The 6 best Iowa truck stops for fueling up & grabbing a meal
We scoured reviews and amenities to find the best Iowa truck stops. Check out these options for food, fuel, and more to get you through your travels.
Filling up the ol’ tank is a top priority when you’re traveling, whether you’re a trucker who drives daily for work or someone who enjoys taking trips across Iowa for fun. Oh, and we don’t just mean your car tank—your stomach needs to be filled for long, vehicle-bound days, too, which is why we’re looking into some of the best Iowa truck stops that offer convenient but delicious food in addition to plenty of gas pumps.
To narrow down our search and help take the stress out of traveling for work, we looked at Google reviews from previous visitors, as well as all of the amenities offered by the state’s top truck stops. Do they offer showers? How many food options do they really have? Is the staff friendly? With questions like these, we determined the best Iowa truck stops for food, fuel, and more.
1. Iowa 80 Truckstop
Address: 755 W Iowa 80 Rd, Walcott, IA 52773
Hours: All day, every day
If you know anything about the best Iowa truck stops, you’ve absolutely heard of Iowa 80 Truckstop. It’s precisely this reputation that earned it the top spot on our list (even if the entries here aren’t in any specific order). Dubbed the “World’s Largest Truckstop,” according to its website, Iowa 80 Truckstop has more than a handful of food options on-site, including fast-food options like Wendy’s, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell, as well as its own restaurant called Iowa 80 Kitchen. The latter is open all day just like the truck stop, and it has an all-you-can-eat buffet with prices that range from $14 to $18. Not bad!
Iowa 80 Truckstop is so big that it even hosts the annual Walcott Truckers Jamboree each summer. With all of this considered, it’s no wonder that the truck stop has a 4.6-star rating from more than 23,000 reviews on Google. “This place is simply amazing and well deserved of their title. They offer amazing food, clean restrooms, shower and laundry services (to list a few) … The staff were simply amazing, cordial and extremely polite,” one visitor wrote in their review. Who wouldn’t want to stop somewhere like that?
2. Kwik Star (Davenport)
Address: 13888 118th Ave, Davenport, IA 52804
Hours: All day, every day
Kwik Star is a big name in the world of truck stops, but one particular location has been revered as an all-star outlet for truckers and travelers. The popular trucking app Trucker Path named the Davenport Kwik Star facility the “top truck stop in the United States for 2022” in general, with it also claiming the number-one spot for chain stops. The only other entry for Iowa truck stops was Iowa 80, which landed in fifth place on the list of best independent (non-chain) facilities.
When you take a closer look at the Davenport Kwik Star’s offerings and reviews, you can easily see why it won the title in 2022. This stop offers showers, WiFi access, faxing, scale services, ATM access, and more, as well as food and fuel, of course.
On Google, this Kwik Star has a 4.6-star rating, with visitors praising the staff’s friendliness, the variety of food options (cold and hot alike), and the facility’s overall cleanliness. “Very happy to stop here and stretch while fueling up for a road trip. This has [now] become my regular stopping point for when I am in Davenport. A real find,” one reviewer proclaimed. Music to our ears!
3. Love’s Travel Stop (Ellsworth)
Address: 1400 Industrial Park Rd, Ellsworth, IA 50075
Hours: All day, every day
Love’s Travel Stop has locations across the U.S., long acting as a lighthouse for truckers who need to take a break. Love’s notoriously has a great shower system—if you’ve ever been to one, you can probably hear the automated voice announce that someone’s shower number is ready in your head—as well as both restaurants and myriad hot and cold food options for sustenance.
That said, we’re here to highlight a specific location that has a higher rating than other Iowa truck stops: the Ellsworth Love’s. On Google, this location has a 4.2-star rating (whereas others are typically in the 3-star realm), with reviewers appreciating the on-site Hardee’s, WiFi access, dog park, oil change offering, and more. “One [of] the nicest, cleanest Loves this old trucker has had the privilege of stopping [at],” one experienced visitor shared. “Can not say enough about the attitude (good) and smiles the people gave for their customers.” We’ll take their word for it!
4. Pilot Travel Center (Mount Pleasant)
Address: 1300 N Grand Ave, Mt Pleasant, IA 52641
Hours: All day, every day
Pilot Travel Center is similar to Love’s Travel Shop in that it has locations at seemingly every turn, but one specific stop with higher reviews than others in Iowa is in Mount Pleasant. This Pilot Travel Center has a 4.1-star rating on Google from more than 1,500 reviews, beating out other Pilots with their 3-star ratings.
This location has an Arby’s restaurant, as well as its own hot and cold foods. It also has seven fuel lanes, five showers, and a trucker lounge, making it a perfect mid-sized truck stop. Did we mention there’s a Cinnabon for the truckers with a sweet tooth?
Reviewers love the food options here, and they love how clean this Pilot Travel Center tends to be. The lounge is also a hit, with one visitor writing in their review, “I’m a motorcoach operator and I had to wait a couple hours for my relay. The lounge was clean. I appreciate that. Thank you.” Another shared that the “building is spacious and very well taken care of.” So, if you’re in the area, this may just be the best Iowa truck stop for you.
5. Sapp Bros. Travel Center (Percival)
Address: 2496 210th Ave, Percival, IA 51648
Hours: All day, every day
Sapp Bros. Travel Center might not be as widely known as Love’s Travel Stop or Pilot Travel Center, but it sure packs a punch when it sets up shop. The truck-stop chain has two locations in Iowa, and—spoiler alert—we’re highlighting both because each of them has such high ratings. The first is in Percival, and it has a 4.5-star Google rating from more than 2,300 reviews.
At Sapp Bros., visitors can grab grub from a few different sources. This location has a fried chicken joint, a local restaurant, and a deli bar, as well as convenience-store staples. This chain also prides itself on its cleanliness and friendliness, with free WiFi and a vehicle service center being extra perks. Not many truck stops can say they offer the latter!
What makes the Percival location so great, you ask? Well, a lot, according to reviewers. “Fantastic coffee station, lots of snack options, a good shopping selection, and super clean individual stall bathrooms– including a bidet,” one visitor wrote. If we weren’t sold already, we are now at the mention of a bidet!
6. Sapp Bros. Travel Center (Council Bluffs)
Address: 2608 S 24th St, Council Bluffs, IA 51501
Hours: All day, every day
Sapp Bros. has been aiding truckers and travelers since the early ‘70s—that’s more than 50 years of dedicated care—and its Council Bluffs location brings that eager friendliness to yet another area that experiences ample travel. This location even has an extra food destination compared to the Percival stop in the form of an on-site Burger King. It also has the other food options present at the Percival Sapp Bros.
The Council Bluffs Sapp Bros. has a 4.3-star rating from more than 3,000 reviews. Reviewers have raved about the large showers, excellent selection of trucker musts (think towels and brooms), and delicious food options. Oh, and don’t forget the restrooms. “I love the private all-in-one stalls so I can wash my hands without being in the public areas, but my favorite is the bidet functions. The toilets there are a little vacation for my bum,” one frequent visitor wrote. Bidets may just a truck-stop non-negotiable for us from now on!
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