Buc-ee’s gas station/travel centers – many as big as a football field and all with bathrooms maybe cleaner than yours at home – are popping up across America in an ambitious expansion that started in Texas, surged across the southeast, and is now turning northward.

Aside from the occasional outrage over fuel prices, gas stations usually don’t get much public attention these days. That’s not the case with Buc-ee’s, which U.S. drivers have embraced with a loyalty some retailers can only dream of.

"I've been a fan since I was about 15 or 16," says Anthony Villarreal, 41, of Houston. He's a sales representative for a building distributor and an administrator/moderator of the Buc-ee's Lovers group on Facebook. He and his family frequently visit a Buc-ee's on family trips.

"The gasoline is usually the cheapest around, so that's what gets us in the door," Villarreal says. Once inside, visitors find there's more than an acre's worth of displays to see, food to eat, and merchandise to purchase.

But there's more to Buc-ee's than buying gasoline, sandwiches, brisket, Beaver Nuggets, fudge, beef jerky, or T-shirts.

"It's impossible to go to a Buc-ee's and use the phrase 'ho-hum' because there's always so much going on," says Jeff Lenard, vice president of strategic industry initiatives at the National Association of Convenience Stores.

"It's more of a theater experience," he says.

Why is Buc-ee's so popular? Let's start with the restrooms.

After buying gasoline, 1 out of 5 people use restrooms, Lenard says. For travelers, that means "the bathroom is literally the front door," he says.

"You start there, at the restroom," Lenard says. "Your perception of the store is tied to what the bathroom looks like. If it's good, you're going to shop. If it's not, you're going to leave."

Buc-ee's restrooms are clean – and large. The store on I-35 in New Braunfels, Texas, has 33 urinals and 50 full-door toilet stalls, according to the Washington Post. Employees clean restrooms constantly.

"It's a big deal to them," Villareal says. "It's what they built their name on, having clean restrooms."

In 2012 the New Braunfels store won the "America's Best Restroom Award," from Cintas, a cleaning supplies company. Buc-ee's has "some of the most spotless loos in the Lone Star State," Cintas said.

Buc-ee's are big – but how big are they?

There are 46 Buc-ee’s locations across the U.S., 34 in Texas and 12 in other states. All of them are open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The largest travel center, in Sevierville, Tennessee, is 74,707 square feet, about 23% larger than a football field. It has 350 employees.

But Sevierville won't be the largest Buc-ees's for long. A new store, 75,000 square feet, is being built in Luling, Texas. By comparison, the average size of a Walmart Supercenter is 179,000 square feet.

Buc-ee's are busy places. "There's always a ton of people there, but everybody seems to be getting where they're going," Villareal says. "You don't have to wait too long for something. It speaks volumes to the efficiency of the place."

Buc-ee's is expected to add more locations, including those listed below. Buc-ee's has not confirmed all these locations, which have been reported by local news sources.

• Springfield, Missouri | Dec. 11, 2023
• Johnstown, Colorado | 2024
• Hillsboro, Texas | 2024
• Smiths Grove, Kentucky | 2024
• Amarillo, Texas | 2025
• Boerne, Texas | 2025
• Ruston, Louisiana | 2025
• Rockingham County, Virginia | 2025
• Marion County, Florida | 2025
• New Kent County, Virginia | 2027
• DeForest, Wisconsin | Not known
• Huber Heights, Ohio | Not known

Buc-ee's tends to favor sites in less-populated areas on well-traveled interstates, Lenard says.

"But even if Buc-ee's announces today they're coming to a town near you, it'll be several years before it becomes reality," he says. "There's a large amount of work that goes into the buildings, highway ramps and infrastructure."

Where can I find a Buc-ee's?

Why is Buc-ee's so popular?

A quick list of fan favorites include:

Popular Buc-ee's food items include brisket sandwiches, beef jerky and Beaver Nuggets, reported the Knoxville News Sentinel, which sampled a number of items at the Sevierville store opening.

"The food is great," Villareal says. "The brisket egg tacos and the kolaches are really good."

The food and Buc-ee's merchandise are enough to make customers stay a while. "A visit to the average convenience store is 3 to 4 minutes," Lenard says. "The average visit at a Buc-ee's is probably 30 minutes or more."

Many of the stores offer non-ethanol gasoline, charging stations for electric vehicles, and car washes.

Buc-ee's is firmly rooted in Texas

Buc-ee's "is kind of a cultural thing," Villareal says. "It's from Texas and there's a certain amount of Texas pride that goes with it."

Buc-ee's founder Arch "Beaver" Aplin III grew up in Texas and worked at his grandfather's general store in Harrisonburg, Louisiana, during holidays and summers.

After graduating with a bachelor's degree in building construction from Texas A&M in 1980, Aplin opened his first Buc-ee's, a 3,000-square-foot convenience store between Clute and Lake Jackson, Texas, in 1982. He later partnered with Texas businessman Don Wasek.

Their company opened its first large-sized Buc-ee's travel center in Luling, Texas, in 2003. More and bigger stores have been built, but Aplin and Wasek still own 100% of Buc-ee's.

Where did the Buc-ee's logo come from?

Aplin says the company's name and beaver with a cap logo came from his childhood. Beaver was Aplin's nickname as a kid, he told CBS News. It was related to a 1950s cartoon character called "Bucky Beaver" who was used in Ipana toothpaste commercials.

Aplin coined the name and logo by combining his nickname with the name of his beloved dog Buck, he told the Shreveport Times.

The beaver isn't just a logo on a sign or merchandise. You can find beaver statues outside of Buc-ee's stores and get your picture taken with a mascot inside.

Is Buc-ee's a truck stop? No.

With its sprawling campus and more than 100 gas pumps, Buc-ee's may look like a truck stop. But it isn't.

Except for deliveries of fuel and supplies, 18-wheeled trucks aren't allowed at Buc-ee's.

How do you pronounce Buc-ee's?

The correct pronunciation is Buck-Ease. Saying Bee-You-Sees will mark you as an outsider.

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CONTRIBUTING Keenan Thomas, Knoxville News Sentinel; Greg Hilburn, Shreveport Times

SOURCE USA TODAY Network reporting and research; buc-ees.com; Associated Press