Fairly Unbalanced

Minnesota State Fair food reviews, news and more

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I am a lifelong Minnesota State Fair enthusiast from Minneapolis, Minnesota. I’ve attended over 30 years of the Great Minnesota Get-Together, trying nearly every food on offer and wearing down numerous pairs of shoes. I draw on my years of Fair experience to guide you through the hits and misses of my favorite event of the year.
  • Review: Deep-Fried Tofuego Bites from Snack House

    Review: Deep-Fried Tofuego Bites from Snack House

    These tofu bites are likely to be this year’s most underrated, most slept-on new food item, but they should be a hit and will be an easy recommend for anyone looking for an affordable but filling meal at the Fair or a meat-free option that actually excites.

    About ten cubes of tofu are sent through the deep-fryer until they reach a golden brown hue and placed atop a vivacious pineapple and cabbage slaw, and sprinkled with a spicy sauce, scallions, and sesame seeds. The tofu was a delightful surprise, firmed up by the fryer and serving as a great vessel for the sauce, which contained a real capsaicin hit without becoming too overwhelming. While the scallions added little, the sesame seeds provided a pleasant crunch. Likewise, bites that included the slaw gave this dish needed texture, and finding fresh greens at the Fair is always a pleasant change of pace, although we wound up tossing about half of the slaw provided after we had run out of tofu to pair it with. The pineapple helped to balance out the spiciness, and added to the nuanced flavors at play here.

    At only $8, this is an incredible value for a dish that was actually quite filling and enjoyable. While Snack House and the other associated vendors within the Warner Coliseum have rarely been reliable outposts for the Fair’s best eats, these tofu bites have come out of nowhere to surprise and delight us, and we hope they remain permanently for us to point people toward.

    Ratings (0-5):

    • Taste: 4
    • Appearance: 4
    • Novelty: 3
    • Value: 5

    Overall Score: 16 out of 20 (Blue Ribbon Best)

  • Review: Pot of Gold Potato Dumplings from O’Gara’s at the Fair

    Review: Pot of Gold Potato Dumplings from O’Gara’s at the Fair

    O’Gara’s has perhaps been the Fairgrounds’ most consistently inconsistent vendors over the last several years. For many years, their new foods were some of the worst offenders for being bland, poorly thought out, or not well made. However, they seemed to be on an uptick as of late, with last year’s Walking Shepherd’s Pie being their best effort in recent memory. We were looking forward to this year’s new addition to their menu based on one fact alone: bringing in Saturday Dumpling Co to produce these dumplings, whose recently-opened restaurant in Northeast Minneapolis has become a favorite spot for unpretentious fast casual food that excites and excels.

    One bite drained us of all the hype and excitement we had, as these dumplings had so little to offer. There is just one flavor profile here, and that is an overwhelming hit of garlic. By description, these are cheesy mashed potatoes, but if there is any cheese involved it is so minimal as to not be detected, certainly not past the garlic that overpowers everything here. The side of Top the Tater chive onion dip does its best to make an addition, but it only serves to soften up an otherwise very dry bite. Bacon bits inside the dumpling would have gone a long way to making these more worthwhile and interesting; instead, we were bored after finishing one and done with them after two.

    Perhaps the most damning thing to say about these dumplings was when after sitting around with several beers at a table inside O’Gara’s, there was still one dumpling left among our group of four. As we prepared to move along, someone pointed out the remaining dumpling, which posited the response: “who cares?” At an audacious $13 for seven dumplings, these are a total miss and plummet O’Gara’s firmly back down the list of quality food vendors. We recommend you don’t take it as too strong of an indictment of Saturday Dumpling Co too, but we wonder how this collab went so wrong.

    Ratings (0-5):

    • Taste: 1
    • Appearance: 2
    • Novelty: 1
    • Value: 0

    Overall Score: 4 out of 20 (Fried-Out Flop)

  • Review: Afro Bean Pops from Afro Deli

    Review: Afro Bean Pops from Afro Deli

    The Fairgrounds are littered with foods that aim to be an entire meal, or foods that are trying to do too much to be an entire concept onto themselves, but not enough that are proud to be a mere blip in your daily diet and feature good, honest, well-executed food that’s everything its advertised to be and nothing more. The Afro Bean Pops, located at the Food Building’s Afro Deli stand, are just four golf ball-sized balls that pack an impressive amount of flavor into a small package, and won’t last long in their serving tray but will linger on your mind.

    A sultry blend of black-eyed peas, onions, and jalapeños is mixed together with a blend of seasonings and fried to a deep brown, providing a crunchy exterior but remaining soft and relenting on the inside. These closely resemble hushpuppies, but contain much more enticing flavors than your typical hushpuppy does. A vibrant red chili sauce is drizzled haphazardly over the four pops, and served alongside a spicy, cilantro-based green sauce in a thoughtfully-designed serving boat; we enjoyed the red chili sauce, but found the accompanying green sauce to kick things up to a heat level that was overly spicy and too much for most Minnesotans.

    At just $8, this is appropriately priced, and while not a massive dish, it serves as a perfect appetizer that will delight most eaters and provide flavors uncommon to the Fair. Perhaps the best praise is that we could totally see ordering these again as a nice mid-day snack, or just on a whim passing through if the line is short, and being perfectly happy with our choice. Afro Deli continues to put out some of the Fair’s best food and we’re excited to see what they come up with next!

    Ratings (0-5):

    • Taste: 4
    • Appearance: 4
    • Novelty: 3
    • Value: 5

    Overall Score: 16 out of 20 (Blue Ribbon Best)

  • Review: Sweet Squeakers from The Blue Barn

    Review: Sweet Squeakers from The Blue Barn

    The Blue Barn has been pumping out consistently fun new food concepts from their West End Market outpost for over a decade now, and their strong suit has always been their sweets, from the exemplary French Toast Bites that utilize Pop Rocks to burst with flavor, to last year’s PB Bacon Cakes which were a tremendous success and received one of our highest overall scores ever. With this pedigree the Sweet Squeakers, a funnel cake battered take on State Fair staple cheese curds, arrived with much anticipation, and they thankfully did not disappoint.

    The batter was crisp and encased the white cheddar cheese curds perfectly, encasing them in a deep golden brown hue and dusted with cinnamon and sugar that evoked a positive comparison to Cinnamon Toast Crunch. The cheese curds retained a cube shape and added just a little saltiness, but not enough to overwhelm the sweetness, a pleasant combination. The lemon-infused whipped cream was the star of the show, just as the peanut butter whipped cream drew all the attention with the PB Bacon Cakes last year; we found ourselves tasting it on its own by the forkful, no cheese curd needed. The berry sauce drizzled across the entire dish added a pleasant tartness and a complexity to the flavor profile, keeping each bite interesting.

    Is it breakfast, is it dessert? Who cares, it’s the Fair! These were a great time, and a fun concept that seems so quintessential to the State Fair yet heretofore never put together. Our one grumble is with the $14 price point, a significant jump up from the $12.75 for Blue Barn’s new food last year despite containing a similar amount of food (with no bacon involved, no less). Still, these were well-executed and worthwhile, and exactly the type of thing we come to the Fair to consume.

    Ratings (0-5):

    • Taste: 4
    • Appearance: 4
    • Novelty: 5
    • Value: 3

    Overall Score: 16 out of 20 (Blue Ribbon Best)

  • Review: Cannoli Gelato Nachos from Mancini’s al Fresco

    Review: Cannoli Gelato Nachos from Mancini’s al Fresco

    Rarely have we been so disappointed by a new food item that should have been a no-brainer hit than we were by this dessert offering from Mancini’s. Cannoli? Delicious! Gelato? Ideal for a sunny State Fair day! Nachos? We love ’em! How could this go wrong? By failing at essentially every element along the way.

    The description promises cannoli-flavored gelato, but what we were served tasted suspiciously like boring vanilla. Whereas gelato should be smooth and creamy, this notably had ice crystals and was closer to low-quality soft serve instead of a bougie ice cream. Even in their freezer, the gelato was already looking like it was turning to liquid, and it didn’t last long once outside and in the paper boat, turning these nachos into a soupy, mushy mess. Not that it really could have ruined the provided cannoli chips much more, as they were lifeless and stale from the beginning, though at least adequate at scooping the gelato while it was still in its solid state. Rainbow sprinkles and a milquetoast drizzle of chocolate syrup did little to liven things up and take away from our disappointment, though we at least enjoyed the cherry on top.

    Their price of $11 is a premium even if the quality of the dessert is not. We’ve loved Mancini’s offerings in the past, particularly some of their savory meals, and were excited to see them make a comeback to the new foods list, but their comeback is sadly not a triumphant one. This is not just worthy of skipping, but actively worthy of Fairgoers’ derision, one of the worst stumbles in recent Fair memory.

    Ratings (0-5):

    • Taste: 0
    • Appearance: 2
    • Novelty: 1
    • Value: 0

    Overall Score: 3 out of 20 (Fried-Out Flop)