Casey’s (Hartford)
There was a time not too many years ago that I longed for Casey’s General Store. They were all over the place when I lived and worked in Central Illinois. In fact, there was one right down the street from my office and that was one of our go-to places for dinner (the other was Taco John’s).
I don’t know what’s happened in the last couple of years but Casey’s has made an aggressive expansion in to Michigan. The first store popped up in Watervliet followed by one in Bridgeman. After that, they turned all of the old Kum & Go’s and Maverick’s in the Grand Rapids area in to Casey’s.
The chain slowly keeps inching it’s way towards the Kalamazoo market as another store has popped up along I-94. I just happened to be getting off on that exit the other day and couldn’t resist.
The newest Southwest Michigan location of Casey’s is in Hartford. The new build store is on the east side of County Road 698 just north of the I-94 interchange. Ground was broken on the store in September of last year and the gas station/convenience store opened up just a few months later in late February of 2026. The design is one of the new build designs that still has the iconic red band along the top of the store but they’ve dropped the “General Store” theme and design from these newer buildings. The store is just branded as “Casey’s”….something they started doing about six years ago.
This Casey’s looks and operates no different from any of the other newer Casey’s new build locations. The left side of the store is the convenience store with the typical gas station snacks and drinks.
The right side of the store is what makes Casey’s Casey’s. The hot food in Casey’s Kitchen ready for grab and go.
You can order ahead with online ordering for whole pizzas. I’ve done that before at one of the Wyoming locations. You can get more creative with the pizzas and they have a lot of really great options. But the slices ready to go out of the cabinet are what makes Casey’s so great. The options are usually limited to just cheese, sausage, or pepperoni but every so often, I’ve seen some other more unique options.
Casey’s is more than pizza though. They have sandwiches and chicken too. That is in a warming cabinet next to the pizza. If you’re there during the lunch or dinner rush, there is usually quite a few of options if you don’t want pizza…but why would you not want Casey’s pizza?
As I keep writing these blog posts about Casey’s, I keep trying to do something different so it’s not always the same thing. That doesn’t mean I’m not always going to get a slice of pizza though. Since I was also grabbing something else, I only did one slice of sausage pizza. Usually I’m a pepperoni pizza guy but at Casey’s, I really like the sausage for some reason. The pepperoni can be a little greasy and that makes it hard to eat in the car without getting pepperoni grease all over. The sauce is much tighter, delicious and makes a little bit less of a mess.
The try something new thing I got was the King’s Hawaiian BBQ Bacon Cheeseburger Sliders. These are a new item that comes with two bacon cheeseburger sliders per order on King’s Hawaiian rolls.
I’m sure you know by now how much I eat gas station cheeseburgers…these are a step above the typical gas station cheeseburger. They’re small patties so they don’t get tough when they sit in the warming cabinet for a while. The cheese is slightly melted and there’s a small dollop of BBQ sauce underneath each of the top buns with a slice of somewhat crispy bacon underneath. I never have high expectations for gas station food..that’s why I typically like it. These cheeseburgers were really good. I was actually sad when I was done with them and made a joke to my co-worker that I was going to go back and grab another one of the them.
The cost for my meal, with two bottles of Pepsi Zero, came to around $15.
Casey’s keeps getting closer and closer to Kalamazoo. I’ve seen plans for one in Portage but have no idea how fall along that is in the planning process. I keep trying different things and I still haven’t found anything I haven’t liked. I will forever be a fan of Casey’s pizza but I’m also glad I’m branching out just a bit to see what else is on the menu.
SW Michigan Dining 