State Fair Of Texas
Fairground · Deep Ellum
Parry Ave &, Exposition Ave, Dallas, TX 75210
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Highlights
Over-the-top fried foods, live music, exciting rides, and Texan pride
Over-the-top fried foods, live music, exciting rides, and Texan pride
"The annual fair’s semifinal food list leans hard into bacon, brisket, chocolate, and tacos, with an unusually high number of drinks (seven) and even three Dubai chocolate items; the writer warns, “dear lord, do not let the Red Bull margarita make it past this point.” One Dubai-chocolate mash-up reconfigures funnel cake into strips, coats them with melting Belgian chocolate, and tops them with pistachio cream and ribbons of kanafeh pastry — a simple and elegant way to “slap” Dubai chocolate on a staple (the writer adds they “do hope they add some powdered sugar” to the final product). Another crowd-pleaser is a cannoli stuffed with bacon jam that’s slow-cooked in brown sugar, maple syrup, and spices, layered with ricotta and chunks of milk chocolate, and finished with a shell drizzled in warm Belgian chocolate — “Dream food.” A Vietnamese corn dog is reinvented by coating the usual batter in Panko and bánh mì crumbs, frying it, and serving with Sriracha mayo and bright, pickled vegetables. A coconut-centric drink fills a coconut with coconut-flavored slushie, crowns it with coconut-flavored soft serve, and sprinkles coconut flakes on top — “obviously perfect,” though its success will depend on judges’ personal devotion to coconut. A Key lime pie “bomb” builds a crust of crushed graham crackers and Nilla Wafers; the Key lime pie mix and crust dust are rolled into bite-sized bits, coated in pancake batter, fried, then finished with a squirt of Chantilly cream, powdered sugar, and a lime-jelly candy. Brisket is folded into silky beer cheese (sharp cheddar plus an unnamed heavy beer), wrapped in pretzel dough, sprinkled with sea salt, and baked — a solid bite likely saved by decent beer cheese and served with spicy mustard. Ube appears as ube-flavored ice cream with puffed rice, finished with Cool Whip and a cherry, a simple Filipino-style treat. Tex‑Mex chicken spaghetti loaded with Hatch chiles, queso, and shredded Monterey Jack is stuffed into a garlic-and-parmesan bread cone and topped (perhaps unnecessarily) with pico, sour cream, and avocado. There’s also a frozen margarita rimmed with Pop Rocks — a smart, decompression-ready choice — and a tiramisu riff that claims to combine “two Italian classics: tiramisu and espresso,” adding a layer of Quadratini wafer cookies topped with something called “cremespresso” and whipped cream. Conversely, one entry is dismissed on name alone: Texas Water, which “sounds like pineapple- or lime-flavored Crystal Light that is meant to be added to water and pale ale beers, which is unnecessary.”" - Courtney E. Smith
"I resent how much I loved the Hot Chick-in-Pancake Poppers from this vendor at the State Fair of Texas." — Anna Butler. The Hot Chick-in-Pancake Poppers are described as irresistible fair-food indulgence despite (or because of) that guilt." - Courtney E. Smith
"While appearing in Dallas in early October, he visited the State Fair and tried several annual fair-food offerings, including steak kabobs, cotton candy bacon, turkey leg tacos, and a brisket sandwich; most of the fair foods he sampled received around a 5 rating, though the brisket sandwich got an 8." - Brittany Britto Garley
"Food critic Keith Lee arranged a family stop during a business trip and spent an evening sampling classic fair fare, noting that turkey legs seemed to be everywhere. He started with a steak kebab the size of his head—well done but seasoned well—and gave it a 5/10, which became his baseline for most items. An ear of corn was served without butter, salt, or seasoning and went unrated. He tried the buzzy cotton candy bacon, which surprised him enough to earn a 5.5/10, and a turkey-leg taco that turned out to be simply shredded turkey leg meat, rated 5/10. The clear standout was a brisket sandwich that scored an 8/10—the highest score of the night—while most other offerings landed around mediocre." - Courtney E. Smith
"A long-running September fixture dating back to 1886 that draws roughly 2 million visitors a year, this fair has evolved from an agricultural showcase into a carnival of gimmicky, deep-fried concessions and rides like the Tilt-A-Whirl. While there are beloved standbys—Fletcher’s Corny Dogs and hefty turkey legs among them—the scene is dominated by novelty items such as deep-fried Oreos, funnel-cake–flavored beer, Deep Fried Froot Loops, and the 2018 Big Tex Choice Awards winner, the cotton candy taco, many of which are overly greasy, too sweet or salty, served messily in flimsy paper boats, and often disappointingly priced (examples cited include a roughly $12 cotton candy taco, orders topping $20, and $28 turkey legs). Beyond culinary complaints about one-note, oil-soaked breading, reviewers also note the long lines, crushing crowds and attendant anxiety, and criticize the event’s labor practices—temporary, low-wage workers with no benefits who face difficult conditions while vendors and organizers profit. Critics urge a return to the event’s agricultural roots by showcasing locally raised beef and regional farmers and keeping the deep-fryers but putting better ingredients in them so attendees can get genuinely satisfying food at fair prices." - Amy McCarthy
