In Sheetz parlance, those night owls who fill the place after 2 a.m. are Sheetz Freakz.

Ashley Timlin, 22, who stopped in at the Wawa in Glen Mills, told a tale often heard about young people who leave for college but pine for the tastes of home. “My friend moved to Florida and moved back and went on a Wawa binge for two weeks,” she said.

Up the road in Lancaster, Joy Deckman, 56, a nurse, was picking up a Sheetz sandwich after ordering from a screen that was promoting new menu items: fried pickle chips and Boom Boom sauce. She, too, had a tale of the siren call of a fast-food favorite.

“Whenever we travel, my husband will pull into a Sheetz before anything else,” she said. “He likes Sheetz better than Wawa. He likes the food better, and no offense, but men are driven by their stomachs.”