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This LA Gas Station Doubles as a Cookie Destination
A West Los Angeles United Oil gas station is an unlikely a cookie destination, where five full-time bakers make 30 to 40 varieties, including gluten-free, paleo, vegan, and diabetic-friendly options. Zooies Cookies tucks inside the gas station’s convenience store, where customers pay for premium unleaded and can choose among cookies inspired by peanut butter and jelly, birthday cake, or baklava.
Zooies been around for a couple of years, since the family moved from San Diego to Los Angeles. And it’s been under the radar until recently.
“The first time I came here, I was like, eh, I don’t need to be eating cookies,” said Robert Lockhart, a Los Angeles police officer who is now a regular. Then he heard kids behind him in line begging for cookies “like they’d never had cookies before.” He decided to give it a try. “So I bought two, went to my car, ate ’em, came back and bought a dozen. I brought my sergeant and now he’s hooked, too.”
As unlikely as the store is, so is the story of its owner, Arezou Appel, a mother of two adolescents and the wife of Jeff, who owns the gas station. She learned all she knows about baking from watching the Food Network and reading cookbooks. Cookies have…
