Dash In Concord , NC, USA

Entry profile – ‘Best Foodvenience Store in the World’ 2026

Located in Concord, North Carolina, just outside Charlotte, Dash In’s first North Carolina location represents the next generation of the brand’s approach to convenience. The 5,600 square-foot store brings together fresh, made-to-order food, an expansive beverage program, innovative technology and a welcoming store experience designed around today’s guest. More than simply a place to fuel up, the Concord location demonstrates Dash In’s vision for what modern convenience can be – a destination where great food and genuine hospitality come together.

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Foodvenience

Dash In’s foodservice journey reflects decades of learning, evolution and a willingness to rethink what convenience food can be.

When Dash In launched in 1979, foodservice centered largely on fresh fried chicken and potato wedges. As the brand evolved, it experimented with several approaches, including partnerships with established quick-service brands, and, later, a proprietary grab-and-go program. Each chapter helped build foodservice credibility while providing valuable insight into what Dash In guests wanted.

In 2018, Dash In made a pivotal strategic decision: rather than treating food as an amenity within the convenience store, it would make food and beverage central to the guest experience. The team examined the entire offer through a customer lens, identifying opportunities to improve quality, choice, environment, service and ease.

That work has transformed Dash In’s foodservice program, combining commercial kitchens, a fresh made-to-order menu, an evolving beverage program and a hospitality-focused service model. Today, those learnings continue to shape foodservice across the Dash In network, with Concord representing the newest expression of a strategy built to deliver something uncommon in convenience retail: genuinely great food without sacrificing convenience.

Overview

Dash In’s foodservice strategy is built around a simple idea: convenience should never require guests to compromise on food quality.

Our proprietary food program is grounded in three principles: use wholesome ingredients prepared fresh in our on-site kitchens; create familiar, approachable recipes with an unexpected twist; and, most importantly, make food that guests genuinely want to eat. We prepare raw proteins and fresh produce in-store and bake pastries, croissants and biscuits in our ovens every day.

That approach allows Dash In to compete not only with other convenience retailers, but with quick service restaurants. While much of traditional convenience foodservice centers on heat-and-eat products or a signature category, Dash In operates a commercial kitchen capable of preparing a broad, restaurant-quality menu to order.

The food experience is complemented by a clean, well-stocked and welcoming store environment designed to feel open and inviting.

Together, quality, variety, value and convenience create an experience for guests who expect more from a convenience store, making food not simply part of the visit, but increasingly a reason to choose Dash In.

Menu and signature products

Dash In’s menu is intentionally broad, giving guests compelling choices across breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacking occasions. Fresh salads and grab-and-go sandwiches sit alongside made-to-order burgers, chicken, burritos and Stackadillas – Dash In’s proprietary take on the quesadilla. At our newest stores, food and dispensed beverages account for more than 40% of total inside sales, demonstrating strength of the overall offer.

Two categories are particular standouts. Breakfast sandwiches feature biscuits and croissants baked in-store daily, paired with fresh-cracked eggs and freshly cooked bacon or sausage. Dash In’s 100% Angus beef smash burgers are griddle-pressed to order and served on toasted brioche buns.

Across the menu, the differentiator is consistent: familiar, craveable food prepared with a level of freshness and quality guests may not expect from a convenience store.

Daypart specific offers

Breakfast and lunch are Dash In’s strongest foodservice dayparts, each designed around guests who want fresh, high-quality food without slowing down their day.

Breakfast serves commuters and morning travelers with fresh, made-to-order options alongside the convenience of a one-stop visit. Biscuits and croissants baked daily, fresh-cracked eggs and freshly cooked breakfast proteins help differentiate the offer. That combination is resonating with guests, with breakfast sales increasing 30% year over year and helping drive morning visits.

Lunch serves equally time-stretched guests, including those working nearby or traveling between destinations. Made-to-order options are complemented by fresh grab-and-go choices for guests who need to move quickly. Over the past year, fresh salads and sandwiches have grown 68%, making them a standout within the lunch occasion.

Across both dayparts, the strategy is simple: deliver freshly prepared food at the pace convenience requires.

Speed, consistency and quality

Dash In is designed to solve one of foodservice’s biggest challenges: delivering the quality guests expect from a restaurant with the speed and convenience they expect from a c-store.

Our menu is intentionally built to balance both. Fresh grab-and-go options are prepared daily for guests who need to move quickly, while made-to-order items are prepared fresh for each guest, providing a restaurant-quality experience without sacrificing convenience.

Consistency is built into the program through standardized recipes, preparation procedures and operational playbooks designed to deliver the same high-quality experience across locations and team members. Dash In also measures speed of service and quality performance, giving teams clear expectations and identifying opportunities for continuous improvement.

Together, these systems allow us to deliver on what matters most: fresh, high-quality food prepared consistently and served at the pace our guests’ lives demand.

Variety and innovation

Dash In evolves its menu quarterly, balancing innovation with a disciplined approach to building a strong, enduring core. New items must earn their place through guest demand, quality, profitability and operational execution, while maintaining a focused ingredient list that allows store teams to execute consistently.

Innovation is guest-driven. We study purchasing behavior and product performance, listen to store feedback and identify opportunities to build on foods guests already enjoy rather than choosing short-lived trends. The Hot Honey Chicken Biscuit is one example: initially developed with the North Carolina market in mind, its sweet-and-spicy flavor profile resonated across regions, demonstrating how a thoughtfully selected trend can have broader appeal.

Innovation also means knowing what to remove. Underperforming items and unnecessary ingredients are routinely eliminated, creating room for stronger products while improving inventory efficiency and operational simplicity.

Coffee and beverage program

Dash In’s beverage program is an intentionally built platform spanning hot, cold and frozen beverages, designed to complement our foodservice offer and give guests more reasons to visit throughout the day.

Our bean-to-cup coffee program features three core roasts – Light Roast – Classic Colombian and Dark Roast – plus Colombian Decaf, roasted by our regional partner Baronet Coffee and ground fresh for every cup. Beyond coffee, the program combines best-in-class partners and proprietary offerings, including Tractor craft sodas and bubblers, Vera teas, Fresh Blends frozen beverages and a tap wall featuring fruit-forward flavors.

Beverages are also a powerful driver of loyalty and frequency. Six of the nine top selling Dash In Rewards items are dispensed beverages, while hot dispensed beverages achieve 61% loyalty penetration, increasing to 69% for 24-ounce coffee.

Together, beverage drives frequency while our foodservice offer creates opportunities to deepen each visit.

Technology & Operational Excelllence

Loyalty

Dash In Rewards is designed to deliver meaningful value across the entire Dash In experience, allowing members to earn and redeem rewards across food and beverage, fuel and Splash In car washes.

Value begins immediately. New members receive 25 cents off per gallon for their first 60 days, a free Best Car Wash and $5 off their first $10+ mobile food order, encouraging guests to experience more of the brand from day one.

Foodservice is a major driver of continued engagement. New menu items create excitement, while personalized offers encourage trial, reward loyalty and give members more reasons to return.

The engagement is especially strong at our Concord location, which has already grown to more than 6,000 active Dash In Rewards members since our opening in June 2026, with a 57.9% loyalty associated sales rate.

Ultimately, Dash In Rewards turns everyday convenience into an ongoing relationship with our guests.

Online Ordering and Delivery

Dash In makes its foodservice offer available wherever and whenever guests need it. Online ordering is available through the Dash In mobile app, allowing guests to order ahead from our full made-to-order menu and pick up their food in-store. Mobile ordering is now available at 54 locations and represents approximately 10% of total foodservice sales.

Dash In also partners with Olo to manage third-party delivery through platforms including DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub, extending the reach of our foodservice program beyond the store.

At select locations, Dash In is also available through the DoorDash marketplace, with particularly strong relevance during late-night hours when fewer traditional foodservice options are available. Because Dash In operates 24 hours a day with its full menu available around the clock, guests never have to choose between convenience and a freshly prepared meal.

Operational Excellence

Delivering restaurant-quality food in a fast-paced convenience environment requires an operating model built specifically for foodservice. At Dash In, our Operations and Food and Beverage teams work together across kitchen design, equipment, processes and training to make quality and speed repeatable.

Our kitchens have been engineered to improve product flow and peak-period capacity, with efficient production zones that reduce unnecessary movement and help teams execute consistently during our busiest periods.

Standardized recipes, operational playbooks and training reinforce that consistency across locations, while quality checks and weekly speed-of-service reviews give teams clear measures for continuous improvement. Our guest experience team adds another layer by sampling food with guests and gathering real-time feedback.

Together, these practices allow Dash In to deliver a sophisticated food program with speed, consistency and hospitality guests expect from convenience.

Social Media Engagement and Influence

Social Media Presence

Dash In uses social media to do more than promote what’s happening in our stores. We use it to give guests another way to experience the brand.

Our content starts with what people actually care about: craveable food, new flavors, great value and moments that make a Dash In visit worth sharing. Food is the hero, with bold photography and video bringing our made-to-order menu to life – from signature favorites and fresh-baked items to limited-time offers and new product launches. We pair that with culture, humor and everyday moments that give Dash In a personality that feels human, current and distinctly our own.

Just as importantly, we listen and respond to guests, celebrate their experiences and create reasons to engage. Promotions, loyalty offers, product launches and social-first activations help turn digital engagement into store visits while building a stronger community around the brand.

That approach drives meaningful growth. Year over year, our audience has grown 61% on Instagram and 71% on TikTok. Across the three platforms, Dash In content has reached 5.2 million people on Facebook, 2.7 million on Instagram and 6.7 million on TikTok, with engagement rates of 0.75%, 2.23% and 1.73%, respectively.

Ultimately, we want our social channels to do what our stores do: make someone’s day a little more enjoyable.

Website: dashin.com

Social: Facebook | Instagram @dashinstores | TikTok @dashinstores

Online Trends and Influencers

Social moves fast, and so do we. Our team closely monitors what’s gaining traction across food, beverage and culture — not to jump on every trend, but to identify moments where Dash In has an authentic right to participate.

When there’s a fit, we move quickly and put our own spin on it. After a viral moment featuring McDonald’s CEO taking a notably small bite of a burger, Dash In responded with our own version: Director of Corporate Operations Mauricio Rivas taking an unapologetically large bite of a Dash In Double Burger. The TikTok-native response showcased one of our signature food items while joining the conversation in a way that felt distinctly Dash In. The result: 3.8 million views, 346,000 likes, 23,000 saves and 5,700 new followers.

We’re also building relationships with local and regional creators who can tell the Dash In story through their own lens. Our partnership with regional food creator @RenzoEats uses authentic, review-style content to introduce audiences to menu favorites including our Bistro sandwiches and wings. The partnership generated 73,000 impressions, 62,400 reach and 2,500 engagements.

Whether responding to a cultural moment or partnering with a trusted creator, our goal is the same: create content that feels native to the platform, earns attention and gives people a reason to reconsider what convenience-store food can be.

Performance

Dash In’s performance demonstrates that guests are responding to the brand’s investment in foodservice as a central part of the convenience experience. Across the business, food and beverage have become increasingly important drivers of sales, loyalty and repeat visits, reinforcing Dash In’s strategy of competing for more than the traditional convenience occasion.

Foodservice delivers a gross margin of 57%, while managed food waste is held to approximately 7% demonstrating that the program can deliver both a compelling guest experience and strong operational performance.

The Concord, North Carolina location has provided an especially strong proof point. On its first day of operation, Concord set a single-day Dash In foodservice sales record, with foodservice representing 69% of total store sales that day. Since opening on June 8, 2026, the location has also grown to more than 6,000 active loyalty members.

These results reinforce what Dash In is seeing across its foodservice business: when high-quality, made-to-order food, differentiated beverages and genuine hospitality come together, guests respond. Foodservice is no longer simply part of the Dash In experience – it’s increasingly a reason guests choose Dash In.

Company Overview

Dash In is a growing convenience retailer with 59 locations across Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and North Carolina, focused on redefining what the modern convenience experience can be.

Since opening its first store in 1979, Dash In has evolved from a traditional convenience retailer into a food-forward brand where fresh, made-to-order food, innovative beverages, modern store design and technology come together to create a more elevated guest experience.

Today, Dash In is entering an exciting period of growth, expanding into new markets while continuing to evolve its store and foodservice experience. Its newest generation of stores reflects that vision, with foodservice playing an increasingly central role in how the brand attracts guests, builds loyalty and differentiates itself from traditional convenience competitors.

Dash In is part of the Wills Group, a family-owned company headquartered in La Plata, Maryland that is celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2026. That century-long foundation supports Dash In’s continued growth while the brand looks to the future.