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.