From the bustling Minnesota State Fair to the iconic Texas State Fair, and over to the lively Washington State Fair, this video is a journey through the heart of America's fair food scene as I explore 25 of the most incredible and unusual state fair foods in America!
if there's one thing that truly captures
the spirit of American fairs is the
incredible array of food hotones oh
yeah oh yeah from coast to coast each
Fair has its own unique flavors and
Specialties and I've tasted everything
from classic corn dogs it's like I'm
eating a corn dog for the first time
some of the most inventive and
outrageous fair foods you can imagine so
here are 25 of the most outrageously
delicious Fair Foods in America that
have not only delighted my taste buds
but also captured the essence of these
amazing Gatherings and a very rainy day
here in the state of Washington I am
here at the Washington State Fair and
this is going to be a big one the
earthquake
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Burger
I had a lot of fries in my day I don't
think I've ever had a a brick of fries
before I don't think I've ever used the
word brick to describe fries until today
and this smells so good so this place
has been around for over 35 years every
Fair they sell around 4,000 lb of meat
and about 5,000 lb of potatoes so these
are freshly made curly
fries
this is just so deliciously satisfying
you can definitely tell this thing was a
whole potato just a minute ago so
fresh so good and it weighs about a
pound this place ain't kidding when it
comes to size now we come to the Burger
half a pound of meat pounded and when
you see them pound the patties you know
why it's called earthquake Burger look
at the ginormous
size of this burger it is about the size
of my head Sesame bun grilled onions
bacing giant Patty with American cheese
and the buns are just sitting on the
grease that is just oozing out of the
meat so the Buns got all that nice meat
juice on there as well this with all the
ingredients it's close to a
pound this is a meaty cheesy flavor
packed
burger bun it's beautifully soft a
little bit of sweetness I love the
crunch of the sesame seeds on top the
beef patty has delicious soft and tender
and juicy I love American cheese on my
burger just adds so much more flavor and
creaminess sauteed onions brings a
little Crunch and a bit of
sweetness my favorite thing about this
it's just so much of it I feel like I've
taken at least 10 bites and I'm still
not even halfway through this is
definitely a burger worthy of his name
Kinka proski is an institution here at
the Washington State Fair Ron huat his
grandmother started the place perfected
the recipe she set up the whole
operation and eventually it passed on to
him even the mixer is an oldfashioned
mixer from I think it told me World War
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II
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look at this porosi beautiful crust it's
stuffed and then deep fried the shell is
nice and Flaky gooey American cheese
tons of ground beef stuffed inside this
pillowy looking
bun so and good super light layer of
crunch on the Outside Inside so cheesy
and
Meaty the whole thing is very light and
pillowy M
M that is a meaty cheesy perosi oh look
at
this good thing I was going to see that
while eating a perc the other one I got
is a nod suda's local region salmon and
cream cheese look how soft and bouncy
this peroski
is salmon and cream cheese I like it on
Bagels loving an
appri hot scones oh yeah on the table oh
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yeah so one thing I did not know about
the Washington State Fair the number one
food item here SCS this particular one
stuffed full of butter and damp and the
way they make this is really interesting
it's in a simply lme process the dough
goes into the mixer then it's shaped and
cut put into the oven when it comes out
butter and locally sourced raspberry jam
is stuffed inside beautifully toasty on
the outside smells so so good and
buttery this is beautiful wonderfully
toasty nice and crumbly the jam is
delicious usually raspberry jam I don't
like that much this is amazing raspberry
jam of course wonderfully buttery as
well they also serve skes with an ice
cream cup you can also get some mix to
take home with you to make your own skes
at home this with the jam and butter
that's
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delicious
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of course you can't come to the state FR
without trying some of the deep fried
creations and here I have a dut Burger
thin slice of beef patty American cheese
bacon between two glazed donuts this is
a sweet sweet mess of a
burger after a couple bites my arteries
are screaming no but my heart is
screaming let's
go this is a sinisterly beautiful
concoction I mean if you think about it
how can this be bad delicious beef patty
melty cheese crispy bacon over a couple
of fluffy Airy glazed donuts as sweet as
Savory it's very cheesy and I think this
works really
well one reason it works so well the
doughnut is very very light and
scrumptious like I said super Airy
wonderfully fried it's so light and soft
I mean it satisfies your burger craving
your donut craving so that's pretty much
half the Cravings I have all the time I
like
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it
and I'm the fortunate people to and Mike
well we've been familyowned since 1923
I'm fourth generation um it's not a corn
dog it's a crusty pup the difference is
that a corn dog is made with corn flour
and has a little bit of a bitter taste
to it this is a patented um mix that
uses uh rice flour instead we have our
batter made specifically for us and then
we also have a meat company back East
that that Mills all of our meat
specifically for us for our dogs here we
go my first crusty
pop
so as you're eating that what you're
going to notice is that the texture is a
little bit more refined and and the
batter is is bouncier yeah it tastes
like it's a little bit more air rated
it's and the out's got a nice nice nice
little crunch that's a trick to it
delicious if you're ever here at the
Washington State Fair give this place a
try 100y old recipe pretty much glad you
can enjoy it thanks so much M welcome
back to the State Fair of
Texas
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first item of the day this might not be
a typical breakfasting but why not we're
in Texas we're at the State Fair we're
doing it Miss Fernie was known as the
queen of funnel cake sadly she passed
away but her Legacy lives on with her
family and this year they created the
toffee coffee crunch cake that's what
we're going to have right
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now
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I've said this a lot of times before not
a lot of benefits about being a grown-up
having a fried cake for breakfast
definitely one of them ladies and
gentlemen I introduce to you the fried
toffee coffee crunch cake in all its
Splendor this thing just came out of
deep
fryer oh soon as my Fork touched a cake
it broke through a thin crunchy layer
breading on the Outside Inside what
looks like moist delicious cake of
course there's little pieces of toffee
surrounding and a big piece of tofe on
top along with whipped cream of course
all deep
fried this was a
2001 State Fair finalist and I could
definitely see why this is the epitome
of good state fair
food I mean it is loud it got such a
loud crunch beautifully sweet toffee all
around this luscious I'm going to
emphasize lusciously moist inside the
crunchy trust is something that is so
buttery and soft and delightful and
Angelic it's not a light food item by
any means but it's definitely one of
those food items that you don't want to
put down once you start this is what I
call kicking my state fair food day off
with a
crunch a loud
crunch
we got the de fried seafood gumbo ball
so what it is is mesh of andula sausage
we got stew jerk chicken we got gut po
shrimp we got two types of crab we got
blue crab and lump crab inside and we
have our homemade roof to with our rice
and a little paint C breed Crum to hold
it together for so what we do is we put
those ingredients together it's
basically uh we do a fried chicken
alfredo and then for a little rasad
dazle we added some uh mozzarella cheese
in the middle you know so when you open
it up you know you have a nice uh
feeling and then it's top with alfredo
sauce uh black pepper parmesan cheese
and Italian pars grab the seat out here
because it's pretty loud in there this
is the gumball woo I didn't expect half
a crab in the Rue and a fried okra Texas
state fair food Fifi shrimp sausage rice
The Rue is soaked throughout the entire
gumbo ball plus extra serving a Ru with
a crab in here GRE is right right behind
me by the way and I'm not just going to
say stuff because he's sitting behind me
you can hear me probably can you hear me
Greg no yeah all right just going to say
whatever I want
then look at
that woo
oh oh that R is
good you got to you got to you got it
I'm going to say it three times suck it
out of the crab oh it's spicy mey the
essence of all that guro is in
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here oh wow let's try at the texture
stay fair I'm really not just saying
this cuz GRE sitting behind
me
M the balls are crunchy outside
oh that okra is so good too literally
like a Gumble ball grenade explosive
flavor and if you want even more flavor
injective dip it into the
roof and that will rule your day this is
a must try Savory item here at the
fair the texture the
flavor the softness of the rice the meat
and
shrimp oh
wow I'm having a day that is some Grand
Louisiana flavor packed into that ball
this this the best thing we had at the
fair so far this might be right oh my
goodness and trying the Alfredo ball
like a pasta ball you heard the pasta
bows ever heard of a pasta
ball
this is so good pasta tastes immensely
better if you guys didn't know if it
comes out of a
ball wow noodles perfectly authentic
much spices so much flavor from the
herbs and the cheese it's got a sharp
flavor to it as well and some garlic
bread on the
side
Greg
have you been hearing what I've been
saying have you heard what I've been
saying I've been yeah you you heard what
I've been saying dude how's the pasta so
sharp was that just from the cheese it's
not just creamy there's some nice like
nice sharp flavors into it got season
you got all sorts of seasonings in there
man that's delicious you outdone
yourself it's so good next up I am at
vanderlay Industries this place check it
out not just a fried John Bay that won
the Big Tex award but also a fried PB&J
sandwich with bananas I mean I think
that is bananas but uh let's taste it
and find out that's not what I thought a
fried PB&J would look like but that
looks good this is the Elvis Presley
inspired fried PB&J and banana and I
felt it look kind of lonely so I stuff
more bacon into
one I need some help here
somebody
I can't stop eating this this is so good
fried peanut butter and jelly with bacon
bits where's the banana though Andy
where's the banana banana it is just
mushed in there it's mushed into the
batter it's mushed into the batter oh
man okay it's just very subtle enough
for you to taste it kind of but not
over the little banana flavor you taste
the peanut butter you taste that jelly
and when those two flavors are fried
that's why I like to call an Unholy but
very delicious matrimony
it's crispy it's gooey it's sweet it's
bacony that's the word right bacony
bacon and this is what your fried dreams
are made of if I was Elvish I would come
back from the dead for this trust me
come to this Texas day fair come get
that sandwich also I didn't want it to
be lonely come on one fried food we're
not messing around here today fried
cookie dough fried butter and finally
the fried John balaya don't know what to
do because I I I'm pretty sure the last
bite I have of of one of these I'm
probably just going to drop from a heart
attack so I got to choose my last bite
carefully oo the fried jambai look at
that that's a thing of beauty fluffy
rice inside tons of sauce on top
jambalaya this is so freaking
good yeah more jambalaya balls for
everybody I wish I could give this to
you see so you can taste what a gra
fried jambalaya ball taste like first of
all this is burned the hair off your
tongue
spicy Ian a
jumbo tastes like good jumala but that
SAU is everything this is delicious I
need something savy today you guys are
saying this butter ball I have to just
pop it in my mouth you have to commit to
it all of it commit to
it I can't believe I just put a ball of
butter in my mouth and I know my heart
is conflicted because it's hurting and
love loving this at the same time well
that is unique so the stretchy thing is
not cheese it just flakes of butter I
didn't know flakes of butter were
stretchy this thing when you put it in
your mouth it's just
tremendous it breaks AP
hard you just get this burst of butter
could I ask you to fry another water
this up fry another one yeah I want to
like freshest yeah do that I want to eat
more butter balls because of you oh yeah
I this may seem crazy I can't believe I
did it myself I just asked for for
another order of the butter boss I'm
going to try this this is a fried cookie
dough oh that is outrageous I can
literally feel myself getting a cavity I
mean is good but it is sweet fresh
butter
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balls
after eating four of these I realized a
couple things first of all fried butter
is delicious secondly you've been eating
the RW butter ball every Thanksgiving
this is the butter ball you should be
putting in your mouth I feel like I did
something completely Unholy today like I
I don't think I should have ate this
many butter balls but I feel so good
about it you know Andy can you tell your
uncle that he is a Sinister man Sinister
man Sinister but I am so happy for what
he's doing I'm glad that you enjoyed
everything fist bump to you and to him
thank you so much I'm really really
really really really excited about a
corn dog if you guys never heard about
this place before let me introduce you
this is Fletcher's original corny dog
they started in 1942 and I'm here on a
on a Thursday morning where not a lot of
people are at the fair yet but typically
line stretches around the corner waiting
for one of these corn dogs and I've had
my share of corn dogs in the past but
they tell me something different with
this corny dog it's a bit Corny let's
see what they mean this is Amber he
tells a little about Fletchers I I what
I've said is you guys started in 1942
what is the difference between a corn
dog and a corn dog a corny dog it's
Fletch if it's corn dog it's just any
old corn corn dog that's out there um we
like to say that we invented the corny
dog we've perfected the corny dog we've
been serving him for eight decades to
fans out here at the state fa Texas I
wish my grandfather would have told me
why he called it corny dog because when
people ask I'm like I don't know you
don't know maybe maybe he's a little
corny maybe we're all little corny corny
guy yeah yeah I'm corny uh let's go try
this here we have our original batter
we've been using the same recipe for
decades we're getting a little low we
about to make some
more now a good corny dog always starts
with a good hot dog this is a high
quality there's no mystery meat no
fillers no body product this is full
muscle meat this is this is one that we
get return customers good meat our
original
recipe traditional way of just you know
jumping a corny dog in the batter Shing
off that
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so now we have our D bir off it's our
original recipe but we picked up the
heat
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yeah
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the corn dog I've been waiting for this
is one of the main reasons I came to the
state for I want to see what was so
different about the corny
[Applause]
dog it like I'm eating a corn dog for
the first time there's something so
delightful about this corn dog that it
tastes like I don't know like a corn dog
all the ingredients are somehow upgraded
the corn Meo side has such a thin crispy
layer of skin inside soft and subtle and
sweeter than what I had in other corn
dogs
the hot dog itself has a much better
beefier flavor this is so good had to
get a second one also Amber Tom me a
proo you can just eat it like this which
is fantastic already or take the wrapper
that was already on your corn
dog face plant it and smother the
mustard smother the mustard so it's all
over your corny dog now it's even more
corny I think this is the corniest of
dogs so
good y say B it's so delicate again it's
that subtle leg crunch that comes with
every perfectly fried corn dog and the
battery outside again like I said
lightly wraps around the dog like a
sweet
blanket this is like the iconic fair
food like when I walk around a fair I
want to be holding one of these in one
hand and cotton can the other hand and
just like be skipping along that's how I
picture myself in Affair and besides
this check out this new invention Day
creative this thing is definitely a corn
dog after my own pallet took a corn dog
which is fried in the same gray batter
but
spicifer y jalapenos on top pick it up
like a sandwich little hot sauce drizzle
all this thing wo oh this batter is so
light breaks apart when you exert a
little pressure to
it that is crazy ooh the heat hits you
like 5 10 seconds later it's a delayed
bomb you still taste that great subtle
crunch when you bite into the corn dog
again the dog itself Splendid but now
you got the creaminess of the mac and
cheese in additional heat from the
jalapenos that's a mesy dog but that's a
delicious dog I feel like today mission
accomplished not not that we're going to
stop eating that's not what I mean and
I'm going to show you guys my personal
favorite bite on a corn dog I mean I
love all this I love me I love
everything I love the tail end of this
with a nice little crunch on the
stick that little crunch I always look
forward to that at the end of my corn
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dog so will you just saw was basically
an armadillo Branding Iron going into
the batter and out comes this armadillo
Ice Cream Sandwich by the way state
animal of Texas cookie butter ice cream
in the middle this is the Ultimate Ice
Cream Sandwich have you seen an ice
cream sandwich more ultimate than this I
don't believe you have a Brunello cookie
so this is like a crispy turtle cookie
with the ice cream shaped like an
armadillo you got to eat this quick cuz
oh it's melting right now in the Texas
Sun
this is good it's ja to know but it is
good the cookie outside it's just
extremely
crispy ice cream is all sorts of buttery
and when it melts into the crevices of
the
cookie that's the genius about this
there's so many crevices not just one
flat cookie there's so many little nooks
and chines where the ice cream can steep
into definitely Innovative definitely
adorable definitely delicious I am here
in St Paul Minnesota for the largest
fair in the country the Minnesota State
Fair first food I came across cookie
dough on a stick actually this whole
block here seems to have a lot of
different foods on a stick for example
Pizza on a stick I haven't even taken my
first bite yet I already want to come
here every single
day
this is so incredibly
decadent that it's good I'm glad I got
the one with the chocolate chip gives
you a little bit of crunchy texture with
a cookie dough when I was growing up my
family never made cookies or anything I
felt like I missed up this pretty much
tastes like the childhood I never had
but with a ton more sugar oh I want some
cheese curse this looks
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amazing fried cheese absolutely
phenomenal now it feels like I'm at a
fair really nice crispy autter
shell and it passes the squeak
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test I'm just seeing what the longest
lines are and this place has a lot of
people waiting afro Delian Grill thank
you so much this is V uh-huh beef uhhuh
and chicken veggie beef and chicken so
afrod Deli specializes in yeast African
food and they're here making sambusas
also for drinks Somalia tea they told me
this is usually served hot and they're
really the only ones who uh who made an
iced tea version of it which I
appreciate because right now today it's
about 100°
outside wo this is a very up iced
teeth it's sweet aromatic very
robust I think it's going to go really
good with these fried pastries so I got
three I got chicken vegetable and beef
chicken
first this is really really
good also this is not the chicken this
is the vegetable deliciously fried on
the Outside Inside is stuffed with I
think some potatoes lentils vegetables
tons of herbs and spices everybody you
get that subtle crunch of the outer
shell inside is soft and fluffy this is
pretty much a fried pouch of
flavor this is a chicken one W if I love
the vegetable one that much I'm going to
like the meat one even
better nice crunch on the outside the
chicken is tenderous Juicy it's
marinated in a beautiful array of spices
and herbs they even dip it in the hot
sauce
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yet yeah all those flavors plus now a
hit of heat even better
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this the
beef this is definitely my favorite this
thing is stuffed with Juicy brown meat
again with that beautiful array of herbs
and spices plus some crunchy
onions everybody take just a burst of
juice cool down with some fried
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plantains
so I'm at big big fat bacon and Dolly
and Su are here with me so you guys had
this before yes it's my favorite
favorite at the fair the big fat bacon
with chocolate drizzle.com tell me about
the chocolate no you cannot miss it you
have to do it okay chocolate who can't
even help himself you already start all
right cheers
guys
wow really good right salty sweet I used
to think it was weird when I first heard
about it I tried it and I was like Wow
Savory and sweet it's really fatty and
got nice Char the outside too right oh
this is wonderful thank you guys so much
they also have an orange chipotle sauce
I went back and added some on this as
well so this is a big fat piece of bacon
with chocolates and orange chipotle
sauce wow I think it works I mean that
bacon would have been delicious on its
own just the way it is the orange
chipotle sauce actually adds a nice
citrusy flavor to it and a little bit of
heat so Minnesota has a huge population
of M people and today at the fair is
international mung day so I figur i' get
some mung food and this is a galabal
this is a traditional mung Steen bun I
got this from Union M kitchen and cheffy
cooked this based on his mom's recipe
super light pillowy fluffy steamed bun
stuffed with pork and
eggs I have not had a good steamed bun
in a while and this is a good steam
bun this is just pure fluffy Porky eggy
comfort food little hint of sweetness
pork is deliciously Savory I love the
addition of the egg in a DA ball where a
kese big bun there's egg in there as
well it's just so satisfyingly rich they
also provided some of their homemade hot
sauce a oh look how red that
became that is so awesome it's 100°
right now literally and I know that's
going to raise my internal body
temperature by a lot worth it wow tons
of heat in the chilies the heat pairs so
well with a Savory bun and all that
delicious Umami filed
pork it definitely tastes like it came
from a mom or Grandma's kitchen so
comforting and delicious perfect ratio
of filling and Bun especially with a hot
oil wow this is good I think I'm going
to keep the hot oil and um D cutter
stuff in there after I get a water I
think I'm about to pass
[Music]
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out thank you so much yeah of course
thank you so the waffles is beautifully
toasted very thin and crispy in the way
they cook it I never seen this before
it's a rotating waffle maker and inside
the waffles there's a slice of cheese
pickles and a hot dog with bacon wrapped
around it try this first I'm going to
show you the drink that thing is pretty
outrageous as
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well this is one of my favorite things I
had today it's so so good this is a must
try it's a genius food creation waffle
very thin and toasty every bite you're
going to get a nice Crunch and you're
going to taste that SL nice sweetness
from the waffle as well inside
beautifully Snappy hot dog mummified and
toasty bacon yes you want that and of
course that is going to be really rich
especially with a slice of cheese in
here which is why they added the pickles
the pickles cut through all that
richness and the slight sweetness from
the waffle also balances out the
savoriness very
well crunch from the piol crunch from
the waffle just freaking outstanding
also the trink this is our famous
lemonade with pickle juice and a slice
of pickle floating on
top it actually goes really well with a
bacon hot dog waffle the pickle juice
just adds to the acidity of the lemonade
you still get the sweetness it just
tastes like extra sour lemonade that's
also extra refreshing this is pretty
good te this up with anything fried or
fatty or Rich this is a really really
good place love this one of my favorite
Fair Foods so far and right beside the
waffle place Lulu's Public House this is
really cool I got a couple items here
one is their Tater dog so they battered
an all beef hot dog and they pretty much
wrapped it with tater toss and for
dessert some fried cheesec curd
cheesecake with strawberry dipping
sauce this is so exciting I love Tater
toss
this is dense it's super Hefty and it's
just the best marriage between a hot dog
and tater tots the outer shell of the
hot dog it's just incredibly crunchy the
hot dog is amazing as well very Snappy
incredibly juicy on the inside really
nice beef flavor give you some cheese
sauce dip it
in you get such a loud crunch whatever
is you can go bite it's like the
crispiest Tater toat you've ever had
wrapped around that hot dog this is a
prime rib taco slice pieces of prime rib
drowned in cheese and
peppers this is a gooey gooey Taco I
mean stuffed with tender Crime Rib this
thing when it goes in your mouth you
definitely taste the smokiness of the
peppers you got that beautiful cheese
with a hint of heat for you
know so exciting little bits of cut up
Sho cake covered with funnel cake batter
and deep
fried this is so freaking good and this
thing is not greasy and they're so light
and Airy it's been sitting on the table
for about 10 minutes it's still really
really
crispy you crunch on the outside just
pops open inside right as air cheesecake
and dipping it in the strawberry sauce
brings the nice amount of tartness and
acid to balance out the richness of the
cheesecake yeah this is one of my
favorite soap huge lime for this pizza
so Rick serves a pickle
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
pizza snagging myself a slice of the
pickle pizza got a ton of pickles on
here also Their Own creamy dill sauce
right below the layer of cheese this
thing is Toasty hot right
now
couple things I'm really a big fan of
pickles and Dill love both things and
this is like a perfect combination for
me the pickles really balances out the
rich creaminess of the cheese and the
sauce on the pizza the dill just kicks
up an additional fragrant punch dough is
perfectly light it's beautiful reminds
me of a New York City pizza
dough it's a very thin slice of pizza
pickle never had it on pizza before but
I think it works really well this is
definitely a slice of pizza that when
you're eating it you don't feel like
it's overly cheesy or overly greasy or
overly
anything I've had a lot of Pizza in my
life this is probably one of the most
unique ones the overall quality of
everything it embodies everything I like
in a slice of pizza and definitely see
why there's a long line for this to I
think I'm done with all the Savory items
here at this beir now for some cookies
and these are the most famous cookies at
the Minnesota State Fair sweet Mar this
cookie
[Music]
jar holy moly look at this this is a
bucket of
cookies wow and I got a milk they put a
whole sheet of cookies on here and they
asked me if I wanted more cookies on top
of that I said yes of course so they
went and got more cookies and shoved it
on top dunk the chocolate chip cookie in
the
milk this is so good fresh out of the
oven toasty cookies with a subtle crunch
on the outside the chocolate chips are
all nice and gooey look at that oh my
God
still toasty warm dunk it and
milk even better always heard how good
those were yeah it's true I love how
they over stuffed the bucket this is a
fantastic last food item at the
Minnesota State Fair this has been an
absolute phenomenal food day here at the
Minnesota State Fair it's a fair I
wanted to go to since I was a little kid
I never got a chance to actually I
always wanted to come to the Twin Cities
to go to Mall of America go to the fair
never really had a chance to do either
so this has been a giant check off my
food bucket l the food variety at this
fair I think is the biggest variety I've
seen at any state fair in the country
and of course this is the biggest fair
in the country so I guess that's no
surprise so after today I I think I'm at
least three Shades Darker and a bucket
of cookies richer this will be my leate
dinner as always thank you all so much
for watching until we eat again see you
later