After last year’s health restrictions caused me to miss out on a bunch of delicious new foods, I was determined to make up for lost time this year.
I always like to give people an idea of how long it takes to get to the fair. I live 8 miles from the fairgrounds. On a Tuesday night at midnight, I can get there in like 18 minutes. This year, I made a new plan on where I was going to park and it paid off. On this year’s Fair Opening day, I left my house at 6:40am. It took me 20 minutes to get within a mile of the fairgrounds and then I waited in traffic for like 23 minutes to go the last mile. Just be ready for that. It did seem like it was less busy than last year, but maybe that’s because schools are starting early and there isn’t the rush of families that normally happens.
Also, if you get here early in the morning, there's no crowd!!
I started my adventure at Lulu’s Public House, since it’s one of the early-opening establishments. I heard all about this new food item – the Pickle Pie. Pie crust filled with a blend of chopped pickles, pickle juice, and cream cheese. Then they top it with a savory whipped frosting made with ranch and Cholula hot sauce. Then they stick a gherkin on top and dust it with dill. I like pickles and I really wanted to like this item. But, it was the weirdest thing I ate all day – I changed between being disgusted and liking it at least seven times. It’s SOOOOO bizarre. The cheese flavor is so aggressive and the savory frosting is even more aggressive. It truly isn’t terrible, but I think a lot of people are going to attempt this item and very few people are actually going to recommend it.
I went to Sausage Sister & Me next, to try the When Pigs Fly. This is a flight of pork sausages wrapped in puff pastry and each one has its own topping. Chorizo sausage with chimichurri; Texas Two-Step sausage with sweet pepper coleslaw; Oktoberfest sausage with melted cheddar and chili crunch; and Porketta Italain sausage with pickle aioli. All four of these were really good, honestly. I didn’t know it was a different sausage for each flavor before I ordered it. The chimichurri was (probably) my favorite. The Texas one, the coleslaw actually had flavor. The pickle aioli was the perfect amount of tang. Oktoberfest one was my least favorite and it was still good. I was confused if it was chili crunch or was it stone ground mustard? Doesn’t matter, this one was really good.
Went to a new vendor this year – Jive Turkey. The Crack and Cheese was surprisingly good. Generous helping of mac and cheese plenty of smoked turkey on top and some deep fried turkey cracklins. The BBQ sauce you add yourself is good. Worth getting even if it wasn’t a new booth. Also, it should also be mentioned that every human working this new booth was LOVELY. I’m very tempted to go back for the Soul Rolls – mac and cheese with collard greens deep fried in an egg roll.
At this point in the day, I walked past the grilled corn vendor – which is always mobbed. As I walked past, I watched a guy throw his cell phone into the corncob compost bin instead of his corn cob. This was a first for me. I hope he got it out of there…
I was close-ish to the Luther Pit beer counter, so I checked out the Castle Danger Hazy Pineapple Whip. Great IPA flavor, but could have been stronger on the pineapple (and the whip). Again, it didn't really stop me from drinking it...
And here is the scene when I left the Fair - these are the crowds that folks complain about...
I feel like I let down my Strava friends because I forgot to turn on my step tracker. But I’d guess I walked four or five miles today, based on previous years. I think 13 food items and 10 beers was a pretty good showing. Yes, I lumped the root beer float into the food category.
I know people ask what to try and what to avoid, so this is my own list from my own unprofessional opinion...
Things I would recommend:
- Peri Peri Bowl from Afro Deli
- Crack and Cheese from Jive Turkey
- Dockside Poppers from Summer Lakes Boat House
- Al Elotay from Babas
- Bao Belly from RC’s BBQ
- Pink Lemonade Lager from Indeed
Foods I would personally NOT recommend:
- Pickle Pie
- Brandy Old Fashioned Cookie Dough
- Old Ranch Hand Beer




























