2025 MN State Fair New Food Recap

I went to the Minnesota State Fair four times this year, for a total of 34 hours and approximately 53,000 steps/22 miles walked. I tried 11 new foods and had 26 non-new foods. (Full data viz of my fair trips is coming soon!) I also had a few new-to-me foods, which is always fun!

New foods: the smashes, the passes, and the shrugs

I review fair foods using a three-point scale: SMASH, PASS, or SHRUG. Smash means it's delicious, Pass means it's bad, and SHRUG means it's nothing special or there are extenuating circumstances that keep it from being a full smash or pass.

I tried 11 official* new foods this year. There were some I had originally planned to try, but after seeing negative reviews from people I trust I decided to skip them in the interest of time, money, and stomach space. (Last year, I went to the fair like ten times so I didn't have to be as discerning about the things I tried.)

The Smashes

Fawaffle from Baba's Hummus

Falafel in the shape of a waffle topped with tahini, butter, green shatta, and fresh tomatoes. An utter delight and a perfect foil to the heavy fried food at the fair. The waffle was light and fluffy and a lot more moist than typical falafel. I don't know where Baba's is sourcing their tomatoes, but they were absolutely perfect.

Somali Street Fries and Mini Lentil Sambusas from Oasis Grill at Midtown Global Market

The street fries were super crispy fries topped with beef suqaar, veggies, cheese, herbs, green sauce, and garlic sauce. I tried these without the cheese because I was with my dad who doesn't eat cheese, and they still slapped. I was so glad we got these on Day 1 before the lines got crazy. So flavorful, excellent mix of textures, and just over-the-top enough.

The mini lentil sambusas were crispy and flavorful and I absolutely loved the serveware innovation: they were served in a cardboard cone with a built-in spot for dipping sauce. It was also a generous portion at 10 sambusas per order.

Smashadilla from Gass Station Grill

With a name like this, it had to be a smash, right? This was a classic smash cheeseburger served inside a flour tortilla taco-style. This was a great way to do a messy burger at the fair - I think it was easier to eat in taco-style than it would have been as a classic cheeseburger. The onions and sauce were delicious - the only note I have is that I would have loved a little more pickle.

Shrimp Toast on a Stick from Union Hmong Kitchen

This is a perfect State Fair adaptation of the shrimp toast served at Vinai, the fine dining restaurant by the same Chef as Union, Yia Vang. It was delicious, super savory, and crispy. The sauce was a perfect companion. And putting it on a stick made it easy to eat and extra fun. Bonus points for cutting it half and using two sticks - some foods on a stick are served in such a way that you can't actually eat them from the stick, but that wasn't the case here. It was clear they intentionally thought about ease of eating at the fair, which is a big factor for me when rating fair foods.

Tater Kegs from Greater Tater

We tried three of the four flavors of tater kegs (giant filled tater tots) from new vendor Greater Tater. The best flavor I tried was bacon cheddar, but we also had the reuben and the jalapeno cheddar - also both good, but next year I'll go right to the bacon cheddar and jalapeno cheddar. They were super crispy on the outside and a perfect cheesy and gooey texture inside. As a bonus, each order comes with your choice of dipping sauce, one of which is Top the Tater. They also got people through the line SUPER fast, which is really impressive for a new vendor.

The Passes

Flauta Dippers from El Burrito Mercado

This was a great idea in theory, but it fell flat. The flautas were pretty bland and dry. Because they were so hot, they made the green salsa dipping sauce hot also, which was unappetizing. The salsa did have good flavor. They were served in a deep cup, which meant that as you got to the end of your flauta, it was too short to reach the sauce in the bottom of the cup. And to top all that, it cost $15 for three flautas. It was a good idea, but the execution needs improvement.

Try this instead: El Burrito Mercado has excellent esquites (elote off-the-cob).

Pot'o'Gold Dumplings from O'Gara's and Saturday Dumpling Club

This was the food I was most excited about this year and, alas, also the food I found most disappointing. These were supposed to be fried dumplings filled with garlic mashed potatoes served with Top the Tater for dipping. Incredible in theory but awful in execution. The dumpling dough was dry and too thick. The filling wasn't mashed potato texture - it was a little gluey. The dumplings were also inconsistently filled. Some were stuffed to the gills and others were nearly empty.

Try this instead: Reuben Bites from O'Gara's

Afro Bean Pops from Afro Deli

These were deep fried falafel-style bites made of black-eyed peas, onions, jalapenos, cilantro, and spices. They weren't very flavorful and somewhat dry. The sauce, however, was sensational. We did finish these because they were a good vehicle for the sauce, but I won't order them again and wouldn't recommend them.

Try this instead: Afro Deli's sambusas are divine. Get them with the basbaas sauce and a side of the bean pop sauce for extra pizazz.

The Shrugs

Timber Twists from Giggles' Campfire Grill

Sausage and cream cheese stuffed in a manicotti shell, wrapped in bacon, grilled, and served with barbecue dipping sauce. It sounds like a lot and it sure was a lot. I liked how these tasted, although I would have liked more cream cheese on the inside. The ones I got were cooked well and the bacon was crispy (although I saw pictures of other orders where the bacon was underdone, so it seems like they were having some issues with consistency). The sauce had great flavor. That said, I could not imagine eating more than one of these. It was very heavy. It was fun to try, but I don't see myself ordering them again next year.

Try this instead: Giggles' has so many excellent other foods. My favorites are their duck bacon wontons and their walleye cakes.

Uncrustaburger from Coasters

Yes, this is a shrug but I want to commend the people at Coasters for conceptualizing such an insane and hilarious fair food: a cheeseburger sandwiched between two deep fried uncrustables. It tasted delicious, there's no doubt about it. You can never go wrong with the flavor combination of hamburger, pickle, and peanut butter. However, it was really messy and overwhelming so I don't think I would order this again. The uncrustables were perfectly crispy - I'd consider buying just the fried uncrustable in the future! The burger patty was a good size and the special sauce was good. I would have liked more pickles. The lettuce was unneccesary.

*The MN State Fair does an official new foods list every year, but many vendors also introduce unofficial new foods. They are only unofficial in that the State Fair hasn't chosen these foods to highlight on their website.