2026 Minnesota State Fair Day 2 – Falcon Heights, MN

I don’t always do multiple days at the Minnesota State Fair, but I had a few things I had on my list that I missed the first time around. So, I went back….

This time, I went with the Park and Ride scenario (it really is the way to go if you don’t want to get there at 7:00am. I left the park and ride at 11:27am and at 11:58, I was off the bus. At 12:02, I was in the gate – so fast, so easy.

 

I already had my bearings, so I knew where I wanted to go first. Brisket Cheese Curd Taco from Richie’s. Everything this guy does is magic. Basically, you put deep fried cheese curds into a taco shell that you’ve also deep fried, and it’s going to be good. In fact, this was very good and honestly, the brisket was really secondary to the curds and fried shell.  There isn’t a ton of brisket in the taco, but I think that’s ok. The pink sauce was good but I don’t know what it was – I looked when I got home and it’s BBQ aioli. The coleslaw is better than average, which is good, since I had it on both of the tacos I got. I’m always happy with these tacos. 

 

I also got a Hot Chick Cheese Curd Taco. It’s just so good with the spicy buffalo sauce slathered in the whole taco with the same coleslaw as the brisket version. Again, the fried curds and fried shell made this awesome. You could put anything in it and it would be awesome. I like whatever I get from Richie’s every year.

 

I found my long-lost work friend who moved away, but came back for a visit during the fair. KZ is one of the best humans on the planet and I’m glad we had a chance to get caught up and hang with one of her top two kids and his fiancé. Just a GD amazing family, all around.

 

Next was the Hmong Corn Dog at Union Hmong Kitchen. I’ve seen a LOT of people raving about this, so I moved it up the priority list and checked it out. It was really very good. Better than I expected. It isn’t just a boring old hot dog in there. It’s a delicious sausage specially made by Kramarczuk’s (if you’re from the Twin Cities, this carries a great deal of weight) with ginger, garlic, fish sauce, chili, and lemongrass. The corn meal batter was perfectly fried. And every dipping sauce Union Hmong makes is pure magic. This was a citrus Kua Txob sauce and despite not knowing what that means, it’s so good. Just get the sauce. 

 

Since I was already in the International Bazaar, I had to try the Crispy Kubbeh Bites from Holy Land. Kubbeh Bites are bulgur and ground beef dough with onion and spices, and served with a spiced dill pickle yogurt. These were good, but just fine. The yogurt dipping sauce definitely jazzed these up. But, they were just good, not amazing or special. I’m glad I checked them out, but I don’t know that I would rave about these to friends and family.

 

I had Sligo Sliders from O’Gara’s on my list. These were Just ok. I’m still not sure what was inside or what the pink sauce I was dipping into. Again, I looked this up before publishing and the insides of the slider were a sort of cheeseburger blend with beef, cheddar, pickle, and onion. The dipping sauce is homemade thousand island. I’m hit or miss with O’Gara’s at the Fair, so I always roll the dice with them. Sometimes, I win and sometimes I loose.

 

I had to check out the Sociable Cider Pina Cider Lada. And, I’m pretty impressed with this one – it was a very refreshing drink. It’s still more cider-y than pina colada-y, but they do make a solid cider, so it was pretty awesome. 

 

Gotta get the Key Lime Pie golden ale from Lift Bridge – it was very good. It also helps that it was 200 degrees out, so it was going to be extra good, especially with the green sugar rim. 

 

I took a bit of a gamble on the Buffalo Chicken Tater Kegs from the famous guy David at Greater Tater. These were shredded chicken and shredded potato, deep fried and served with a solid variety of dipping sauces. I went with the blue cheese and it was the right decision. Super crunchy and you can taste all the flavors in these. I’m glad I checked these out. Seems like some of the other flavors offered would be delicious, as well.

I wanted to check out the Pina Colada Cream Ale from Indeed that they had at Lulu's Public House. Very good and refreshing. I've had a lot of Pina colada drinks, which is almost on the mark since it was National Mai Tai Day.

I’ve said it before, but I don’t usually go back to places unless they’re very special to me. My brother-in-law and I got hooked on the Fire Dog from Pickle Dogs, and I think about them way more than I should. A pickle dog is a pickle wrapped in a slice of pastrami with cream cheese, and a fire dog has some jalapenos thrown in. I’m not ashamed – I went and picked one up before going to watch my friend play some sweet-rockin’ bluegrass at the Schilling Amphitheater. Both the Fire Dog and Rosie Daze were top notch.

 

Since I was that close, I might as well pick up the best beer created for a previous Minnesota State Fair – Grainbelt Blu with the frozen beer topper. I’m never NOT going to like this beef, especially in the summer.

 

I gave this one a shot and I wasn’t mad that I did. There’s a Pryes Raspberry and Peach Soft Serve cone at the same place as the Grainbelt Blu. I’m not a fan of Pryes beers, but when put into a frozen soft serve format, I can get behind it, especially when it’s above 80 degrees. I’ll be honest, one of my favorite parts about this was watching all the children melt down (pun intended) that mom and dad weren’t sharing their ice cream with the kids. Hahahahaha.

 

I was sitting in the Ball Park Café, enjoying the shade and the mister things they have, and needed to try the Little Thistle Jungle Bird IPA. Very good. Has some good fruit flavors, as well as some floral hints. 

 

I had a few tastes of the Lift Bridge Frozen Blueberry Lemonade Slushy that my wife got, as well. It was also super good. Can’t even taste the booze in this one.

 

And since we sat there too long, we also ended up with a basket of garlic fries. Delicious.

 

And then a Tiger’s Blood Cider. Totally drinkable.

 

And then a Frozen Mango Tango Slushy. Not as good as the blueberry lemonade slushy.

 

And then some friends brought us a doughnut from Peachey’s. Ate this one too fast, so there isn’t a photo, sorry.

 

On the way out, I had one last beer on my list to try – the Pomelo Pils from Indeed at Mancini’s. It was good, but not like recommending/impressive good. (again, my opinion)

 

Eight and a half food items and nine beers. That’s a decent showing for a second visit, I think. And once again, I forgot to turn on my step tracking app, so I couldn’t justify eating 10,000 calories by walking seven miles. Oh well.

 

From today’s adventure, things I would recommend:

• Hmong Corndog from Hmong Union Kitchen
• Brisket Cheese Curd Taco and Hot Chick Cheese Curd Taco from Richie’s Cheese Curd Tacos

Foods I would personally NOT recommend:

• Sligo Sliders
• Crispy Kubbeh Bites

We'll see if I make it another time - there's still time!!!!