Fried Food News

Dallas restaurants fill the State Fair of Texas gap with new fried foods

Hey now, fried foods via Abel Gonzales.

Abel Gonzales

One of the most painful tolls taken by the coronavirus in Dallas has been the cancellation of the 2020 State Fair of Texas — but local restaurants are doing their best to take the sting out.

They're doing this via menus that summon the annual Big Tex Choice Awards, aka "fried food" awards, which have become a fun if slightly fading annual tradition in which State Fair vendors submit dishes of sometimes dubious value to compete for titles.

None of that will happen in 2020, but here are some places you can get your State Fair-style corny dogs, funnel cakes, and more.

Norma's Cafe
The Dallas diner-ish restaurant chain has released a new State Fair-themed menu that it hopes will give customers a taste of the Midway.

"Texans may not be able to ride the Ferris wheel or hear Big Tex say 'Howdy Folks' this year, but that doesn't mean they can't enjoy a taste of their favorite Fair Park treats," says Norma’s Cafe owner Ed Murph in a release.

The menu launched on August 1 and features fried favorites such as:

mini corn dogs
funnel cake fries
chili cheese tots
funnel cakes
chicken fried steak
deep-fried Oreo churros
bacon mac and cheeseburgers
sausage on a stick
Belgium waffles

Cocina Italiano
Abel Gonzales, AKA the State Fair fried food king, has won numerous awards in the annual Big Tex competition, and is set to fulfill your Fair food fix. Gonzales is a longtime State Fair vendor and repeat winner who rose to fame in 2010 with his fried butter, which won the prize for most creative.

In 2019, he opened Cocina Italiano, a casual lunch spot and catering kitchen serving Italian food at 7101 Harry Hines Blvd.

The items are currently available for catering, but Gonzales will start doing Saturday "fair" food items to go along with their weekly Saturday pickup/delivery packs they introduced after COVID-19. The Saturday packs can be anything from fajita to lasagna to smoked brisket. As Fair time nears, they'll rotate in weekly fried treats.

Offering include:

  Fried PBJ & B: Peanut butter, jelly, and banana sandwich battered and fried, quartered, and topped with jelly
  Fried Cookie Dough: Original recipe of cookie dough deep-fried and topped with chocolate syrup
  Fried Jambalaya: Jambalaya with sausage, chicken, and shrimp, deep fried and topped with spicy sauce, served with onion rings
  Fried Butter: Topped with honey, cinnamon, and sugar
  Fried Lobster: Lobster tail, breaded and deep fried, served with Champagne gravy, French fries, and Texas caviar
Fried Coke
Fried Pizza

Call 214-868-8125 to order.

Fletcher's Original Corny Dogs
If any one foodstuff embodies the State Fair of Texas, it is this cornmeal-crusted hot dog on a stick. Getting your Fletcher's is at the top of pretty much every fairgoer's list.

Not to worry, the Fletcher family has come to the rescue with a series of pop-ups at restaurants across Dallas-Fort Worth, and the ones they've already hosted have drawn lines. Here's the lineup for the next few weeks, thoughtfully spread across the DFW area:

August 7, 4-8 pm - Lakewood Growler
August 8, 12-7 pm - Honey's Shaved Ice, Rockwall
August 11, 3-7 pm - Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Dallas
August 15, 12-7 pm - Atwoods Ranch, Waxahachie
August 29, 4-8 pm - HTeaO, Plano
September 1, 3-8 pm - Tupps Brewery, McKinney
September 3, 3-7 pm - The Squire Shop, Fort Worth

Maple Leaf Diner
North Dallas restaurant known for Canadian specialties such as poutine is doing its own ode to Big Tex: Maple Leaf is serving Fried Oreos and a new Chicken Fried Bacon Burger. The dishes are available Friday-Sunday from 3 pm to close, and for a limited time only: through the end of Fair season, IE late October.

Big Al's Smokehouse BBQ
Family-owned and operated BBQ restaurant and caterer is doing smoked turkey legs for $9. Order online or call 214-350-2649; available for curbside pick-up or delivery within 3 miles of the restaurant.

Turkey Leg Paradise
The turkey legs at this small restaurant in the South Side district became a viral sensation ater a video posted on Twitter showed a customer shaking one of owner Corey Bradley Jr.'s turkey legs until the meat fell off the bone.He does eight flavors, sarting at $13, plus four that are "smothered."

Frank Seoul
The specialty at this chain from Korea is a corny dog, but with a twist on the good old American Fletcher's Original Corny Dogs. Rather than corn meal, Korean-style hot dogs are coated in a batter made of regular flour, rice flour, or a combination of both, with a final coat of panko crumbs before they get deep-fried. In addition to the classic Seoul dog, there's a hot dog with cheese, an all-cheese version no hot dog, and the wild-looking Potato Dog, coated in diced fried potatoes and stuffed with choice of hot dog or cheese.

state-fair

Back in Business

Garland restaurant from Bobby Flay winner to reopen in downtown Dallas

Photo courtesy of Pangea

Chef Kevin Ashade has found a new home for Pangea.

Pangea, the popular Garland restaurant which closed in January 2025, has found a new home. A new iteration of the restaurant will open in downtown Dallas, at 1910 Pacific Ave., Ste. 1400, in a location that was once vegan restaurant Belse.

According to restaurant personnel, it will open at 4 pm Friday, February 13.

Pangea is from chef and restaurateur Kevin Ashade, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America who won Food Network's Beat Bobby Flay in 2016 with his signature coq au vin, which will be served at the new restaurant.

Ashade has a strong culinary background in Dallas, which includes Craft at the W Hotel, Nana at the Hilton Anatole, The Oceanaire Seafood Room, and his GourmEats catering business, before opening Pangea in January 2020.

In this new chapter of Pangea, which is defined by Ashade as “elevated and globally inspired," the menu will expand past the original restaurant's upscale Southern eats to include new flavors and fusions from Italian, Nigerian, Japanese, French, and Caribbean cuisine.

“The focus will be on a true definition of what Pangea is, with new dishes and a true cultural approach to food,” Ashade says.

The menu will feature about half of the dishes from the original location, including the popular jerk roasted lamb shank, stuffed salmon, and crab cakes. It will expand to include more fish options, like a branzino plate, and more cuts of steak, in addition to the New York strip, filet, and ribeye that were served in the Garland location. Entrees will range from $35 to $50, with more casual options such as burgers and sandwiches available as well.

The new restaurant will also feature a full raw and sushi bar, including an omakase option starting at $85. They will also be serving brunch on weekends, with options such as chicken and waffles, eggs Benedict, omelets, steak frites, pastry baskets, and a full coffee menu.

Pangea downtown Dallas The menu is globally inspired. Photo courtesy of Pangea

The 240-seat space is upscale with a lounge vibe, with warm lighting creating a sophisticated but welcoming look. It features a full bar, a private dining room, and an ample climate-controlled patio. It is centrally located, across the street from Pacific Plaza Park and on the same block as the Majestic Theatre.

“This relocation means a better spot for us, an opportunity to be part of the business district. We want to create a vacation feel, a place that makes you feel like you are traveling in Mykonos, Tulum, or Ibiza,” Ashade says.

Pangea will be open for dinner seven days a week, as well as offering lunch on Fridays and brunch on Saturdays and Sundays. The restaurant will stay open late — until 2 am — on weekends.

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