So the new Wawas are opening in Florida, starting with the Orlando location on Central Florida Parkway across from Sea World. There has been a lot of buzz about Wawa moving into Florida, and some folks are wondering what all the fuss is about. (For example, here’s a recent post from noted local blog Central Florida Top 5.)
With the buzz, especially on the media preview day, when Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer was doing his best to craft a hoagie, a Certain Local Popular Food Truck was blowing up my Twitter feed today with semi-rants about Wa x2 since it is an out-of-state chain and not a local independent purveyor of fresh food and the like.
I truly get what Chef T was saying, but Wawa is not quite as evil as you might think. In fact, as a goodwill gesture as they move into the neighborhood, they have pledged a portion of sales of their famous hoagies (a type of sub sandwich, for you Floridians!) from their first five stores to Second Harvest Food Bank.
Here’s proof for the excitement surrounding the Pennsylvania chain’s debut: as I write this, at 10:52 pm the night before the official opening, a Foursquare friend just checked in at Wawa and left a tip.
Happy Hoagie-ing, Wawa, and welcome to Central Florida. Now impress us more by sourcing your food locally as much as you can!
Jody's FLog 
If nothing else, they might cause 7-11 to step up their game.
Jody: As a native Philadelphian, I can assure you that Wawa is incredibly popular there. People especially go for the hoagies, which really are very good. I doubt they will locally source to the extent you would like. Personally, I am hoping they bring with them a better selection of pretzels than is now available in Publix or 7-11. Glad to hear they have connected with second harvest.
I can’t wait to get a hoagie and I’m with George about the pretzels!
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