The State Fair’s Tex-Mex Contest Is a Spicy, Saucy Cult

Ah yes, Monday mornings. Typically fueled by coffee and rage, maybe a sore ankle from having to take a furious sports walk, they are never a welcome or enjoyable experience. Except for this week, when all the ugliness of a regular Monday morning was replaced by all the beautiful smells…

Big Tex is Gone. There’s a Hole in Our Hearts.

On this day, we lost a fried hero. This morning, Big Tex caught on fire at the State Fair of Texas. Twitter lit up with jokes about as quickly as Tex did. I guess we all grieve differently. See also: Big Tex Burned Down Today at the State Fair Alice…

EXCLUSIVE: Interview with Big Tex

Monday was the Big Tex erection at the State Fair of Texas. The erection lasted about three hours, so it’s safe to say that this 60-year old Texan is most definitely on Cialis. A ton of photographers were there, taking pictures of the event. I took a moment to ask…

Your Map(s) to Fried Heaven at the State Fair

If you’re going to the State Fair of Texas, it’s a given that you have to try the fried bubble gum and fried salsa and definitely obviously the fried buffalo chicken in a flapjack on a stick, plus all the other fried foods that were Big Tex Choice Awards finalists…

BW’s Fried Ribs and Fried Banana Pudding, Meet Face

Debbie Hays, from BW’s Famous Fried Ribs at the State Fair of Texas, tells me she’s been serving up fried ribs at the fair for 24 years. Twenty-four freaking years? How the dong have I never had these things? Hays says, “Seriously, how have you not tried them? They’re not…

Jerk Your Sausage to Island Spot’s Fried Bread Pudding

Island Spot is a new vendor at the State Fair of Texas this year and along with this open-flame-grilled jerk chicken, jerk sausage (note: it’s on the menu as “jerk sausage,” not “the hand job” or “the hanje”) and jerk tofu (for all you vegetarians), they’re serving up — wait…