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State Fair of Texas, 2026 New Food Located at Granny’s by the Coliseum and Foot Long Corn Dogs on Grand Ave. Texas summers run past a hundred degrees by June. Someone decided the fix was a soda that started its life on a lemon tree in Italy. What This Thing Actually Is Sparkling Limonata, made from sun-ripened Italian lemons, … Read more
State Fair of Texas, 2026 New Food, Big Tex Choice Awards Semi-Finalist The Nevins family already had a Nutty Bar that’s sold at the Fair for years. This year they decided it wasn’t done yet. What This Thing Actually Is The signature Nevins ice cream Nutty Bar gets drenched in creamy salted butter, then rolled … Read more
State Fair of Texas, 2026 New Food, Big Tex Choice Awards Semi-Finalist Located at Former Log Ride on the Funway A float is supposed to be soda and ice cream. Simple. Two ingredients, done. This one brought a square dance’s worth of extra partners to the glass. What This Thing Actually Is An ice cold Dr Pepper gets … Read more
State Fair of Texas, 2026 New Food, Big Tex Choice Awards Semi-Finalist Located at Hans Mueller at Nimitz, Farm Pac on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, and Borracho Nacho Bar in Cotton Bowl Plaza A turkey leg is meant to be gnawed off the bone, one hand, no plate. A family that’s spent generations processing meat looked at that … Read more
State Fair of Texas, 2026 Big Tex Choice Awards Sweet Finalist A waffle cone is supposed to hold ice cream. One scoop, maybe two. This one holds an entire dessert table. What This Thing Actually Is Start with a warm waffle cone, fresh off the iron. Dip it in white chocolate. Roll it in buttery … Read more
State Fair of Texas, 2026 Big Tex Choice Awards Sweet Finalist Flan is delicate. Custard, barely holding itself together, the kind of dessert a fryer should ruin on contact. The Garza family fried it anyway. It’s not the first trophy this family has taken home for exactly that kind of dare. What This Thing Actually … Read more
State Fair of Texas, 2026 Big Tex Choice Awards: Best Taste, Sweet A corny dog is built around a hot dog. That’s the entire premise, going back 84 years. This year, Fletcher’s pulled the hot dog out and left the premise standing. What This Thing Actually Is Smooth milk chocolate fudge gets hand dipped in … Read more
State Fair of Texas, 2026 Big Tex Choice Awards Sweet Finalist A funnel cake stand is not where you’d expect to find a cocktail. This one has been serving one for years, frozen, on a stick. What This Thing Actually Is Cold brew espresso gets blended with Fernie’s own Funnel Cake Cream Cocktail, then frozen … Read more
State Fair of Texas, 2026 Big Tex Choice Awards: Most Creative Stephen El Gidi used to get judged on hundredths of a second. Now he gets judged on cheesecake. He says he likes it better this way. What This Thing Actually Is Start with a New York style cheesecake. Dip the whole thing in silky … Read more
State Fair of Texas, 2026 Big Tex Choice Awards Savory Finalist A quesadilla folds. A melt gets buried. This one skips the fold and buries the tortilla in crispy potato strings instead. What This Thing Actually Is A tortilla gets brushed in a seasoned butter oil and grilled until the outside turns crisp and golden. … Read more