Please stand to welcome the winners of the 2026 Big Tex Choice Awards
The State Fair of Texas has selected the winners of the annual competition that recognizes some of the new food creations coming to Fair Park this fall.
This year, the Burger Chop Tater Tacos, created by Tom Grace, won Best Taste–Savory. They are a pair of burger tacos, with a base made from tater tots and cheddar cheese. Inside are burger pieces with mozzarella and American cheese, Buffalo ranch coleslaw, garlic-parmesan Buffalo sauce and tater tots
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The Best Taste–Sweet winner was the Fletcher’s Chocolate Corny Dog, created by Beck Fletcher. It features the Fletcher family’s corny dog batter, but instead of a sausage, it has chocolate fudge inside. It is topped with vanilla icing and comes with a cup of raspberry compote, looking like ketchup
In the beverage category, the Tropical Coco Fresca from Fruteria Cano was named Best Taste–Sipper. It is a pineapple and watermelon agua fresca with chamoy “lava,” a Tajín rim and a scoop of coconut ice
The Most Creative award went to Berry Me in Matcha, created by Stephen El Gidi. It’s a slice of cheesecake on a stick dipped in Belgian white chocolate and rolled in crushed matcha cookies, then drizzled with white chocolate and strawberry jam
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The four winners were selected from 15 finalists during the competition held Aug. 18. A panel of 35 judges, including Dallas Morning News food reporter Sarah Blaskovich, evaluated the entries based on taste, creativity, price or value, and their potential appeal to fairgoers.
The Big Tex Choice Awards have been held since 2005 and have become the main showcase for introducing new foods at the fair. To participate, vendors must have worked as State Fair concessionaires for at least two years.
This year, a record 77 entries were submitted by 46 concessionaires. After several rounds of judging, 15 advanced to the finals and competed in the Best Taste–Savory, Best Taste–Sweet and Best Taste–Sipper categories. The Most Creative award can go to any of the finalists.
The finalists
The 2026 savory finalists included creations such the Flamin’ Crunch Pizza, a pizza topped with Flamin’ Hot Cheetos; the Dickel’s Texas Two Step Tacos, with jalapeño, sausage and mozzarella; a Golden Cruch Melt, a taco with al pastor chicken; and Nacho Wings, loaded fries topped with chicken wings with several other nacho ingredients
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Other desserts included the Holy Flan! Buñueloco, a buñuelo with fried flan, arroz con leche and cinnamon Blue Bell ice cream; the Fernie’s Frozen Espresso-tini-Bar, an espresso coffee popsicle; and the Texas Pecan Praline Cheesecake Cone, a waffle cone filled with butter cheesecake
The beverage category, which debuted in 2025, returned this year with five finalists. The entries included the Corn Flake Shappé, a drink inspired by a bowl of Corn Flakes; the Nevins Soft Serve Peach Bellini Float, with peach soft serve and sparkling wine; a Sunset Soft Serve Rita, a strawberry-mango margarita with ice cream, Tajín and chamoy; and the Rousso’s Bacon Jam Caramel Apple Hard Cider
Each year, the Big Tex Choice Awards add to a growing list of unconventional State Fair creations. Previous winners include Deep Fried Pho, Fried Charcuterie Board, Funnel Cake Bacon Queso Burger, Cotton Candy Taco and Fried Beer.
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The winning dishes and the rest of the finalists will be available during the 2026 State Fair of Texas, which runs Sept. 25 through Oct. 18 at Fair Park in Dallas.
