Fairly Unbalanced

Year three for Baba’s, the standout airstream trailer located on Machinery Hill that serves their exemplary hummus with a number of designer toppings, sees continued growth and success, just like their brand in general. Since debuting at the Fair in 2021, their packaged hummus has begun appearing in more grocery stores throughout the area, and they recently opened a brick-and-mortar restaurant in South Minneapolis. While these accomplishments aren’t solely the result of the wide-spread acclaim they’ve received for their State Fair offerings, the sheer publicity they’ve received in becoming one of the Fair’s top vendors cannot hurt.

It seems that Baba’s can’t miss, as their latest offering might be their best yet. The hummus thankfully is unchanged, providing the same velvety smooth and flavorful base that has backed up all of their inventive bowls thus far. Also returning are the super soft pita puffs, this time sprinkled with chili dust, that serve as conduits for scooping up the hummus and its ingredients. The Al Taco Baba sees this exemplary hummus topped by an incredibly tender barbacoa that is generous in portion, and surrounded by corn, queso fresco, crema, cilantro, and shatta, a Middle Eastern hot sauce. The result is a combination that feels like the most elevated taco bowl we’ve ever seen, either on or off the Fairgrounds. Each ingredient is distinct, complimentary to each other, and of premium quality, proving that Baba’s cuts no corners in serving up the very best to Fairgoers.

$13 will set you back more than many foods on the Fairgrounds, but you won’t regret a penny of the price as you enjoy one of the Fair’s absolute best new foods. Our one complaint, as it has been with each Baba’s bowl so far, is that the five provided pita puffs aren’t enough for the amount of hummus you receive, but the experience is nearly as good via spoon as it is paired with the pita bread. We’re hoping the Al Taco Baba finds its way to the restaurant menu soon so we can enjoy it year-round!

Ratings (0-5):

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

Overall Score: 17 out of 20 (Blue Ribbon Best)

We’d like to take this opportunity to salute the Minnesota State Fair’s Agriculture-Horticulture Building, a Works Progress Administration-era architectural landmark on the Fairgrounds that houses incredible floral displays, the iconic Crop Art competition, the collection of the year’s largest produce, a local craft beer hall, and some of the Fair’s best hidden gem food vendors. The Minnesota Apples stand has been a Fair insider tip for years, offering delectable frozen cider pops and apple rollovers that are both so good and so affordable that they’ve become an “if you know you know” secret (though judging by the increasingly long lines, the secret has gotten out). Another vendor within Ag-Hort that people seem to be catching onto is the Minnesota Honey Producers Association, offering up honey ice cream as well as a variety of other honey-based products from a corner booth along the building’s northwest spoke.

New to their stand this year is the Salted Hot Honey Sundae, which sees their vanilla ice cream met by a drizzle of Minnesota-made spicy honey and sunflower seeds, livening up an otherwise standard ice cream. We appreciate that the ice cream is sweetened by only honey, a novel idea among so much sugar across the Fairgrounds, but it was not otherwise memorable and could have used additional churning to smooth it out further. The hot honey did add spice and intrigue, but it left only a brief sting at the back of the tongue rather than a pervasive heat; those that dodge spicy foods will have no problem here as the lactose in the ice cream counteracts the heat, but we think the target market for this product is unlikely to be those that are spicy food adverse, and those that can handle the heat will be disappointed. The addition of sunflower seeds was a nice touch, and we’re a big proponent of them as an underrated ice cream topping, providing crunch and a little nutty flavor to an otherwise underwhelming sundae.

$10 is frankly an absurd price point for an ice cream sundae consisting of a mere two scoops, although signage at their booth promises that proceeds go toward the noble cause of “supporting bee research and habitat protection,” making the cost a little easier to swallow. Likewise, with all ingredients being sourced from Minnesota farmers, your mind can feel better than your wallet will if you opt to give this a try.

Ratings (0-5):

• Taste: 2
• Appearance: 3
• Novelty: 3
• Value: 1

Overall Score: 9 out of 20 (Better Luck Next Year)

How much should having an aesthetic and theme and sticking to it for your outpost at the Minnesota State Fair matter? Giggles’ Campfire Grill has evoked the spirit of the north woods of Minnesota for decades, both with their log cabin building and their menu that is heavy on fish and wild game, alluring fans of the great outdoors to their Machinery Hill location and drawing lengthy lines as that area of the Fairgrounds’ preeminent vendor. However, with this year’s new food it seems like they have run out of ideas and are hemmed in by sticking to their theme, resulting in their most boring and pointless offering to date.

It’s true that there’s nothing explicitly wrong with Giggles’ new Walleye Fritter Pops, deep-fried balls of Minnesota’s most iconic fish blended with cheese, garlic, spices, and dill pickle relish, and affixed to the top of skewers. The concept is a little off, with the sticks being far longer than necessary just to sell these as “pops,” truthfully these could be simply placed in a serving boat and offered as a finger food, and we feel that novelty just for novelties’ sake is missing the point. As for the flavor, if you’ve had any one of Giggles’ other walleye offerings, all of which remain available on the menu, this cynically tastes no different from any of those. A present but buried amount of walleye bits gets lost among the breading, and frankly there was little sign of the promised cheese or dill pickle relish either. An accompanying comeback sauce helped liven things up, but didn’t stand out on its own versus other sauces available at the Fair.

At $9.50 for five hush puppy-sized bites, these felt like a rip-off, especially when considering that for just 25 cents more you could order the Walleye Cakes which are more sizeable and have a more consistent portion of walleye contained within. While Giggles’ has deserved a reputation for innovation and a unique cuisine at each Fair they’ve participated in, they missed the mark severely this year and hopefully can think outside the box for next year rather than lean so heavily on the tried-and-true.

Ratings (0-5):

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

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

New food vendors at the Minnesota State Fair are rare, with the rumored waiting list to be several years long, and coveted openings within the Food Building are even more precious, with only about one stand turning over per year. Where Hot Indian Foods leaves the space, Afro Deli has stepped in to serve their trademark African cuisine to Fairgoers, some of which will already be familiar with their four Twin Cities restaurant locations.

The focus of their paired down menu for the Fair is centered around their sambusas, available in beef, chicken, and veggie varieties. We tried both the beef and chicken, available at $6 each or two for $10, and upon finishing them we strongly considered immediately going back to their stand to try the veggie as well. Your initial impression at first bite is marveling at how pillowy soft the sambusa is, a doughy container that is firm enough to the touch and doesn’t bust open at the sides while biting, but warm and relenting on the inside. It’s an engineering marvel, these little triangles that are fried but not greasy, a rare find in the land of the deep-fried.

The fillings of both sambusas impressed with a rare depth of flavor and did not skimp on the portions, with the quantities of beef and chicken contained in each being plentiful. We preferred the beef, well-spiced and pairing with the onions and garlic in the mix better, but the chicken was delicious as well with an intriguing curry-like flavor. The sambusas are served with Basbaas, a bright green Somali dipping sauce made from chili peppers, jalapeños, cilantro, onions, and lemon juice; we thought the sauce was a little too similar to the fillings of the sambusas to stand out but didn’t detract from them in any way. The Basbaas serving cup was curiously too narrow to easily dip the sambusa into, which meant it was easiest to pour the sauce over the sambusa instead, making for a messier and more difficult process.

One or two sambusas won’t fill up the stomachs of most eaters, but these made for a fantastic snack and retain their value on the basis of just how flavorful they were. We were impressed by the entire Afro Deli experience, including the very friendly and helpful service from the staff in their booth and the fast-moving line, and we’re excited for return visits to both their Food Building stand and one of the local restaurants as well.

Ratings (0-5):

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

Overall Score: 17 out of 20 (Blue Ribbon Best)