Best and worst new Texas State Fair food and drink in 2026

Deep fried and Texified: That’s a winning combination for the State Fair of Texas’ best new food and drinks in 2026. 

We’re giving Twinkle Twinkle Brisket Star the top spot as the most delicious new dish at the State Fair in 2026. The family behind Smokey John’s Bar-B-Que, which just celebrated 50 years in business, is keeping its fair food fresh with a truly Texan dish that puts barbecue inside a deep-fried Twinkie. It’s outrageous in all the right ways.

Ridiculosity is part of State Fair food culture, and we’re leaning in. Since 2005, State Fair execs have encouraged concessionaires to defy science with their entries in the Big Tex Choice Awards, and that contest has brought us Deep Fried Butter, Fried Bubblegum and Fried Beer. This year, we were on a quest to find the next great fair-ified dish, and nine Dallas Morning News journalists visited Fair Park on opening day for an annual taste test.

New in 2026, we added an “affordability rating” category to help steer you towards items worth your money.

Related: Did you know State Fair of Texas coupons don’t expire year to year?

Readers helped us pick what to eat and drink by voting in a quiz about the most interesting new items. You loved the idea of the Buffalo Breaded Cheese Curds and Fried Ranch Bombs on Instagram, and we tasted those along with many other items. 

Pull on your boots, pull up to Fair Park. Here are the 10 most interesting new dishes according to The News, ranked.

You’ve heard of the Texas Twinkie, a barbecue dish that doesn’t involve a Twinkie at all and is more akin to a supersized jalapeño popper. Twinkle Twinkle Brisket Star brings the Twinkie in. Chefs stuff each Twinkie with brisket, jalapeños and cream cheese, then deep-fry it, drizzle it with raspberry chipotle sauce and top it with bacon crumbles. It’s crunchy, spicy, meaty, creamy, tangy and sweet. “This is true State Fair food,” said food writer Imelda García. It was the only dish we tried where nearly every taste-tester gave it a 4 or higher, out of 5. Get it; you won’t regret it. 

Should corny dogs be dessert? We demand this question be one of the great food arguments, up there with “Is a hot dog a sandwich?” Yes, corny dogs should be dessert, and the Fletcher’s family has nailed this fudgy, salty dish. Though the Fletcher’s family has been selling corny dogs at the State Fair since the 1940s, the chocolate corny dog is the family’s first win in the fair’s annual culinary contest. Food Digital Producer Zacharia Washington was a huge fan — “Can I have the rest?” she asked — as was Managing Editor Amy Hollyfield, who said she’d return to the fair just for this new dessert dog. Not a fan of a traditional corny dog, Hollyfield said without sarcasm, “I feel there’s a place for me now at the corny dog table.”

If you’re hungry, head to the Tower Building for a pizza topped with triple queso sauce and Flamin’ Hot Cheetos. For $14, we were served two huge slices of spicy, cheesy pizza on a garlicky crust that held up to all that heft. The concessionaires know how outrageous a Cheetos pizza already is, and they supercharged the presentation by serving the slices on parchment paper covered in cartoon flames, as if we’re inside Guy Fieri’s Flavortown vortex. “It’s so dumb, but I like it,” said podcast contributing producer Julie Fisk. Photographer Juan Figueroa said it reminded him of dragging Flamin’ Hot Cheetos through processed cheese during high school lunches: a sincere compliment.

“It slaps you in the face with pickle!” said breaking news reporter Everton Bailey of the creamy dip studded with crunchy pieces of pickle. “The more I eat it, it’s punching you in the face with pickle.” Is this a good thing? Depends on whether you love pickles. Bailey called it “strangely addictive,” while Washington liked how shareable it was. The dip teeters on the edge of too salty, we thought, but we have just the answer: Order a cold glass of wine and you’ve got yourself an outdoor picnic.

Fancy name, affordable meal. This porchetta sandwich comes from Eataly, the Italian market that moved into Dallas in late 2020. It’s seems like a chic store to serve food at the sweaty State Fair, but Eataly has sold concessions for several years now, much to our delight. The porchetta and salsa verde sandwich is a bizarre entry in the land of fried food, but that’s what helped it score so well with our judges. “The value, it’s amazing,” García said, noting it is enough to serve as an entire meal for one person. The group agreed the sandwich was a little uninventive, but “it’s everything it said it was,” Hollyfield said. Buy it for your friend who thinks they don’t like fair food.

You like matcha? You’ve probably already eyed this State Fair milkshake, a rich drink with strong vanilla notes. You don’t like matcha (like several of our judges)? Keep your mind open. Lana Ferguson, an avid fairgoer and The News’ energy and natural resources reporter, called it “gateway matcha” — your introduction to the oh-so-popular green, grassy drink.

What happens if chicken wings and cheese sticks have a baby? You get Buffalo cheese curds, García said. They feel like quintessential “football food,” Ferguson said — and the group agreed. Except for Bailey: “I would eat these anytime.” Just know before you go, if you’re watching your spending, that a basket of cheese curds costs $15. Each little fried bite adds up to at least $2 each.

You wouldn’t think a coffee-flavored boozy frozen pop could be polarizing, but our panel of judges was all over the place with this adult dessert. Its best attributes are the price, $7, and that fact that it doubles as a cocktail that costs less than most alcohol at the fair. This espresso martini on a stick is fun to eat and it tastes cool in the Texas heat. But is it what a drinker wants at the fair? “If I want alcohol, I’ll order alcohol,” Fisk said.

Let us say, we love the idea of a fried tres leches cake dipped in Thai tea. Love it. This dessert might be doing too much, though: The fried piece of cake comes with boba pearls and slices of fruit, making it a culinary fusion García described as “sexy tres leches,” but Bailey called “inconsistent.” If you love dessert but believe some are too sweet, give it a try. It was puzzling, but, “I keep eating it,” Hollyfield said.

This one’s a heartbreaker. Excellent name, confusing execution. “I wanted to love this,” Ferguson said of the triangles of crispy dough dusted with zingy lemon pepper and filled with a surprising, cheesy center. But, she said, “My tastebuds were all over the place.” Bailey said the Fried Ranch Bombs were giving “fried bagel and scallion cream cheese” — a near-perfect explanation, and not a bad bite for those who can set their minds to that flavor profile. But we were promised fried ranch, and we’re sorry to report: This ain’t it.