State Fair News

List of all the State Fair foods that Barstool Dave tried in Dallas

Barstool Dave Portnoy at the State Fair of Texas

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Pop culture favorite and social media phenomenon Dave Portnoy, owner of sassy media company Barstool Sports, came to Dallas in mid-October to dive into the full State Fair of Texas experience.

Portnoy is known, among other things, for his "one bite reviews" of pizza — consisting of off-the-cuff reviews where he orders a pizza, then stands in front of the pizzeria, takes a bite or two, and gives an instant, usually incisive review.

He seized the State Fair as a chance to take a break from pizza, and boasted that he was going to eat all the State Fair food — "I'm going to eat everything I can eat until I'm disgusted," he said.

He posted a series of reviews of some of the fair's most iconic food items — but while he was in Dallas, he also stopped at two local pizza shops that serve his favorite kinds of pizza.

These are all the foods he tried — and to see his actual reviews, click on the link in each rating.

State Fair foods

Fletcher's corny dog: Fletcher's is the State Fair of Texas staple who say they invented the corny dog. 7.3 rating
Shockingly, Portnoy said he had never heard of a corn dog, much less tried one. "I don't know if that's a Texas thing, because I feel like I've seen it in Long Island," he said. After taking his first bite, he said with surprise, “Oh, it's a hot dog. I had no idea there was a hot dog in this." He was advised to add mustard, but confessed that he puts ketchup on his hot dogs. "I would prefer a normal hot dog, no disrespect," he said.

Fernie's Funnel Cakes: Another State Fair classic featuring the sweet fried dough topped with whipped cream and chocolate syrup. 8.8 rating
Portnoy really liked this one (although it didn't hurt that he and the Fernie's team started with a shot), but when he gave it an 8.8 — a high score for him — it was met with silence. "Do they not know my system, because they're looking at me like I gave them a bad score," he said. (Portnoy's ratings range from 0.0 to 10.0, with the majority falling between 5.0 and 8.0.)

Rousso's cotton candy bacon on a stick: This thick 12-inch piece of bacon with a cotton candy glaze was one of the three winners this year in the Big Tex food awards. 6.4 rating
He started by saying he wasn't a fan of bacon, and hesitated before trying it. "I don't hate it [but] I cannot have more than one bite of this," he said. "You have to be a Texas person to eat this."

Sandoitchi fried matcha: The trendy Japanese sandwich shop served matcha fried ice cream with a side of matcha mochi ice cream. 8.1 rating
Dave thought it was one of the best of the foods he tried. "This is good — this is really good," he said. "If I could just stay here the rest of the day, I'd be good."

Pizza by the Giant Slice deep-fried pickle pizza: State Fair vendor Pizza by the Giant Slice serves this rare pizza only at the fair and at the Houston Rodeo. 5.9 rating
Portnoy had a hard time figuring out how to pick up the droopy slice, then tried to find something nice to say to the vendor team. “It’s something— I haven’t had anything like this, ever. I’ve never had pizza like this and never will again.” One he got out of range, he said it was a zero and “the worst thing I’ve ever had.”

Pizzerias
In addition to the State Fair, Portnoy also visited two local pizzerias:

Detroit-style pizza from Thunderbird Pies: Cane Rosso spinoff in Lakewood dedicated to Detroit-style pizza. 7.3 rating
Detroit-style pizza is one of Portnoy's favorites, so it was a must-visit. He said it’s pretty good pizza — "at least for Texas" — and a good spot to play some video games.

New Haven-style pizza from Fortunate Son: His first stop in Dallas was at Garland pizzeria Fortunate Son, which opened in March. 8.1 rating
New Haven-style is one of Portnoy's favorites and but Fortunate Son's ordering and labeling proved confusing. Once he got the right pizza — "The Basic" cheese pizza — he gave it a great rating, saying it was the real deal and praising its "under-carriage" (the underside of the pizza), although he described it as a “little over-charcoaled." Still, a positive review.

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News you can eat

Catch up with the new openings in this Dallas restaurant news

Stillwell's

New dishes at Stillwell's Steakhouse at the Hotel Swexan

This latest roundup of dining news around Dallas is a powerhouse, with some big openings, a closing, a re-opening, a relocation, and a coming-soon. There's also an array of new menus to check out, restaurants to visit, new dishes to try.

Here's what's happening in Dallas restaurant news:

Salt and Straw, the cult ice cream brand from Portland, Oregon, has opened its first location in Dallas at 2323 Henderson Ave. #107, in the same shopping center as Gemma restaurant, where it's scooping its trademark hyper-creative, often unexpected flavors. Cousins Kim and Tyler Malek founded S&S in 2011 as a pushcart and the concept has since grown to 59 locations with a huge presence in California and an expansion to the East Coast — from New England and New York to Florida. Flavors rotate with the season such as Jasmine Milk Tea Almond Stracciatella, Strawberry Tres Leches, Rhubarb Crumble with Toasted Anise, Saffron Milk with Wildflower Honey, and Coffee Chamomile Sherbet.

Maman, the French cafe chain from New York bringing its ritzy fare to Dallas, has opened a location in Lakewood at 6465 E. Mockingbird Ln. in Hillside Village, its second in the DFW area, following the original at the Plaza at Preston Center where it debuted in November 2025. They're open during daylight hours with espresso, tea, and pastries such as croissants, kouign maman, Bundt cakes, tea cakes, and cookies.

Sourdough & Co., a fast-casual chain based in Las Vegas known for sandwiches served on San Francisco-style sourdough bread baked in-house, is opening its first Dallas-area location in Frisco at 3311 Preston Rd. #2 in The Centre at Preston Ridge, taking over a space that's been home to a cookie company and a cookie dough company. They serve deli-style sandwiches such as the Italian with salami, pepperoni, mozzarella, balsamic, and olive oil, which can be ordered in a 4-inch size, 6-inch, or 8-inch, with price ranging from $10 to $14. They also do soups such as clam chowder served in a bread bowl. Originally founded in California under the name World of Sourdough, they went through a name change in 2024. The estimated opening date for Frisco is fall 2026.

Cosmic Cafe, the '90s vegetarian haunt, reopened at the beginning of May, after an unprecedented five-year closure. Bringing it back is Deepak Chalise, who cooked at the cafe in the '90s, and who is serving classics such as the Cosmic Stir-Fry of veggies and tofu in yogurt ginger sauce; and their famed Buddha's Delight with curried vegetables, samosa, dahl, rice, pappadam, and naan. In true Cosmic Cafe fashion, it's a bargain with everything priced under $15.

Bam's Vegan, a vegan restaurant known for its vegan comfort food such as pulled "pork" and mac & cheese, has closed its Dallas location at 1499 Regal Row. Owner Brandon "Bam" Waller said that he wants to focus more on family, faith, and creativity. "I’ve been in the restaurant business for 9 years now, and I will tell you it’s one of the TOUGHEST businesses to operate in for multiple reasons" but that he was grateful. He’ll still do pop-ups around the city from time to time but hopes to segue to special invite-only events and preorders.

K-Cup Kitchen, a mom-and-pop restaurant that specializes in Korean street food, has relocated to 232 Town Pl., Fairview, taking over a space that was once a Twisted Root. K-Cup started out at Revolving Kitchen, the shared kitchen concept, where owners Sandra and Michael Oh earned a following for their Korean comfort food served in bowls, including dishes like bulgogi, spicy pork, mandu dumplings, and rice bowls. The K stands for Korean, and the Cup refers to their signature "cup-bops" — rice bowls topped with meat like bulgogi or spicy pork, veggies, and sauce.

Irish spice bag with chicken, French fries, peppers, onionsYouTube

The Crafty Irishman Public House, the beloved Irish pub in downtown Dallas, has a unique new menu item that brings a true taste of Ireland: the Irish Spice Bag. This hugely popular Irish street food features a meal in a paper bag: fried chicken with sautéed peppers & onions, French fries, and a curry-style sauce. Owner Alan Kearney says they wanted to bring an authentic piece of Irish food culture that's unlike anything else. The Irish Spice Bags are $16 and are also available at the Crafty Irishman in Victory Park, as well as The Playwright Pub at One Arts Plaza, Patrick Kennedy's Irish Pub at One Main Place in downtown Dallas, Cannon's Corner Irish Pub in Oak Cliff, and Henry McCarty Irish Pub in Fort Worth (which has a reel showing how to eat it).

Electric Shuffle, the high-tech shuffleboard bar from London that opened in Deep Ellum in 2021, has a new fixe-prix weekend brunch for $50 which includes a bottle of bubbly, 90 minutes of shuffleboard play, and a menu with new dishes such as maple-glazed doughnuts, silver-dollar pancakes, avocado deviled eggs, and farmer’s salad with spring mix, apples, strawberries, and balsamic dressing — joining favorites like candied bacon, breakfast quesadillas, maple bacon boneless wings, truffle parmesan fries, and margherita pizza. New beverages include iced coffee with cold brew; breakfast cereal espresso martini with vanilla-infused vodka, espresso, coffee liqueur, and cereal milk; and spicy paloma with jalapeño tequila, grapefruit, and lime.

Centrale Italia, the Italian restaurant at Preston Hollow Village, has added new dishes including chicken parm, roasted beet and burrata salad, and rock shrimp scampi toast with Calabrian chili butter.

Hendy’s on Henderson, the restaurant-bar at 2401 Henderson Ave. has a new menu for spring with shareables, sandwiches, seafood, and customizable bowls devised by chef Peja Krstic and executive chef Fares Hussein, including crispy agnolotti, lobster roll, club sandwich, prosciutto Caprese sandwich, branzino, and poke bowls.

Stillwell’s Steakhouse at Hotel Swexan is rolling out “Dining Like the Duttons,” a limited-time tasting menu inspired by Paramount’s upcoming Yellowstone spin-off, Dutton Ranch. The exclusive dining experience arrives as scenes filmed at Stillwell’s and Hotel Swexan are set to appear in episodes three and four. It'll be available May 15-June 21 for $115 and includes deviled egg; skillet cornbread with cheddar and honey butter; chili with HWD beef, chilis, corn nuts, and Mornay; 6-oz filet with potatoes, spring onion, and bone marrow bordelaise; brick chicken with ’nduja, hominy, corn; and Texas sheet cake with candied pecans and bourbon caramel.

Radici Farmers Branch has a new dinner menu with items like Wagyu Denver steak with Italian salsa verde, pork ribs with Sicilian potato salad, and chicken sausage pasta with cassarecce, charred broccoli, and pistachio pesto.

North Italia has debuted a new seasonal menu featuring kale & goat cheese salad, steak panzanella, a seasonal chef’s board, house focaccia, and Heirloom tomato burrata. Seasonal cocktails include the Donatella and Don Giorgio.

Dock Local has a new grouper sandwich, featuring battered, grilled, or blackened grouper topped with spring mix, tomato, pickles, and lemon dill pickle tartar sauce, served on a toasted bun.

Eatzi’s Market & Bakery is bringing back spicy pork wings: tender, bone-in pork wings tossed in a spicy sweet chili sauce, hot and ready from the Grill every Thursday.

Dee’s Table at The Star in Frisco has added one of the hottest cocktail trends to the menu: Soft-Serve Margaritas in three seasonal flavors for $15 each: pineapple, strawberry, and pineapple-strawberry swirl.

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