RESTAURANT REVIEW - When they closed the AMPM on Hwy99 at Avenue 12 many of us lost one of the cheapest places in Madera County to buy gas. I was real happy when AMPM opened on Avenue 17 at Hwy99 last year. When I found out they had fresh hot dogs with an ample selection of toppings and condiments I was over the moon.I no longer minded paying the .35 cent fee for using my ATM to get gas because there was finally a place near Madera for a good hot dog. In Madera I can buy eighteen different types of tacos, fourteen different versions of a hamburger but there is no place that sells a decent hot dog. Why is it that in Madera a good hot dog is impossible to find?
Well Dr. Aftab A. Naz, MD. changed all that when he opened his AMPM. When he opened, he was producing hot food the way AMPM probably wants all of their stores to operate....a great selection of toppings and condiments with hot fresh selections available in the food warmer.
For the first couple months that is exactly what was offered at the AMPM on Avenue 17. Then all of a sudden it stopped. The toppings and condiments were still available but now the food was older than AMPM's self-imposed expiration time or there was only one or two items in the warmer.
I spoke with the manager about this after the third time it happened and he offered to buy me my fresh hot dogs, I turned him down. After the next two fueling stops which ended in disappointing hot food choices (food that was either old or non-existent) I decided it was time to call Dr. Naz myself. He assured me that he would look into it. But after a couple more stops there, nothing has changed.The last couple times I've gotten gas out on Avenue 17 I didn't even bother to go inside because I knew they would be selling three-hour-old hot dogs with hard buns and wrinkled up wieners. So I decided to give up on this place. They don't seem to want my money or care to offer me a fresh product, why should I continue to shop there?
Well this morning I got gas again and was craving a good hot dog. I spent forty bucks at the pump for a little over 10 gallons and went inside thinking at 9:30am there has to be something fresh. Well there wasn't two of anything (AMPM sells there stuff by twos). The guy behind the counter made one fresh hot dog and expected me to take the one made three hours ago, or sorry it was made two hours and 53 minutes ago. In his words, "It's still fresh for seven more minutes".
I would think that a medical doctor would know the benefits of selling hot fresh food and wouldn't want to give his customers something cooked three hours before they bought it. It is not like this is Dr. Naz's first venture into food service. He used to operate a food court in Fresno and a restaurant in Madera. It's not even his first gas station with a convenience store.
If you have ever had the same experience at this AMPM maybe you should also call Dr. Naz and ask him why he can't offer his customers a hot fresh product? As for me, I'm done with these guys. For me going there again is like putting spoiled milk back in the refrigerator expecting the next time you grab it, it will be fresh. I no longer believe they may have fixed the problem. I now believe they don't care to. I think that there was a single day when they had to throw away a single old hot dog and the manager said, "never again".
Well, I can get my gas cheaper at the Pilot Truck Stop. They have hot fresh hot dogs 24 hours a day and it's only one more freeway exit away from Madera. So now it's my turn to say, "never again."