I have to be honest I hardly use them. Mainly because there is always a group of wise ar$e drivers in the way of the counter and the food choice is uninspired. Normally it’s just for a cuppa if I can’t be bothered to make a brew.
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could get something other than dubious burgers, sausages and bacon.
If you need to buy something what do you go for?
I go for a ■■■■ up the side and usually they thank me for cleaning it for them 
If I really have to use them as a last resort I’ll have a sausage mushroom on a roll.
There are a few good ones on the road if you use them on a regular basis and get to know them and their hygiene habits 
I normally just have a cuppa and a sandwich, the only thing that does annoy me is when they think they own the layby, and wake you up at silly o clock asking you to move so they can park, i am normally polite and tell them to F.R.O. and go back to sleep.
Don’t normally use them for food as some of them dont know what hygiene is about!
Might get a tea or coffee but in my own mug.
Do you the odd greasy spoon cafe but even then only once in a while.
It’s either sandwiches or a cooked meal at a service station.
Perhaps we need a list of those that people rate or not??
Theres one as you get a the a650 a bradford whats allways got a lot around the counter chatting and the layby is rammed with lorrys ,ive allways fancied trying it to see what the score is but you can never get in ,ever 
I used them most days for the last 4 years but now I trying to lose some weight and save money, I haven’t been to one in 3 months and don’t miss watery bacon and grey sausages.
Maybe unfairly, but more likely not, theyre a no-go zone for me as far as grub is concerned. My mind always dials up images of hooves, lips and nostrils, and I cant make them go away! Few, if any, concessions to food/personal hygiene standards on display (separate sinks for pots and hands, anti-bac handwash etc) clinches it for me. Ill opt for a supermarket or quality butchers deli/sarnie counter anyday. I do occasionally brave a cuppa if Im spittin feathers though.
I wish they’d make a bit more effort! They go to cash & carry’s and get the cheapest stuff they can - £10 per ton sausages and bacon that’s 90% water. Yet there are loads of struggling butchers that would give them a decent discount for regular bulk orders of good, hand made burgers and sausages. I’d happily pay an extra little bit for that. Saying that, Moe’s Muncher on the A689 just off the A1 isn’t bad.
I never use them as I cant figure where they go for a poop 
I never usually eat hot food through the day so happy with my chilled buttties or pasty and tub of chopped fruit nice an chilled x two for a night out and added chocolate and other movie goodies
That said when passing Big Baps on the A57 near Glossop there is always a bird in the van with…Big Baps hangin out and looking inviting
Only use one, and its the one in our yard, Woman on it is very nice and most importantly very clean!!! 
Usually I go for Lentil soup, coffee, tea, chicken burgers, roll and square with tatty scone, or a beef burger… out standing
There was a snack van in ■■■■■■■■■■■ near the Lenzie Mill industrial estate that done a spicey tuna pasta roll… one of the best things I ever tasted… just don’t eat it before a long drive, save it for when you go home
I once stopped at one near rayleigh coldstore at southend,i got a bacon sarny and a tea ,she must have been doing salads at the same time,all i could taste and smell on my bread and cup was raw onion
When on a day off (weak bridge) there is a brilliant snack van in Potter Heigham near the bridge.
Also the hot dog man near Morrisons in Norwich.
A lot of those who knock the burger vans etc. have never even tried them - or maybe just once and picked a poor one. When you were a lad did you give up ■■■ for life if you had one poor experience?
I agree they do vary, but a lot are very good with all the correct licenses on display, are immaculately clean, have separate sink/hand wash bowls, with excellent food available and are generally very accommodating for particular likes/dislikes.
i wonder how many have food hygiene ratings and you can browse here?
got to snack bar on A47 earl shilton before bypass built, no one there, few minutes he returns
“sorry been for ■■■■”
wipe hand on dirty rag,
“what would you like?”
me…" where is so and so?"
Driveroneuk:
A lot of those who knock the burger vans etc. have never even tried them - or maybe just once and picked a poor one. When you were a lad did you give up ■■■ for life if you had one poor experience?I agree they do vary, but a lot are very good with all the correct licenses on display, are immaculately clean, have separate sink/hand wash bowls, with excellent food available and are generally very accommodating for particular likes/dislikes.
Agree with the above, I have used plenty of them when travelling around and some are good and others are a ‘once only’ visit. When I have a Burger, Sausage etc I like my cob buttered and not that many do that in my experience, nor give you the option, so I tend to give those that don’t a miss. Never bother with a drink though, brew my own.
If I am heading Newark way on the A 617 from Mansfield I stop at the one in the layby that used to have a weighbridge near Kelham, I guess it is still there as I haven’t been that way for around 12 months?
To be honest a lot of the old cafes left a lot to be desired with bacon rashers slopped in the spilt tea on the counter etc, hygiene wasn’t a huge priority with some of those yet we all somehow survived!
Pete.
I love an egg and bacon sandwich and a tea from a snack van. I dont have a problem with them personally. Thing about them is you can see everything, go to a cafe or restaurant and you’ve no idea what the kitchen is like or how hygienic the staff are. Lets face it plenty of places have standards that leave a lot to be desired, most snack vans Ive ever used have been clean and tidy
A caff that always sticks in my mind was Bob’s at Dunstable, right in the high street. He’d stand there with an inch and half of ash hanging off the end of his ■■■ while cooking eggs, bacon etc, chatting away and coughing all over the place. It was like a two ronnies sketch 
but the grub tasted well good… I was only 11 at the time, used to go in with me dad after the Marston Valley brickworks. We must’ve been tougher in those days.
When I was at school, I worked part time in a local French restaurant, with Michelin stars, egon ronay recommended etc. one if the first jobs we had to before starting a shift was lift the manhole cover for the drain and pour a vat of boiling wster down to kill the maggots which lived to within an inch of the top. The chef would then chain smoke all evening and just drop his ash into whatever pan, stir it all in, and carry on. It used to make me laugh watching all the local nobs ordering their hugely expensive food and think what they were getting.
I’m with switch on this, at least with a burger van you can get a good idea what their approach to hygiene is and judge accordingly - similarly a driver who keeps his truck clean and looked after might not be a brilliant driver, but there’s a good chance they’ll have a good attitude and approach towards the job
MikeDBristol:
I used them most days for the last 4 years but now I trying to lose some weight and save money, I haven’t been to one in 3 months and don’t miss watery bacon and grey sausages.
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Rarely visit one myself but there is one close to the Richmond ice cream and Vale of Mowbray factories at Leeming bar, called the Yorky bar they are nice they take pride in their hygiene rating and most of their stuff is from VOM (vale of Mowbray) next door, always cooked fresh too… and no I’m not on commission; )