Lunch Break: Beaver Battles, Beer Runs, and Bandwagons

Sampling dishes and diners in and around Miami County

Beaver’s Mini Mart

If you haven’t been living under a rock for the past few weeks, or you’ve even opened Facebook for a millisecond as a Daytonian or Miami County citizen, then you know about the discourse between Beaver’s Mini Mart and the Texas-based establishment that has graced the grounds of Huber Heights.

As someone who has previously written about the breakfast food at the Beaver-themed gas station, I felt as though it was my duty to at least check out Beavercreek’s Beaver’s Mini Mart.

Now, as you might have guessed, there is no real competition food-wise between the two places. One clearly has more options and could probably fit two Beaver’s Mini Marts, maybe three, inside of their own concrete walls.

Instead of looking for something to eat or rate or rave about, I decided to support the local business that has recently fallen into a nasty legal battle by embracing my inner Bridget Flynn.

Stay with me; I know many of my readers will stop reading when I explain who Miss Bridget is, but it’s important. Bridget Flynn is a TikTok content creator who ventures to local New York City mini marts, grabs a beverage she’s never tried, and rates it after drinking it at home…all while wearing her hair in hot pink rollers.

Bodegas Blowouts and Beers has become one of my favorite segments to watch on TikTok, and after I quickly realized I was up a creek when it came to trying any food at Beaver’s Mini Mart, I noticed that the quaint family-owned establishment has quite the selection of local beers, to a brewhouse level. Not quite Chaffee’s amounts, but inching.

Isn’t it interesting that a small business would take the time to support other small businesses and breweries, placing brands like Warped Wing and Yellow Springs Brewery at the forefront of their beer cooler, while large brand brews like Bud Light and Busch are hidden in the beer cave?

It’s almost like Beaver’s Mini Mart has long valued community before they were ever in the spotlight for being part of one.

Anyways, unlike Bridget Flynn, I am not an IPA girl. So, I searched for something fruity and interesting and landed on a Midwest fruit tart, brewed in Cincinnati, called Gadget.

I’d never had a tart before. It was purple, which I love, and had adorable non-AI artwork (I’m assuming) on the can, and tasted a lot like Kombucha, which I didn’t completely hate or love.

I did, however, feel like I did my part in giving a few bucks to Beaver’s Mini Mart, which is the whole point of a thirty-minute two-way excursion.

I’ve noticed that many small businesses have rallied in support of the Beavercreek convenience store, and I wanted to do my part as a small town food columnist. However, I also want to ask you, the reader, if you’d respect this column and my support for Beaver’s Mini Mart if I had used ChatGPT to write the entire thing? Probably not.

I didn’t use AI to write this piece, and there’s honestly probably a spelling or grammatical error that’s unfortunately in here to prove it.

The point I’m trying to make is that you would feel a little betrayed and as though the Tippecanoe Gazette is inauthentic if I had used AI to write this Lunchbreak.

So, maybe take a look at all of the small businesses that are “supporting” Beaver’s Mini Mart by rendering a sloppy three-second image of a smiling beaver just to gain attraction to their own small business, and ask yourself if it feels authentic to you.

I wonder if any of them even donated… or at least bought a beer. Sometimes the food in the food column is food for thought.