The 2023 Minnesota State Fair saw me doing a lot more prep than I had in a while. I had things printed out; a definitely list and a maybe list; a map with stars on it; went to bed early so I could wake up on time; and probably some additional things that I’m too embarrassed to write about. But, good news for you, this year’s visit was a raging success (AGAIN). I’ll give some pretty quick descriptions of things I tried and then try to leave you with a top 3 or 5 list to help some of you out that have asked for my favorites. Reminder that these are my opinions and I’m not trying to run anyone out of business or upset anyone. Just my personal thoughts on the specific day that I went in the specific mood I was in.
Bacon-wrapped waffle dog from Nordic Waffles. Really fantastic. French fried onions and pickles really made this thing pop. Note: the bacon was super floppy, which is how I LOVE my bacon, but I heard some people with differing opinions about crispiness complained. Better than expected.
Hot honey sticks from Blue Barn. Pretty good, but not magical (which is what the Blue Barn generally delivers to me every year). This is fried halloumi cheese cut into fry shapes. Little bit of honeycomb crumble, and also maybe some honeycomb cereal? It also had some spicy dust and honey. Not as good as I wanted them to be.
Dill pickle cheese curd tacos from Richie’s Cheese Curd Tacos. Cheese and lettuce in a fried shell – I mean what’s not to like? You get to choose between a drizzle of ranch or raspberry sauce. I got one of each but wish I got two raspberry ones. These were really good. Better than expected. If you like plain stuff get the ranch.
MinneCookieDough pie from Minneapple Pie. I’m going to preface by divulging that I’m not a pie eater. I don’t like the crust. I’m weird, I know. So, the crust already put me off. That being said, I’m a cookie dough fiend. The cookie dough was warm and gooey, but a little boring. Not sure if it wasn’t well-mixed or floury or something. The ice cream was standard, but went well with the hot cookie dough. Not the worst thing, but don’t need it again.
Chicken momo with tomato chutney from MomoDosa in the Midtown Global Market area. If you haven’t had momo before, they’re like little steamed dumplings filled with various minced vegetables or meats – these had chicken. I was a little bummed that these started out a little plain-tasting. But then, the chutney adds some pop and then you realize the chicken has delicious flavor and seasoning. This was a slow build, but I ended up really liking this. It’s like getting through the first couple of episodes of a tv show before you realize it’s incredible and you’re hooked.
Crispy lutefisk steamed buns from Shanghai Henri’s. This was going to be my maiden voyage into the realm of gelled and lyed fish – sounds delicious, right? A lot of Scandinavians think so, so I had to give it a shot. The smell was enough, honestly. I should have stopped there. And, there are FOUR steamed buns in this box they give you – that’s generous even for state fair standards. The first bite tasted like fish for a second before it ruined everything in my mouth. Then I couldn’t get the smell off my hands and kept burping it up until I drowned the flavor with like six beers. Glad I tried it, but no thank you, Swedes.
Pickle fries from Mike’s Hamburgers. Meh. These were pretty floppy and the batter wasn’t very flavorful. The dipping sauce was good, though. I think I had just built these up in my head, since I’ve had some pretty stellar pickle fries before.
Birramisu cream ale by Indeed Brewing. Not the best. It needed more of every flavor. Was supposed to have coffee, chocolate, and vanilla, but I only tasted a hint of those things.
Walleye fritter pops from Giggles. Sadly, just ok. Something you’d get in a bar up north and then you’d say “sadly, just ok”. Again, the dipping sauce is the most noteworthy part. That was pretty stellar and I want that on a couple of other things.
Kirby Pucker lemon blueberry sour ale from Eastlake Brewing. This is just a really good beer. It was a pretty hot day, so this went down reallllllll smooth.
MN Brew Together IPA collab from Modist Brewing and Fair State Brewing. This is a pretty decent west coast IPA. I’m not a beer snob, but I did like this one a lot.
Strawberry Short Cake’d Up lager from Mankato Brewing. Great beer! You can taste the strawberries and again, in the heat, this beer was absolutely perfect.
Root beer float from 1919. Delicious. It just always is. This is pretty much the one place that I return to every year at the fair. It doesn’t take up much room, and I love 1919.
Duck Duck Blue Duck boozy blueberry lemonade from Surly Brewing. Super good and comes with a salted foam top and a tiny blue duck souvenir. It was a good showing, and I am glad I got this one.
...And, a quick visit to pet some dogs.
Maui-Sota Sticky Ribs from RC’s BBQ. These ribs had a really good sweet glaze, rather than sauce. I’ve got to say, the ribs are always good here – I don’t know why I forget that, but I’ll try to be better about it.
Ginger Suntan from Schell’s Brewing. This is a sort of strawberry rhubarb mule-style beer. Interesting and refreshing. I like it when Schell’s gets adventurous.Speaking of adventurous…
Peach-E-Keen Berliner Weiss sour ale by Schell’s Brewing. Very good beer with just the right amount of sour and tons of peach flavor. This one is hidden behind LuLu’s Public House right next to the Schell’s booth – don’t miss it!
Cheescake Curds from LuLu’s Public House. These were really quite good and come with some powdered sugar and a killer strawberry dipping sauce.
Cocobanana (chocolate banana ale) from Modist. Super good, especially with a chocolate rim. A lot going on in this one – pineapple, banana, coffee, chocolate, vanilla, and sugarcane. This was a very welcome surprise.
Galabao steamed bun from Union Hmong Kitchen in the Midtown Global Market area. Hmong-style buns are different than other countries’ buns and are a little larger. These were filled with spiced pork and egg (like hard-boiled egg, so be ready for that). It was very good, but too much bun – maybe I just didn’t want the filler, since I had limited belly real estate at this point. The sauce was ridiculously good and had some heat (the people at the booth were warning the Minnesotans – probably wise). These were good, but I ended up eating the filling out and less than half of the bun.
Babe’s Blueberry & Maple golden ale from Spiral Brewery. This one DOES, in fact, taste like blueberry pancakes. Not sure what I expected, but that’s what it is.
The Funnel Never End strawberry funnel cake beer from Elm Creek Brewing. I loved everything about this beer, especially the strawberry goo and powdered sugar-rimmed cup. Just really good.
Al Taco Baba from Baba’s. These aren’t like a taco, so be open to this. These are little puffed pita pillows on a stick in a bowl of delicious hummus, harissa, spiced barbacoa, corn, queso fresco, chili dust, and some hot sauce. This was actually REALLY good. Better than I’ve had in some restaurants! Speaking of which, Baba's just opened a brand new restaurant in Minneapolis, so go check them out.
After having written this all out, I realized I went heavy on the strawberries and pickles this year (thankfully, not together). But overall, I feel pretty good about this showing. I got to try a lot of different things and even a few things I stepped outside of my comfort zone on. Though, the state fair does bring out my adventurous side – and also breaks the part of my brain that tells me to stop eating, also.
Happy to debate any of these opinions with you over a beer that you’ve bought for me!
Top 5 food items at the 2023 Minnesota State Fair (that *I*tried)
1) Bacon-wrapped waffle dog from Nordic Waffles
2) Dill pickle cheese curd tacos from Richie’s Cheese Curd Tacos
3) Al Taco Baba from Baba’s
4) Chicken momo with tomato chutney from MomoDosa
5) Cheescake Curds from LuLu’s Public House
Top 5 beers I had at the Minnesota State Fair
1) The Funnel Never End strawberry funnel cake beer from Elm Creek Brewing
2) Cocobanana (chocolate banana ale) from Modist
3) Strawberry Short Cake’d Up lager from Mankato Brewing
4) Peach-E-Keen berliner weiss sour ale by Schell’s Brewing
5) MN Brew Together IPA collab from Modist Brewing and Fair State Brewing.
Estimated numbers from the day:
Food items: 12
Beverages: 11
Calories consumed: +10,000?
Pounds gained: 16.4
Blood sugar: 592
Money spent… let’s not talk about it
Cholesterol: 750
Blood pressure: 115/75, if my doctor asks
