From the faux mini store to world’s biggest gas station: Texas Buc-ee’s comes in all sizes

Most Texans have heard of the tiny, fake Buc-ee’s in West Texas — an art installation about the size of a garden shed, poking fun at the state’s obsession with big.

But what many don’t realize is that not all real Buc-ee’s locations are sprawling roadside giants.

In fact, some are surprisingly modest — small, functional gas stations not so different from your neighborhood Exxon.

Where is the smallest Buc-ee's?

Technically, the smallest “Buc-ee’s” isn’t a real store at all. It’s an art installation in West Texas — a 100-square-foot replica featuring the beaver logo and a single door.

There are no gas pumps, snacks or restrooms, just a playful nod to the Texas icon.

But normal-sized Buc-ee’s exist too — and the charm and hype that Buc-ee’s is famous for don’t always carry over to these smaller or older locations compared to the massive, modern mega-stores.

That includes the original location near the boundary of Clute and Lake Jackson, which opened in 1982. At around 3,000 square feet, it was slightly larger than the average gas station of its era, which clocked in at about 2,400 square feet, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.

In a Buc-ee’s ranking tour, MySA journalist Chris O’Connell placed the original store in the “loser tier,” naming it one of the top five worst Buc-ee’s locations in Texas.

“So, the first-ever Buc-ee’s is surely a gem of a store, right? Whew, this one is a real stinker. It’s small, it has no hot food, and it has one (1) urinal,” O’Connell wrote. “Yes, you can buy Beaver Nuggets and the gas is cheap, but there’s really no reason to visit — except to say you walked into the first Buc-ee’s. And I can confirm no one will care when you tell them that.”

The second-ever store, also in Lake Jackson, fares no better in his eyes. It boasts “three urinals” and “enough pumps for a small store,” but little else to set it apart. Meanwhile, the Port Lavaca location earned a harsh review as a “tiny convenience store with exactly zero charm.”

O’Connell sums it up with the Richmond location: “Some Buc-ee’s feel distinctly like a Buc-ee’s, and some are just slightly better versions of a normal convenience store,” he wrote, calling Richmond a “four-urinal snooze-fest” — though at least it has a car wash.

This lukewarm reception extends beyond a single journalist’s review. Smaller Buc-ee’s locations consistently receive lower Google and Yelp ratings compared to their sprawling, beaver-branded counterparts.

Buc-ee’s pride may run deep in Texas DNA, but even that love has its limits — and it seems size truly does matter.

Where is the biggest Buc-ee's location?

The roadside glorified for their spotless, oversized bathrooms, mouth-melting barbecue and jerky and endless aisles of snacks and souvenirs are all greater than 50,000 square feet.

Last year, Buc-ee’s opened the largest travel center in the world in Luling, Texas — surpassing its own previous record set in Sevierville, Tennessee. Located about 51 miles south of Austin, the store spans a massive 75,000 square feet — roughly 1.5 times the size of an NFL football field and larger than 20 of the smaller Buc-ee’s locations combined.