One Chutney Squishee Please

Tom picked us up after our redeye flight back from Hawaii to Los Angeles. Because he actually volunteered to pick us up for our 4:30 a.m. arrival — yes that's 4:30 a.m. — the least we could do was buy him some breakfast. So we decided to take him to Homer Simpson's favorite retailer, Kwik-E-Mart for some coffee and doughnuts.


Tim and Steve check out the real-life Kwik-E-Mart. (7/13/2007)

As part of a promotional tie-in with The Simpsons Movie being released this month, 7-Eleven has given 12 of its stores a makeover to look like an exact replica of the Springfield landmark. As it so happens, one of these 12 stores was in Burbank, not too far from Tom and Christine's place.


Today's donuts at tomorrow's prices. (07/13/2007)

Not only do the stores look like Kwik-E-Mart, they are also stocked with other favorite products from the Simpsons, including the pink-sprinkle doughnuts, Buzz Cola, KrustyO's cereal, Squishees and "Radioactive Man" comic books (although all that was left were the doughnuts and Simpsons Monopoly games). The converted stores also feature life-size cutouts of favorite Simpsons characters.


The Squishee machine. (07/13/2007)

It actually turned out to be a good time to go, since you could just walk in (normally there's a long line, says Tom). We picked up a half-dozen of the iconic pink donuts, as well as drinks. And as much as I was hoping to find it, they did not in fact have a chutney-flavored Squishee as they do on the show. Rats!


Steve & Marge under the Bank of Springfield sign. (07/13/2007)

Besides Burbank, you can find Kwik-E-Mart stores in such other cities as Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Mountain View, Orlando, New York City, Seattle, Vancouver and Washington DC.


Mmmmmm. Chili dogs. (7/13/2007)

If you'd like to see a quick YouTube video of our adventures in the Kwik-E-Mart, click the image below twice. If the image doesn't show up, here's a direct link.