With the fair winding down this weekend, here are a few tips:
- Go on Thrifty Thursday when some of the most sought-after foods are offered at lower prices and sizes.
- Remember everyone gets in for the kids price after 5 p.m.
- Consider hopping on DART to get to the park. It's easy on and off.
- Last year, the last Saturday of the fair saw record-breaking attendance. So, be emotionally prepared for that.
Below is a food guide. We break the options down into categories: Fair Classics that everyone should try; Big Tex Choice Award All-Stars, the big hitters that keep on hittin'; Hidden Gems, places off the beaten path that only insiders know about; and finally, new foods.
Get your big walkin' shoes on and let's stuff our faces.
Classics Every Fairgoer Should Try
Fletcher's Original Corny DogsThere’s debate over who actually “invented” the corn dog but Fletcher’s definitely made it popular. Founders Neil and Carl Fletcher started making corn dogs at their stand in 1942. Fairgoers typically consume around 600,000 corny dogs in 24 days. That’s more than 24,000 a day. Clearly, this is a staple not to be missed. The only question: are you a ketchup or a mustard person? Fletcher’s has at least half a dozen orange and yellow stands around the fairgrounds.
Fernie's Funnel Cakes
Wanda “Fernie” Winter started working at the fair in 1969 but it wasn’t until a trip to Branson, Missouri, in 1980 that she tried a funnel cake and brought it back to the fair. It’s been a hit there ever since. You're literally not doing the fair right if you don't get a Fernie's Funnel Cake. Fernie’s has five stands around the fairgrounds, but if you want to sit down, go to the Embarcadero Building.
Deep-Fried Butter
Abel Gonzales, “Fried Jesus,” broke the fried-food fourth wall with deep-fried butter in 2009. A dollop of frozen butter (that’s key, the butter has to start frozen) is dipped in a butter batter, deep fried to a nice golden brown and topped with a light glaze. You might need a defibrillator later, but it's 100% worth it. Find Deep-Fried Butter on Nimitz and along the Midway.
Turkey Leg from Smokey John’s
Smokey John's barbecue restaurant on Mockingbird Lane draws diners year-round, which lends to the authenticity of this smoked bird leg. Elevate the feast by having the leg dipped in their warm, house-made barbecue sauce. Go on, now: dip the whole thing in there. There are four Smokey John's locations: the Midway, Cotton Bowl Plaza, the Tower Building and Nimitz.
Deep-Fried Oreo
Rick and Tammy Stiffler, operators of Newport Concessions, had their first date at the State Fair more than 40 years ago. These days, they pass the time at the fair selling more than 75,000 deep-fried Oreos every year. The secret, they say, is the Double Stuf Oreo variety, which takes a bath in a thick batter before a swim in the fryer. This is a mouthful of First-Team All-American debauchery. Stand up and clap, people! Find the Stifflers' Sweet Spot along the Midway and Nimitz.
Big Tex Choice Award All-Stars
Cotton Candy Bacon on a StickThis was the 2024 Big Tex Choice Award Winner for best sweet and it's already legend. This will be the fair food everyone talks about this year. A lot of "Hey, where did you get that?" It's bacon on a stick that takes a swirl through a cotton candy machine (genius), then they torch the pink puff so that it caramelizes to the meat. The craziest thing here is how thick the bacon is. And even crazier is how addictive it is. Find these at the Magnolia Beer Garden, in the Tower Building and in Cotton Bowl Plaza.
Deep-Fried Cheesy Crab Tater Bites
Minced crab meat is blended with potato, cheese and spices, fried to a golden brown and served with a cheesy Cajun sauce that has a base of onions, bell peppers and celery (think gumbo). A sprinkle of Cajun spices is added along with the final touch of crawfish. Find these in the Magnolia Beer Garden and at Cajun Cowboy near Big Tex.
Deep Fried Peanut Butter Jelly Sandwich
This was the OG Big Tex Choice Award winner in 2005. Fried Jesus, Abel Gonzalez, puts childhood in a paper boat and sprinkles it with powdered sugar. A regular ol' peanut butter and jelly sandwich gets a pancake-batter bath, then is deep fried and served in triangles (no squares here). Find this on Nimitz Drive.
Deep Fried Pho
After this dish was a Big Tex Choice Award winner in 2023, the stand attracted long lines all season. Perhaps this year it'll be easier to get your hands on this "bowl of pho" with noodles and thinly sliced beef swaddled in a tortilla served with a side of the essential broth, along with the requisite cilantro and jalapenos.This stand, Eat Crispies, is located on The Midway.
Hidden Gems
Lupita's Gorditas For more than 25 years, Lupita Valerio has served up home-cooked gorditas, street tacos, tortas and nachos from a small stand on the Midway. But it’s the traditional Mexican soups served on the weekends that make her small but mighty food stand one-of-a-kind. Alongside the regular menu, on Saturday she serves pozole, a hearty stew of hominy, meat and spices. On Sunday she has menudo, a rustic soup of simmered tripe, hominy and red chiles. If you want to try these, we suggest you hit her stand early. The soups usually sell out by 11 a.m. each day. Lupita’s Gorditas is on the Midway.
Patty Melt
Katie Maher has been cooking outstanding fair food since 1998. According to Melanie Linnear, senior vice president of concessions at the fair, Maher was the first food vendor to introduce the deep-fried Twinkie at the State Fair of Texas. But it’s her melt-in-your-mouth patty melt that has everyone lining up. Each patty melt is made to order, hot and fresh. Pair with Maher’s fresh-cut fries for a real treat. Katie’s Café is in the Fun Way area.
Bailey's Black Eyed Pea Soup
Rose Mary Deschenes and her husband Tom have been running their booth at the fair for 35 years. Over that time, their black-eyed pea soup has gained a cult following. But many fairgoers still don’t know about this warm and comforting dish topped with fresh chopped onion and jalapeños and served with a side of cornbread. Don’t sleep on the chance to have one of the few vegetarian and gluten-free options at the fair. Baileys is in the Tower Building.
Stuffed Wings
Fair vendors since 2015, the Young family takes fried chicken wings to the next level. Jumbo chicken wing flats are deboned and stuffed with a rice mixture, then generously seasoned and deep-fried until golden brown. The crispy stuffed wing drips in their signature sweet sauce. Pair a wing with an order of garlic fries (spicy or plain) and a mango iced tea to wash it all down. Stuffed Wings is in the Tower Building.
Must-Try New Foods
Texapolitan Pizza
Stephan Nedwetzky brought his brick-oven baked pizzas to the fair in 2022. He has a restaurant by the same name in Van Alstyne, where he leans on his barbecue acumen for pizza toppings such as spicy smoked sausage, pulled pork and brisket. It's a beautiful, richly flavored mashup of Texas-style barbecue and Neapolitan-style pizza. This year go for the Holy Cheeseus, a signature event with seven cheeses topped with a bit of cracked pepper and hot honey. A brisket-topped pie will do as well. Texapolitan Pizza is on Grand Avenue, close to Big Tex.
Beso de Angel
This kiss from an angel is a sugary fritter taco filled with a "family secret" sweet crema, strawberry preserves, whipped cream, cajeta (caramel) and sweet condensed milk. Each is topped off with fresh strawberries. We'll take seven. Find these at Tony's Taco Shop in the Tower Building and on Lone Star Boulevard.
Caramel Macchiato Fritters
Cake balls stuffed with caramel are dipped in a beignet batter and fried, then topped with whipped cream, caramel and white chocolate drizzle. Then (THEN!) they inject espresso into each fritter. There are three to an order. Find these at Crazy Ottos & Gulf Coast Grill locations on First Avenue and Big Tex Circle.
Waffle Stix
The Zable family brought Belgian waffles to the fair 60 years ago. This year they introduced Waffle Stix served warm, dipped in Belgian chocolate (milk, white or dark) then rolled in toppings such as crunchy salted caramel pearls, chocolate shavings, mini M&M’s, marshmallows, sprinkles or chocolate shavings. Find this at Waffle Works in the Tower Building.
LAY'S Potato Chip Drink
Yes, you can drink your chips at the fair. So here, a mango and citrus juices are laced with hot honey, jalapeño syrup and strawberry drizzle. Then a layer of cool sweet foam is added, all of which is crowned with a large handful of LAY'S Sweet and Spicy Honey Potato Chips. Oddly, this sounds good. Located in the Tower Building at Milton's
Milton's Giant Amish Doughnut
Amish doughnuts are yeast-based cake-like doughnuts. But it's not the ingredients that make this special, it's the sheer size. This is a doughnut Homer Simpson would marry. You could wear the sourdough-based treat as a bracelet. After being fried, it's dipped in a vanilla glaze. Find these at Milton's Amish Doughnuts on Grand Avenue.
The Joe
Celebrating its 75th year at the State Fair, Nevins Concessions has introduced five new smashed burgers all named after owners. Top billing goes to The Joe, made with two smashed patties, a slice of American cheese (of course), bacon, fried jalapeño caps and an egg, sunny side up. Find these at Nevins on Gateway.
Standing on Business
Last but not least, the crew at Smokey John's has put everything at the fair into one dish. As for the name, per the description from Smokey John's, "standing on business, you lack nothing." So, a sugar cone bowl is filled with salted caramel ice cream, topped with a dark chocolate cookie from Cookie Society (the best cookies in this city), topped with a piece of deep-fried sweet potato pie, then drizzled with chocolate and caramel sauce. But wait. you'll also get a few french fries and a fried chicken wing with it. Stand on that business. This will live and breathe at Smokey John's on Funway, Nimitz Drive and Cotton Bowl Plaza.
