Joliet's 1st Gas Station West Of Route 59 Opens: Photos

JOLIET, IL — One of the longstanding complaints about Joliet's far west side was its lack of gas stations. Joliet had no gas stations west of Route 59. But those days are over.

The new Lenny's Food N Fuel opened for business this past weekend.

The place was busy Monday night around 7:30 p.m. The gas station convenience store includes a Dunkin' Donuts and the Ta Canijo taco truck has a restaurant inside as well.

In case you're wondering, Joliet's familiar Ta Canijo taco stand near the McDonough Street Bridge at U.S. Route 6 remains open. In August 2018, Joliet Patch published a food review headlined, "Taco Truck On McDonough Worth Visiting: Ferak Column."

On Monday night, staff at the new Food N Fuel let Joliet Patch take photos inside their new business. There's a drive-thru lane for the restaurants. The Food N Fuel is now open daily, 24 hours a day. There's also a beer cave inside and several aisles of snack foods.

Over the next few months, construction will begin on the car wash. That building will include a dog wash station, just like the Lenny's Food N Fuel in Shorewood at Route 52 and River Road.

Employees at the new Joliet business told Patch that the car wash and dog wash is expected to be built and ready for customer use by late May or early June.

The new Food N Fuel features an area for video gaming, but that may not be operational for several months, the staff indicated.