2026 Minnesota State Fair - Falcon Heights, MN

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.

Peri Peri bowl from Afro Deli was next on my list. Best thing all day. Boneless chicken pieces were fantastic. The sambusas were great, especially with the spicy Somali green sauce. And then the plantains were fantastic to finish with. Everything just hit. It does have a little heat (if you’re from Minnesota), but everything in this dish is so good. 

The beer lines open at 9am, if you’re wondering. And yes, there are people waiting in line. I started with Homer Black Pepper IPA from Surly. It’s a good IPA, but I thought there would be more black pepper flavor. (I recently had a black pepper beer at Wooden Ship Brewing and that had great black pepper flavor, so I was expecting something similar to that). Still a solid beer. 

Then, I had to try Back Channel’s Tropic North. Made with pink guava, prickly pear, and tangerine. Tastes like a melted popsicle with just a tiny hint of sour. Great beer. 

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. 

Next was the Aurora Tropical Drift beer from Castle Danger. Good. Not a “five”, but a pretty good IPA. This one has passion fruit, pineapple, and mango, but I wanted more of those.

I had to get the Elote Tots from Tot Boss. They have the best tots in the business. Always incredibly crunchy and cooked exactly how a tot should be. The elote topping – corn, diced peppers, cheddar cheese, crema, and cream cheese – was a B+ and good, but not mind blowing. I feel like some of their other flavors pop a little more than this. Not sure if more topping or better topping is the answer. I’m glad I tried this one – I just had my expectations set way to high based on previous dishes from them.

I had to try the Pink Lemonade Lager from Indeed (at Dino’s), and I’m glad I did – it was delightful on a hot summer day! Would recommend!

Next was the Bao Belly from RC’s BBQ. This was much much better than I expected. The initial view of this wasn’t even impressive (look at the photo), but I changed my mind very quickly. The bao bun was light and not sticky and the pork belly fell apart nicely and wasn’t stringy or tough or greasy. People all around were talking about how surprised they were that this was a good showing from RC’s. That’s always a good sign.

I had to go check out Lumpia City. I got in line at 11:00, and had my food at 11:30 (one of the longer lines I encountered today). These were good. Maybe not worth the wait, but they’re good. Honestly, the fried part is perfection. I wished I tasted more filling – I know it’s hard when you get melty cheese curds. The first bite is just shell. The second bite is better. But, when you get to the “full” end, it’s really good. Still good, though. 

I wanted to try the Huckleberry Haze IPA from Lift Bridge (at the Frontier Bar). Sadly, it was just ok to me. I thought it would either have more IPA flavor or more huckleberry flavor, but it was a little weak on both of those. I still drank it though, didn’t I? 

Since I was right there next to it, I had to go to Andy’s Grill. The Pineapple Upside Down Cake Slushy is good but not incredible. Great on a hot summer day though. And I can’t taste any alcohol which is fun/dangerous. Also, it isn’t a cherry on the top like I expected. It’s a Cherry Chan candy, which I looooove! Well done. 

I knew I needed to try the Royal Hawawshi from Kosharina. It’s very good, just like everything I’ve had from this awesome Egyptian place. The seasoned meat is ground but then pressed together like a hamburger patty – and the seasonings are fantastic in this. The flaky fresh bread that it’s stuffed into is also wonderful. The sauce is great with it, which they say is tahini dip, but I know it’s something more than tahini. Not the best thing at the fair, but it’s really really good. 

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…

Then, a repeat vendor for me pretty much every year – a root beer float from 1919 (not the year). Always delicious. No frills, just refreshing.

I am a cookie dough fiend ever since I was a kid. In fact, one of my top 10 nephews made me some cookie dough the last time I was in Illinois, so it’s very top of mind for me. I wanted to try the Brandy Old Fashioned Cookie Dough on a Stick at Kora and Mila’s Cookie Dough. The dough has orange zest, brandy flavoring, cinnamon, dark chocolate, and tart dried cherries in it. I still think it’s weird that it has that much chocolate and then they dip it in brandy flavored bittersweet chocolate, and then sprinkle Biscoff cookie crumbs on it. But it’s ok. The dough is a little dry for my taste. Probably because they can’t put eggs in the dough and still safely sell it. It wouldn’t stop me for a second if it had raw eggs in it.

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...

I’ve always been a fan of Babas and I knew they had a new menu item - Al Elotay (basically, their take on Mexican Elotes. It was honestly great, as usual. Made with corn hummus (which I didn’t even know was a thing), Arabic chorizo, pecorino romano, harissa oil, microgreens, and cilantro. It had great corn/elote flavor. And the harissa oil really made it pop. Also, as per usual, the pita puffs were warm and delicious. 

Had to hit another new vendor - Summer Lakes Boat House. They’ve got this thing called Dockside Poppers. It’s seasoned cream cheese, bacon, artichoke hearts, and jalapenos, breaded and fried; served with a side of tomato chili jam. These are actually good. Really good. Just a perfect fry on the outside, without ruining how fluffy they are. Also, you can actually taste the artichoke in these – in a good way. The tomato chili dip is really complimentary, as well. I’m glad I tried these even though they were on my maybe list. Sadly, the number of times I heard grown-ass adults say “What even is an artichoke heart? Never heard of it.” while I was in line was embarrassing. COME ON!

My work colleague, Hattie, told me I needed to try the First Place Peach, which is made by Pen Name Fermentation Project. What Hattie doesn’t know is that Pen Name Fermentation Project (up until very recently) was based out of the Haggard Barrel Brewery in St. Louis Park. They have recently switched over to Wandering Leaf Brewing in St. Paul. Just wanted you to know, Hattie. This was a pretty good sour, thankfully. This one had peach pie, cinnamon, vanilla, and some hints of ice cream, so it’s pretty adventurous.

Since I was already at Lulu’s buying the First Place Peach, I also decided to try the Candyman Blue Raspberry lager from Bent Paddle. It didn’t have as much blue raspberry flavor in it, despite the blue sugar rim they serve it with. I thought it would be ore fun-tasting, but it was a very drinkable lager. Decent.

While I was at the Fair, a friend tagged me in a video of a lifestyle reporter tasting an … adventurous beer on video. I watched it and based on his reaction “I did not care for that”, I knew I had to at least try it. It’s called Old Ranch Hand and it’s from Dual Citizen Brewing. It is literally a ranch dressing flavored cream ale. “smooth malt with hints of buttermilk, herbs, and spices”. It was a gamble … that I lost. The herb dusted rim did not help. As the expert reporter said earlier, “I did not care for that”.

My stomach was full at this point, and there was only enough room for one last small thing – Chorizo Manchego Croquettes from Paella Depot. This place has always treated me well – they make killer paella, especially considering it’s out of a giant food truck and not a brick and mortar restaurant. These croquettes are filled with manchego cheese and Spanish chorizo and drizzled with lemon garlic aioli. I had high hopes for these, but these croquettes were not crispy at all and when you pick up one, it seemed like a mushy mess. Normally they knock it out of the park, but this one was a bummer. The seasoning of the filling is really quite good, though, so the flavor was there, but not crispy enough to even pick up – it just fell apart. 

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

We'll see if I end up going back for another visit this year. I'm usually a one-and-done guy with the Minnesota State Fair. IF I do, there will be more posts!