From cheap eats to regional treats, these rest stops have you covered for the Chuseok pilgrimage

For millions of Koreans, the Chuseok harvest festival holiday means a mass migration — and somewhere in that slow crawl home, the rest stop becomes less a chore than a small joy.

From the outside, they all look roughly the same: humble food and the smell of hodugwaja (walnut cake) and instant coffee, rest stop essentials that become as much a part of the holiday as songpyeon (rice cake eaten during the Chuseok harvest festival). But prices vary more than you'd expect from stop to stop, and a little detour can turn up a genuinely good find.

This year, the average pit stop costs more than it used to. Rest stop food prices have climbed as much as 27.5 percent since August 2021, according to data Rep. Hwang Hee of the Democratic Party obtained from Korea Expressway Corporation.

Despite the price hike, bargains still exist. The Korea JoongAng Daily compiled a list of rest stops with the lowest prices using a database maintained by the Korea Expressway Corporation. Most of the service areas selected participate in the “Budget-Friendly Snacks” program backed by the state-run transportation agency, which caps prices for 10 food items at 3,700 won ($2.70). As of this year, 212 of the country's 215 rest stops are participating in the program, each marking the items with a sign or poster.

Cheap eats

For Korean drivers, an Americano is close to a necessity on the road — the go-to pick for beating driving fatigue — but the price can vary sharply depending on where you stop. The cheapest in the country is 2,000 won, roughly what a cup costs at a low-cost chain like Mega Coffee, at the Andong Service Area in Andong, North Gyeongsang. That's more than 71 percent less than the priciest cup, 7,000 won — well above even the 4,700 won for a Tall Americano at Starbucks — at the Cheonan Samgeori Service Area in Cheonan, South Chungcheong. It's also the top seller nationwide: Korean rest stops sold 877,000 Americanos last Chuseok for a combined 4.18 billion won, more than any other item, according to data from the Korea Expressway Corporation.

Hodugwaja, the sweet, easy-to-eat pastry widely popular for long drives, is cheapest at the Hwanggan Service Area in Hwanggan-myeon, North Chungcheong, at 2,000 won. Rest stops nationwide sold 529,000 of them last Chuseok harvest festival for a combined 2.66 billion won — a snack that has become as much a travel gift in recent years as a road trip treat. The Cheonan Service Area in Cheonan, South Chungcheong, is the most famous name in hodugwaja — with many praising its crisp and warm outside and soft and moist inside — and for good reason: Cheonan is where the pastry was invented. Eight of the walnut-shaped cakes go for 3,000 won there.

For a Korean-style corn dog coated in breadcrumbs and dusted with sugar rather than doused in ketchup and mustard, head to Gangneung Daegwanryeong Service Area in Gangneung, Gangwon, known for its fall foliage as much as its food. Both directions sell the dogs for 3,000 won, 56.5 percent cheaper than 6,900 won at the Gosam Lake Service Area in Anseong, Gyeonggi — still cheaper than a single dog at Two Hands, the Korean corn dog chain that's gone viral in the United States, where one runs about $6.49.

Filling meals

Ramyeon has been a rest stop fixture since the first one opened in 1971, a year after the Gyeongbu Expressway began connecting the two ends of the country. Fourteen stops charge 3,500 won for a bowl, but the Deogyusan Service Area, in Anseong-myeon, North Jeolla, sells a 9,000 won version loaded with Korean beef and scallions, a premium dish that has developed a fan base of sorts. It remains one of the most popular orders overall: 648,000 bowls were sold last Chuseok for a combined 2.14 billion won, the third-highest of the 10 main menu items the Korea Expressway Corporation tracks.

Pork cutlets posted the sharpest price hike of any item tracked, but the Gyeongsan Service Area in Gyeongsan, North Gyeongsang still sells it for 5,000 won, 70.6 percent less than the 17,000 won charged at the Anseong Matchum Service Area in Anseong, Gyeonggi.

As for gukbap, the rice-and-soup dish that traces back to roadside taverns of the late Joseon era (1392-1910) — so tied to the cost of living that Koreans still say you can read the economy in a bowl of it — the cheapest is at the Gimcheon Service Area in Gimcheon, North Gyeongsang for 6,500 won, well below the 20,000 won charged at the Maesong Service Area in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi.

Worth the splurge

Sometimes the point isn't the price — it's the dish you can't get anywhere else. A handful of rest stops lean into regional specialties, serving dishes built around a local ingredient.

At the Boseong Nokcha Service Area in Boseong-gun, South Jeolla, the cockle bibimbap, sold for 10,000 won, uses shellfish sourced directly from Beolgyo's tidal flats, prized in Korea for their taurine and amino acid content — a dish once said to have been served at the royal table.

Located in Yongin, Gyeonggi, the Yongin Service Area's bok choy ramyeon draws on a crop the city all but owns: Yongin grows more than 70 percent of the nation's bok choy, some 12,000 tons a year, and the noodles carry the vegetable's clean, slightly peppery bite.

Hoengseong, a mountainous Gangwon county better known for rice paddies than pastureland, built one of the country's top hanwoo (Korean beef) brands starting in 1995 — a reputation strong enough to land the country's first halal-certified Korean beef export to the United Arab Emirates in September 2024. At the Hoengseong Service Area in Hoengseong-gun, Gangwon, that beef turns up in a spicy chili sausage dish for 5,000 won.

The Yesan Service Area's apple pork cutlet topped with a sauce made from local apple, which can be found in Yesan-gun, South Chungcheong, has gone viral for its sweet-and-savory combination. At 10,000 won, it also undercuts the national average.

And at the Andong Service Area — already home to the cheapest Americano out of all the rest stops — the salted mackerel meal draws on a preservation technique born of geography: salted by hand by trained "ganjaebi," it's a rare case of a proper fish dinner showing up on a menu built for quick bites.

The appeal doesn't stop at the food, either. Rest stops under Korea Expressway Corporation's capital region headquarters have leaned into amenities well beyond meals. The Siheung Haneul Service Area in Siheung, Gyeonggi, built above the highway itself, houses an indoor drone experience zone and a pet cafe. The Ansan Service Area, in Ansan, Gyeonggi, serves drive-thru coffee, while the Maesong Service Area, in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi, and the Pyeongtaek Service Area, in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, both have dog parks for travelers on the road with their pets.

BY KIM HA-YOON [[email protected]]