Tuesday, August 17, 2004

Fair Food

So - the damage has been done. I indulged in the fair food. There were so many choices, but one choice at had my mind set on. That choice was La Tapatia. It is a new local fast food mexican place that had a stand. I wanted to try the food here and see what it was like. It was very good. And I believe they probably had the best deal at the fair. For $2.75 you can get a generous size burrito in either chicken or shredded beef topped with tomato, lettuce, sour cream, homemade salsa verde, and homemade pico de gallo. This was Andy's choice.

Now - if you come to the fair you will notice that most main course items (like gyros, sausages, etc.) are around $6.00, so $2.75 is a deal (plus you are supporting a local restaurant). I had these 4 little rolls stuffed with chicken (2) and beef (2) inside corn and topped with all of the above. That was $4.25. If you are going to our fair, you should check them out. They are kinda out of the way - they are over by the by the animals on the East side of the fairgrounds (almost on your way out on the east side).

Then it was off to try some more ethnic food and we went to the try some Somalian food. For $3.00 we got this little triagle pastry filled with beef, onion, and some spice we could not identify. I wish it has some sauce or something because it was a little dry. It was ok. We decided Mexican was better. Nothing beats fresh authentic Mexican food.

Next stop - Andy wanted a deep fried Twinkie with chocolate sauce. This was $3 and was in the main food corridor. After he ate this I don't think the only white creme was in the Twinkie. I had a bite and it was fantastic.

But I needed dessert and I wanted to check out the vendors. So, we went in the eastern most vendor building and came across Wagner's Wagon. The are in the SE corner of this building. For $2.00 you get this little pie tin with pastry on the bottom, fruit in the middle (they have a variety of fruit, but I had raspberry) and topped with this custard stuff and baked. WoW! This is excellent and another very good deal at the fair. We shared this one.

Our final purchase that we shared was vanilla ice cream from Nitro Ice Cream. This is in the western vendor building and is also in the SW corner. For $2.50 you get 2 scoops of this perfect vanilla ice cream either in a cup or a cone. It is made right there and they do this fast freeze using Nitrogen. I guarantee you never had ice cream like this before. We had this last year too and it is fan-freaking-tastic. They give free samples.

So - after 6 different items we spent a grand total of $17.50. If you don't mind having to walk several blocks (maybe up to a half mile) then you don't have to pay for parking. And if you plan ahead and bring a water bottle to drink out of (you can fill it up inside the vendor buildings at a couple of the water vendors like Culligan). And bring a backpack to acquire any of the free goodies that the vendors are passing out.

My vendor freebies include: Multi-vitamins, contact case, contact solution, and glasses wiping fabric, & pen (all from Wal-Mart), pencil (from the No Smoking Group), a freaking huge pen (from the American Residential Mortgage), a nice pen, post-it's, outdoor kit (band-aids & suncreen), a baby cough syrup dispenser (all from the Hospital), a chip clip (from the Church of Christ), and soap (from Norm's Water Systems), and several pieces of candy (many vendors have the courtesy candy dish out).

So - if you are coming this way. Come enjoy the fair. We'll probably go back one other night at least. As today is opening night and it is here until Sunday. And hopefully we made you hungry for some food and gave you some ideas on how to save a little money on your fair trip.

And if you are looking for the traditional fair foods - they are all there - the pronto pups, the deep fried cheese curds, the cotton candy, the slushies, the malts, the blooming onion, carmel apple, footlong hot dog, corn dogs and all the other favorites. Plus there are the new favorites like the deep-fried cheesecake, alligator, chocolate dipped bananas, some deep friend peanut butter stuff and much more. Click on the title to bring you to the fair website with the food listings.

5 comments:

Tru said...

I was looking at their site and see they have a map. Do they have maps available there or do you have to print one off the net? Also, have you ever checked out the 4-H foodstand? They have generally been the bargin for food at our fair.

Lame Shrill Owl said...

I got food from the 4-H stand last year. I think I had a burger and some cheese covered fries. And yes, it is a good deal to eat at the 4-H stand, but if you are looking for something other than tradtional food then what I found it probably the best deal.

There are also other permanent food booths there for other clubs (like Elks, Lions, etc.). A lot of old people eat at some of those permanent food booths. I don't know if that is because it is cheap, or if they are members, or if it is just because there is a place to sit down.

The 4-H food stand is down by the barns (too!) on the East side.

They have maps at the infomation desk (in the middle) or in the fair office, but by Saturday they might be gone. It is really crowded there. There is not as much space to cover as the state fair, but it is just as crowded.

I was shocked how many people there were there ont he opening night. Pretty son they will have to start this on a Monday and do a whole week.

Lame Shrill Owl said...

Tonight (Thursday) we go back to the fair again. I'll let you know what we try tonight. I think I will need to workout an extra day this week to make up for the fair food.

Lame Shrill Owl said...

I think the "Fat Darrell" will be the next fair food that we will see.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=817&e=1&u=/ap/best_sandwich

Lame Shrill Owl said...

Ok - tonight's fair food consisted of:
me - The Gordita ($2.75, that Andy had the other night and was excellent. I highly recommend this), chili Cheese fries ($2.50 from the 4-H foodstand, fan-freaking-tastic, loaded with cheese and chili.)
Andy - Pronto Bratwurst (Actually a cheesewurst which he said was ok, $3.50), fried cheese curds ($2.25 from the 4-H food stand, cost $4.50 if you want to get the fresh breaded kind from the other places), mini-donuts (from the Tom Thumb stand $3.00 and were excellent)
Shared - Raspberry Malt ($3.00 - very good!, they use real raspberries)

Grand total of damage: $17.00 and now an additional 3 hours working out!