and is not-so-subtly placed next to the store's fire extinguisher. 

Other displays throughout the building celebrate locations like the First Bank of the United States, which was proposed by Alexander Hamilton and was chartered in 1791. Today, it's the oldest building in the United States built by the federal government. A separate plaque notes the fact that Philadelphia was designated as a World Heritage City in 2015.

The unique location gives this Wawa special visual touches that you won't find elsewhere. The high windows and ceilings allow for abundant natural light, as well as pendant lighting and colored strip lighting installed on tall columns that give the space a special feel. A living plant wall also takes up one vertical section behind a bank of cash registers, which adds an extra touch of class. Another brick column displays bronze signage with "Philly Proud" printed on it, complete with a goose in flight as a nod toward Wawa's logo.

It's still a convenience store, of course. This means that there are banks of soda fountains and carafes full of coffee along the walls. And if you go during peak lunch or dinner hours, you're likely to hear employees yelling order numbers at the pickup counter — with a touch of an echo, given the expansive space. However, the larger amount of natural light from the extra-tall windows, the copper accents, and the signs inlaid in the floors and walls (complete with warm metal tones) do give this Wawa an elevated feel.

In terms of food, there's not necessarily anything special about the products that this Wawa provides. Anything you find here, you can find at most Wawa locations. That said, the racks of salty snacks and road trip-ready candy are in abundant supply, while the bigger floor plan means the store can devote greater space to branded things like its Wawa-labeled pints of ice cream.

There are numerous drink cases throughout the location and plenty of grab-and-go items on the shelves if you don't want to wait to order at a kiosk. Wawa-branded soft pretzels (which we've deemed to be one of the most underrated gas station foods) are also prevalent throughout the Philly store, as well as prepared foods including stuffed pretzels, egg rolls, and breakfast sandwiches are stocked in warmers right by the checkout, just like you might find in a typical Wawa.

In addition to your typical stashes of Wawa food favorites, the store also has two ATMs — which are currently touted as always free from surcharges in Wawa stores — and a touchscreen for purchasing lottery tickets. If you're in the spirit, you can also access a case of Wawa-branded swag for purchase (which is under lock and key, presumably to keep those tees from wandering away). The location's bathrooms are also open to the public, though you'll need to get a code from a Wawa employee to get in one (A word of warning: I spotted a sign saying the restrooms close at 3 p.m. daily, so if you're making a later stop here, you might need to find a bathroom elsewhere).

This Wawa is certainly bigger than most stores, but I wouldn't necessarily say it's better than any other location. I'll be quick to say that Wawa is still the greatest convenience store to grace the planet (humble opinions are all my own), but I wouldn't go out of my way to see this particular spot. Yet tourists who are in the area for the historic sites should consider stopping in for a Wawa initiation. The store is clean, the food is quick and representative of a typical Wawa experience, and prices generally seemed to be in line with other locations in the region. You'll get a good sense of the Wawa hype with an extra touch of Philadelphia history and flair that you won't find in a regular Wawa.

It was also clear that locals who worked in the area used this as a frequent lunch spot. While I was there, I spotted National Park Service employees (who work at various historical sites nearby), along with medical professionals and others who clearly dropped by from their local office buildings.

That said, if you're already a Wawa aficionado who is familiar with the brand, it's probably not worth battling traffic into (or out of) Center City Philadelphia. It's fun to say you've been to the world's largest Wawa, sure, but at the end of the day, save yourself the commute and pick up your hoagie from the Wawa around the corner instead.