Wawa Adds Pizza to the Menu at 900 Locations

Sep 26, 2023

The convenience chain is now your neighborhood's newest pizza joint.

Jelisa Castrodale has been a staff writer with Food & Wine since 2019.

Jeffrey Greenberg / Education Images / Universal Images Group via Getty Images

If you’re in the northeast this summer and want to start a guaranteed argument, start asking your new acquaintances whether Sheetz or Wawa is the better convenience store chain. You’ll spend the next 30 minutes learning more than you ever wanted to about Sheetz’ seasonal beers, and Wawa’s classic hoagies. Sheetz also serves Pizza Flatz, personal pan pies, and something called Pepperolli’Z. And not to be outdone, Wawa has just added 14- and 16-inch pizzas to the menu in over 900 locations.

According to a press release, Wawa’s newly available pizzas are both assembled and baked in-store using freshly made dough, “proprietary pizza sauce,” and whole milk mozzarella cheese. The pies are available in plain, mushroom, pepperoni, sausage, and veggie versions, and each store will keep its pizza ovens going from 4 p.m. until 3 a.m. in stores that are open 24 hours. (The release adds that although “the vast majority” of Wawas will serve full-size pizzas, a select number only have personal-sized pies at this time.)

Pizza-craving customers can place their order either on the touchscreen in-store or through the Wawa mobile app — although the Courier Post notes that touchscreen orders may take up to 20 minutes to prepare.

“We are absolutely thrilled to launch Wawa Pizza and give our customers another delicious dinner meal option,” Mary-Rose Hannum, vice president of fresh food & beverages for Wawa, said in a statement. “Pizza is one of the most beloved foods in America, so we couldn’t be more excited to make it a part of Wawa’s fast-casual-to-go offering and create a restaurant-like experience with our high-quality ingredients, great value and the convenience we’re known for. It’s officially a pizza night at Wawa!”

This widespread pizza roll-out follows a trial program that started in April 2022 at two Pennsylvania locations, before expanding to 25 stores. But that wasn’t the Chester Heights, Pennsylvania-based chain’s first attempt at serving its own pies. In 2014, Phillymag reported that Wawa was offering five different varieties of deep-dish focaccia-style pizza (including a bacon jalapeño popper pie that we can’t imagine anyone ordering before midnight). And in the mid-1990s, it tried serving Pizza Hut pizza in around two dozen stores, but customers reportedly weren’t wowed by that particular crossover.

As of this writing, Wawa has over 1,000 locations scattered throughout Delaware, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. By 2023, the chain hopes to expand to 1,800 locations in twice as many states.

The price for Wawa’s new pizzas start at $12.99 each. You could try washing it down with a Sheetz beer, but that might tear some kind of hole in the universe.