In a list of the 10 best state fairs for festival food in the United States from Yelp, would you believe the State Fair of Texas in Dallas didn’t make the top five?
According to an analysis of more than 2,500 Yelp reviews, the Minnesota State Fair nabbed the No. 1 spot. Next on the list are state fairs in Wisconsin, Iowa, New York and Indiana
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The State Fair of Texas gets its moment as No. 6 of 10
Dallas’ annual fair is a nationwide food trendsetter, a corny carnival where some of the strangest ingredients are baptized in sizzling oil and served on sticks. The State Fair of Texas’ Big Tex Choice Awards, which started in 2005, brought us Fried Beer, Deep Fried Butter and Fried Bubblegum
Just when we thought we’d tried all they could fry, the State Fair challenges our stomachs every fall. The “most creative” winner at last year’s fair was Wagyu bacon cheeseburgers served with fried deviled eggs as buns. Too many things, all at once? No way; we loved it
Other highlights in recent years include fried pho, cotton candy bacon on a stick and fried charcuterie
We wondered if Minnesota, Wisconsin or Iowa could compete with Texas, where everything’s bigger and all that. But “in the Midwest,” Yelp said, “state fairs are serious business.”
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(We’d make a joke here about how they’re just trying to enjoy life in the middle of the country without oceanfront property, but, well, Dallas doesn’t have much in the way of scenery, either. Does White Rock Lake count?)
Texas leads the pack with the “most outrageous” food They’ve even done spaghetti.
Years ago, a Dallas concessionaire took a cue from No. 1 Minnesota, which is famous for its bucket of warm chocolate chip cookies from a company called Sweet Martha’s Cookie Jar. Fairgoers can find a big ol’ bucket in Dallas from Stiffler’s Mom’s Cookie Factory, sold on the Midway during the 24 days of the fair each fall
In a blurb about the Dallas festival, Yelp gives credit to Fletcher’s Original Corny Dogs, a company that’s been at the State Fair since 1942
Rounding out the rest of the top 10 are The Big E, a fair in West Springfield, Mass., at No. 7; Florida State Fairgrounds at No. 8; Alaska State Fair at No. 9 and the N.C State Fair in North Carolina at No. 10.
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Bonus points to the small but mighty fair in Alaska, which sells reindeer sausage and a 1,500-calorie burger with glazed donuts
