Fairly Unbalanced

Well, hello there — my, it’s been a long, long time.

The 2022 Minnesota State Fair is just one week away, and the excitement is overwhelming! After the most tumultuous few years in generations of Fair history, this year should be most notable for a return to normalcy. The drive-through approximations of the Fair hosted at the height of the pandemic in 2020 can now be looked on as a novel memory, and 2021’s stripped back version feels like a hasty but ultimately successful step in the right direction. The Fair is perpetually in flux, but Fairgoers this year should expect things to be pretty much how they remember them to feel, look, and sound the same as they were in the Before Times — and of course taste and (sometimes unfortunately) smell familiar too!

One more sure sign that things are returning to form — Fairly Unbalanced is resuming its series of reviews for this year’s class of new Fair foods! Thankfully, all the logistics that stood in the way of presenting the reviews last year have now resolved, and we can get back to what this site was built around — sharing our advice on what to get and what to avoid among the plethora of new options at the Great Minnesota Get-Together.

Fairly Unbalanced will be taste testing and reviewing as many of these new items as we can get our hands on once the Fair begins (spare a thought for our stomachs and our wallets). With over 100 new food and beverage items debuting at this year’s Fair, it’s never too soon to familiarize ourselves with many of the new offerings to find out what we can expect and gain some early first impressions.

We’re categorizing some of the most interesting items into one of three ranks: Must-Trys, the foods and beverages that we’ll be anxiously awaiting to get our hands on; Questionables, the items that we’re intrigued by but we’re not quite sold on yet; and Uffdas, the ones we’ll give a fair shake to but have some serious doubts about. These rankings are not meant to supersede each item’s coming review once the Fair begins; a high ranking here does not mean we’ll automatically love it once we try it, just that it tentatively seems like it will be great, based on descriptions and other factors like the vendor’s prior history. Similarly, foods that have been panned in this preview in past years have turned out to be some of the best of the field. As always, these reviews are subjective and your experience may vary — use this site as a guideline but not an ultimatum on what you should or should not try!

Be sure to familiarize yourself with our scoring system for reviews. We utilize a system where items are scored out of a possible 20 points, using four categories: Taste, Appearance, Novelty, and Value. Descriptions of how we assess each category are listed in the link above.

Here’s our preliminary thoughts on 2022’s class of new foods and beverages!

Must-Trys: We Can’t Wait To Get Our Hands On These!

Beauty and the Buffalo and Coco-Nuts Hummus Bowls from Baba’s: Fairly Unbalanced took 2021 off from formally reviewing new food items amidst the pandemic, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t try as many new foods as we could in a more limited timeframe than usual at last year’s Fair. One brand new vendor’s debut last year — Baba’s hummus bowls trailer — wowed us so much that we wished we had the platform to sing it’s praises. Fortunately, Baba’s is back for its sophomore season and we’re anxiously awaiting the chance to try their two brand new varieties of their stellar, smooth hummus. The Beauty and the Buffalo should bring some heat and excitement to their roster, while the Coco-Nuts looks to be a decadent dessert treat. If you missed Baba’s last year, make their stand on Machinery Hill one of your first destinations!

New Mexico Chile Dog Sliders Two Ways from Blue Moon Dine-In-Theater: Great Fair food is all about novelty, and Blue Moon has managed to make the lunchtime staple of chili dogs into one of the most vibrant and fun new offerings this year. The prickly pear cactus slushie shooter is doing a lot of heavy lifting here to make this item stand out, but don’t sleep on the dog toppings either — if the execution on both of these is spot-on, these chili dogs will become anything but basic. Blue Moon has one of the most unimpeachable track records of any Fair vendor (2019’s Turkish Pizza was that year’s highest scoring new item) and a commitment to always adding a buzzworthy new food to their menu, and this year looks to be no exception.

Poultrygeist and Steak-xorcist from The Herbivorous Butcher: Recent years have seen an influx of vegetarian and vegan options throughout the Fairgrounds as vendors have expanded their offerings and the Fair itself has courted new vendors to fill in dietary gaps and ensure the Fair truly has something for everyone. Most importantly, these aren’t merely checking the boxes of having a vegan option the way that some restaurants will do by including a solitary vegan item on their menu; the Fair is serving up some genuinely exciting new foods that just happen to be vegan and make for an intriguing proposition for even diehard carnivores to consider. The Herbivorous Butcher certainly has the pedigree for offering their meatless takes on traditional food items, with a storefront in Northeast Minneapolis that looks more like the neighborhood butcher shop than a Whole Foods. We’re excited to see them debut at the Fair and hope that future years will see an expansion beyond this year’s limited but delicious-sounding menu.

Mov + Nqaij (Rice + Meat) from Union Hmong Kitchen: The biggest theme among this year’s new foods is new vendors based on existing, known entities in the Twin Cities food world — perhaps the uncertainty of the last couple years has left the Fair wanting to approve primarily vendors that have a track record of serving food en masse and with name recognition leading into their Fair debut. Like The Herbivorous Butcher mentioned above and Soul Bowl setting up shop in the Food Building, Union Hmong Kitchen has a busy restaurant space in Minneapolis’ North Loop headed up by chef Yia Vang, who has been steadily accumulating accolades for his ability to bring traditional Hmong meals to a wider audience. Spoiler alert, we’ve tried a few of the items on offer here at his restaurant, and we already know they’re packed with flavor — the only question now is how does it translate from the familiarity of a restaurant to the mayhem of a tiny Fair booth inside the International Bazaar? For a chef and concept on the rise, it should be an exciting challenge to tackle, and a tremendous opportunity to present a higher quality of food than the Fair is used to.

Kulfi Indian-Style Ice Cream from Hot Indian Foods: We’re going into this one blind — we’ve never tried Kulfi anywhere previously, but we’re excited to give it a shot. With available flavors of mango, almond/cashew/pistachio, and saffron/almond/pistachio, these should be an experience unlike any other sweet treat on the Fairgrounds. Plus, just look at them! These are destined to be the item that will get you stopped by strangers asking “what is that, and where can I find it?” These have just the right aesthetic for the Fair.

Questionables: Will These Be Good? Will They Flop? Time Will Tell!

Breakfast Gnocchi from The Blue Barn: After wowing the crowds as one of the centerpieces of the newly revamped West End Market in 2014, The Blue Barn has rotated new food items in and out consistently each year — some very good, others forgettable. Unfortunately, we think their recent efforts have pushed them down a step from the marquee vendors at the Fair, and they could use a hit to help them regain that prestige status. Will the Breakfast Gnocchi be the answer? It’s unclear until we get our hands on it — previous breakfast efforts have been a miss, but Blue Barn does deserve some credit for always reinventing our mornings, the timeframe that has the fewest viable culinary options.

All Quacked Up! from The Hideaway Speakeasy: There’s an I-word that we think will be everywhere at the Fair in 2022: Inflation. It’s probably unavoidable that attending this year’s Fair will cost more than it did on your last visit — particularly if it’s been a few years since you last stepped foot on the Fairgrounds. The Hideaway Speakeasy, while serving up some of the highlights of recent years, has never been known for being budget-friendly. That makes this year’s new sandwich a curious proposition in the current climate — will Fairgoers be willing to shell out for premium ingredients like a locally-raised duck egg and aged cheddar? Exemplary taste typically rules over all other factors, but it remains to be seen if that will still hold.

Celebration Cake On-A-Stick from Mancini’s al Fresco: Oh, the power of social media. If there was ever a new food designed to be photographed rather than eaten, it might be these customizable mini-cakes. It’s a brilliant proposition, though we have concerns about the execution. How quickly can the staff on hand realistically personalize each of these, particularly if they have a rush of buyers? What are the limitations — how much can you fit on one cake, and will there be any conflict over what is or is not allowed to be written on your cake? And of course, how will it taste? We’re worried these will be only good for a picture, a bite, and then tossed away, but we’re hoping to be surprised by something more substantial than just a photo op.

Minneblueberry Pie from Minneapple Pie: The Fair is a notoriously difficult place to stand out from the crowd as a vendor. Nowhere else in the world does a restauranteur face so much immediate competition, all vying for the same audience. Minneapple Pie generated a lot of positive press when their stand launched several years ago, but they have been slow to expand their options beyond their standby varieties of deep fried pies. We were a fan of their sweet treats upon debut, but without the pressure of it being a new food their stand has fallen out of our regular rotation — we still think fondly of our first bites, but trying everything new leaves little time for old favorites. We’re excited for a new variety of pie on offer, but worried it may not differentiate itself enough from the stand’s other choices, and won’t stand out among the other sweet treats elsewhere at the Fair too.

Pickle Pizza from Rick’s Pizza: What you see is what you get, and this item is going to be make or break based on your opinion on the divisive pickle. Some people can’t get enough of them, some people despise them. Based on the description, this seems like an elevated take on the format, with a promised dill ranch sauce and dill weed seasoning. Will these additions stand out, or will this turn into a one-note bore? Bringing things even more into question is that this is being offered by a new vendor, making this one of the biggest mysteries going into this year’s Fair. As always, we’ll keep an open mind when tackling all this brine.

Uffdas: What Were They Thinking? Is There Any Chance These Turn Out Good?

Reuben Rolls from O’Gara’s at the Fair: Another year, another deep-fried gut bomb from O’Gara’s. Their new food offerings each year have been depressingly formulaic, with each year being yet another new take on deep-frying a traditional bar appetizer. These are conspicuously reminiscent of 2018’s Irish Tater Kegs which promised Reuben flavors as well. A Reuben sandwich when done well can be transcendent, but these rolls are at risk of missing the mark by a landslide. It’s also worth noting, these are listed as including a side of “homemade” Thousand Island dressing; previous O’Gara’s offerings have promised the same and instead were served with pre-packaged dressing. This vendor has not earned our trust over several years, but we’ll see if they have turned over a new leaf or four.

Tot Dog from LuLu’s Public House: Some Fair staples are a staple for a reason, perfect in their simplicity and the knowledge that it will not change year after year, generation after generation. We’ll never fault a vendor for trying to reinvent the wheel, but this attempt at remaking the classic corn dog seems misguided and lazy. On its face there is nothing too offensive here — tater tots, cheddar cheese, and onions all make sense accompanying a hot dog — but we’re worried the execution will be off, particularly from the rather unappetizing cross-section in the promotional photo seen here. LuLu’s has had their share of successes in the past so perhaps this one will be better than it seems, but we have some prudent concerns.

Vegan Corn Dog from Daryl’s Dog House: Speaking of reinventing the venerable corn dog… We understand the necessity of offering up a vegan version of one of the Fair’s most popular food items, but we’re not sure there’s a huge cross-section of those that keep a vegan diet but also crave one of meat eater’s most crass offerings. With many more vegan choices available all over the Fairgrounds now, we think anyone keeping this diet can find something more exciting than this. As with any vegan substitute, this will come down to how close to the real deal can this reasonably come, and replicating the hot dog seems like a tall task. We’re hoping this puppy can stay out of the Dog House.

All The Slushies: By our count, there are 9 new slushies on offer throughout the Fairgrounds this year, most of them alcoholic, most of them including some flavor of Red Bull. To be fair, our issue is not with any one of these slushies in particular — many of them sound delicious and perfect for a hot summer day. With that said though, browsing through the list of new beverages this year and feeling like every other offering was a slushy made them all collectively feel so unoriginal. We’ve been critical in the past of how unselective the new beverages list feels in comparison with the carefully refined new foods list, but clearly the Fair seems uninterested in parsing down the potent potables. Choice and variety is always a plus, but this doesn’t feel like the way to achieve either.

That’s just a few of our thoughts on some of the many, many new foods and beverages coming to the 2022 Minnesota State Fair! Of course, this preview only scrapes the surface of all the new offerings at the Fair. Check out our full spreadsheet guide to everything new available from Fair vendors including details about where to find each item and pricing updated once the Fair begins. Stay tuned over the next few weeks, beginning with Opening Day on Thursday, August 25th, as we eat, drink, and review our way through the Fair and discover if these first impressions were correct and what surprises are in store!

All photos credit: Minnesota State Fair