Minnesota State Fair 2019: Food Picks and Tips

It’s that time of year again. Time for the Great Minnesota Get-Together. For the uninitiated, the Minnesota State Fair is one of the largest state fairs in the US. Officially, Texas has the largest state fair by volume of attendees at 2.25M, but they cheat and do it in 24 days. Minnesota needs just 12 days to clear just over 2M attendees. Because of that, the Minnesota State Fair holds the #1 slot for average daily attendees.

If you’re a native Minnesotan who has been attending the fair since birth like my wife and her family, you know that there’s things that you must always do.

Arrive early. Like 8am early so you can get parking on the fairgrounds. You’ll also get a couple hours before the sun is roasting and the madness sets in.

Make a game plan. There’s so much to do you won’t ever be bored. There are events on dozens of stages, hundreds of food options, and everything from sheep herding to log cutting competitions, you’ll want to make a plan so you don’t miss anything you really want to see.

Eat wisely. With literally hundreds of food options, don’t fill up at any one stand. Get a dish and share it with the family and move on to the next stop. Oh - and no cheese curds before noon.

While we’re on the topic of food, the Minnesota State fair is truly a wonder to behold when it comes to depth and breadth of eats. There’s tons of deep fried options and many foods served on and off of a stick and each year. This year I’ve got a set of new favorites, can’t miss classics and some thoughts on what you can skip.

New State Fair Favorite Foods (2019 Edition)

Every year there’s a new exiting list of foods being debuted at the Minnesota State Fair. Here’s the full 2019 list of new foods. This year I made it my mission to try some of the best looking foods on this list and try as many as possible in a single day. Here’s what made my cut for new favorites.

The Nashville Hot Chicken on a Stick - The Blue Barn

Blue Barn is a new perennial powerhouse of “elevated” fair food.

I’m normally not a fan of hot chicken as I generally find it to be hot for the sake of being hot rather than being spicy for flavor. This it far and away the best hot chicken I’ve ever head. One of the not-so-secret ingredients is corn flakes with are featured in the batter and help create a wonderful sweet and spicy flavor that will leave you wanting more. This is a great portion size too for a quick individual meal or allowing 3-4 people get in a good bite or two. Highly recommend.

The Blue Barn is located in Heritage Square and for the last couple of years has brought a number of great new dishes to the fair including unique beers and cocktails. This year they also have a Breakfast Potato Skin. The serving I had and those I saw coming out were covered in sauce and left a little bit to be desired in the balance of the dish. Skip it and save the space for your next stop.

The Grilled Sota Sandwich - BRIM (New Vendor)

BRIM served up several delicious treats as a new vendor at the fair.

New vendor BRIM made a splash this year with several delicious new treats. My favorite of these was the Sota Sandwich - a PB&J panini of sorts with blueberry jam and a cinnamon nut butter on Irish soda bread. This falls into the category of a lot of food and if you eat it yourself you will be full. You’ll also hamper your fair food tasting, so I recommend splitting it among friends. Or strangers. All strangers in Minnesota are just minutes from becoming friends. BRIM also offers the Joey Mary which is an iced coffee slushie that has special goodies on top. Great pairing for a morning tasting right by the North Entrance.

Halo Cone - Rainbow Ice Cream

Rainbow Ice Cream has been serving up unicorn-esque desserts in the Grand Stand for a while, but this year’s new treat is something magical looking. The cotton candy ice cream itself is so good and a perfect amount of sweet. Add to that sprinkles, gummy bears, fruity pebbles and a giant ring of cotton candy and you’ve got yourself one of the most fun treats at the fair.

Pebbles & Bam Bam - Nordic Waffles

This looks nothing like the photos on the website.

Waffle stuffed with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Fruity Pebbles. What’s not to love? I saw the picture in the new foods guide and had to grab one. I will say that this was one of the worst “Instagram v. Reality” photos of the fair, but it did taste really good which is why it made my list. I would’ve loved to have tried almost every waffle taco (?) on their menu — both sweet and savory.

Bonus Pick: I did not make it to the fried tacos on a stick at Midtown Global Market's Taco Cat, but multiple fair attendees told me that it was one of their favorite dishes they experienced this year. Try it out and let me know how it was.

Don’t Miss Classic State Fair Foods

Of the nearly 300 food vendors at the Minnesota State Fair, one would think there’s bound to be some turnover year to year. What’s amazing is how many staples there are and how those staples continue to grow and grow. That said, there’s some foods that are gold standards that you just have to have every year and there’s others that you can just skip. Here’s my picks of foods you won’t want to miss.

Sweet Martha’s Cookies

If you haven’t heard of Sweet Martha and her cookies, you’ve probably been living a sad, cookie-less life. Martha brings in more than $4 million every year from her marvelous chocolate cookies. Whether you get a cone or a bucket of cookies, they’ll be stacked until they’re overflowing. (You’ll notice dozens of stepped on cookies on the ground around the booths from that overflow…) They’re just too good to be missed and with a fourth location added, they’re easier than ever to get your hands on.

Mouth Trap Cheese Curds

Located in the food building, these are the cheese curds you want to get at the fair. There are dozens of vendors with cheese curds and maybe one day I’ll do a full write up on all of them, but trust me. These are the ones you want.

Skip it Fair Foods

Every year there’s bound to be some duds. There’s also a bunch of staple fair foods that you should consider leaving behind this year in favor of new tastes and treats. Here’s some thoughts on foods to skip.

Dogs - Hot, Corn, Foot-long, and Otherwise

Corn Dogs. We get it.

Did you know that there are at least 58 food vendors serving some version of a hotdog? Look, I get it. Pronto pups are a big deal, but surely we can do better than fill up on an 18” stick of unknown meat and breading. There’s so many other unique options that are more shareable, more enjoyable and for those that care, more instagramable.

My father-in-law just turned 60 and celebrated with a corndog. Happy Birthday Jay. Ya goober.

I’m just kidding. Enjoy your corn dogs, Minnesota. When it comes to the fair, you gotta eat what you want and what you like. Just make sure you get to try ad bunch of things and you can’t go wrong. Have a great fair!