State Fair News

State Fair of Texas reveals Big Tex Awards finalists with new drinks

State Fair of Texas Dubai fries

SFOT

The fried food finalists are here: The State Fair of Texas has revealed the finalists for the 21st Annual Big Tex Choice Awards presented by Karbach Brewing Company, with new twists for 2025.

The Big Tex Choice Awards is the State Fair's annual competition of concessionaires submitting new festival creations.

This year, the State Fair has changed the formula by adding a new category called Sippers, dedicated to beverages — putting the number of finalists at 15 instead of the 10 that have been the standard since this annual competition was launched in 2005.

The addition of beverages further formalizes the contest's categories of Savory, Sweet, and now Sipper, with five finalists for each. (In earlier years, there was not such a defined line on how many finalists were savory or sweet.) There will also be an award for "Most Creative."

The finalists were chosen from 76 entries, which were then narrowed down to 30 semi-finalists, each evaluated on four criteria: uniqueness, creativity, presentation, and taste. Winners will be crowned on Thursday, August 21.

Regardless of who wins, all semifinalist creations will be sold at the Fair this year.

The State Fair of Texas will run from September 26 to October 19. Find tickets and other information online.

SAVORY

Brisket & Brew Stuffed Pretzels, Glen & Sherri Kusak
Brisket is blended with beer cheese made from cheddar, wrapped in pretzel dough, sprinkled with salt, and baked. They're easy to carry and made for munching as you wander the fairgrounds.

Crab & Mozzarella Arancini, Stefan T. Nedwetzky
Rice ball made of crab, rice, mozzarella cheese, onion, red bell pepper, lemon, black pepper, garlic, coriander, and basil, served with marinara.

Deep Fried Deli Tacos, Brent & Juan Reaves
New York deli meets Dallas taqueria: Pastrami, mashed potatoes, cheese in a corn tortilla, fried and served with a spicy green sauce.

Vietnamese Crunch Dog, The Le Family
Asian twist on corn dog, coated in a crispy mix of panko and bánh mì crumbs, with sriracha mayo and pickled veggies.

Wagyu Bacon Cheeseburger Deviled Egg Sliders, Kendall Williams
Cajun-seasoned Wagyu patty with cheddar and bacon sandwiched between two fried, panko-crusted deviled egg halves, with ketchup-inspired sauce.

SWEET

Candy Lemon Sour Face, Chef Heather J. Perkins
Sweet-and-sour candy-coated lemon.

Chill & Thrill Delight, Tony & Terry Bednar
A twist on Colombia’s famous Salpicon de Frutas featuring a cup of diced mango, pineapple, watermelon, grapes, cantaloupe, and strawberries, soaked in watermelon juice with a splash of lime, topped with shaved mango sorbet.

Dubai Chocolate Cheesecake, Stephen El Gidi
Served in a cup, featuring Belgian chocolate, pistachio spread, kataifi, tahini, chunks of New York-style cheesecake, drizzled with chocolate, pistachio cream, and crushed pistachios.

Rousso’s Dubai Chocolate Funnel Cake Fries, Isaac & Joey Rousso
Funnel cake strips drizzled with chocolate, topped with pistachio cream and knafeh pastry.

Tex’s Toast á la Mode, Michelle & Jayse Edwards
French toast topped with vanilla ice cream, caramel, real maple syrup, and cinnamon cereal crunch for that extra pop.

SIPPER

Coconut Quadruple, Binh Tran & My Vo
Whole fresh, young coconut with a coconut slushy topped with soft-serve coconut ice cream and a sprinkling of coconut flakes.

Cookie Chaos Milkshake, Brad Weiss
Cookie butter milkshake with snickerdoodle chunks, Oreo cookies, Golden Oreo cookies, cookie butter cookie dough, Biscoff cookie, and cookie butter drizzle, with a rim coated in crushed Biscoff cookie pieces.

Hot Honeycomb Lemonade Shake Up, Tom Grace
Lemonade Shake Up with fresh-squeezed lemons, sugar, water, and a good shake has already been been a fair classic, now with honey and fresh jalapeños, rimmed with chamoy and Tajin and topped with a skewer of honeycomb, and optional shot of alcohol.

Nevins Dirty Red Bull Tex-arita, Josey Nevins Mayes & Tami Jo Nevins Mayes
"Dirty Tex-arita" cocktail contains sweet cream liquor, Blue Razz Pop Rocks, Watermelon Red Bull margarita, andBlueberry Red Bull margarita, topped with Pop Rocks, blueberries, and watermelon.

Poppin' Boba Rita, Justin Martinez
Frozen fresh lime juice margarita with wine-infused poppin’ boba pearls in mango or strawberry flavor. Make it "dirty" with a swirl of cold foam, coconut syrup, and a Tajin rim.

These 15 finalists will battle for the four titles on Thursday, August 21, at 2 pm. The Big Tex Choice Awards event is closed to the public but viewers can follow along online on the @StateFairofTX Instagram or Facebook.

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Pizza News

Yonx Pizza seduces north Dallas suburbs with New York-style pies

Yonx

Yonx Pizza, by the slice.

A pizzeria with a dedicated following has debuted in Melissa: Yonx Pizza Bar & Co., an indie spot that does New York-style pizzas as well as pizza by the slice, has opened a location at 1521 McKinney St. #700 — an address that had pizza history as it was home for nearly a decade to a Palio's Pizza, which closed in 2025.

Yonx is from Robert Hede, a restaurant veteran who was previously involved with the Village Burger Bar chain, where he was a partner. He switched from burgers to pizza in 2022 when he connected with NY Pizza and Pints, a small local pizzeria chain, opening a location in Wylie at 1125 FM 544 #800. After two years, he broke off from the chain to found Yonx at the same address.

Yonx does the kind of New York-style thin-crust pizza that Dallas-Fort Worth loves, in a standard 14-inch, as well as a massive 24-inch "Kong" size. They also do slices, which can be ordered as a lunch with a Caesar salad for $9.99.

Varieties include familiar favorites like pepperoni, as well as slightly gourmet options with New York-inspired names such as:

Balsamic on Bleeker St., with garlic sauce, mushrooms, shaved ribeye, mozzarella cheese, arugula, and balsamic drizzle
Bronx Bomb, with Sicilian marinara, mozzarella, meatballs, mushrooms, and ricotta cheese
Brooklyn, basically a meat-lovers with Sicilian marinara, mozzarella, sliced ham, chopped meatball, beef, & pepperoni
Greenwich Garden, a vegetarian with Sicilian marinara, mozzarella, red & green bell peppers, white onions, mushrooms, spinach, & black olives

Prices range from $16 for a 14-inch cheese pizza to $46 for a NY Giant Supreme Soho with Sicilian marinara, mozzarella, pepperoni, sausage, beef, red & green bell peppers, white onions, sliced mushrooms, & black olives.

Yonx Pizza soup in a bread bowl.Photo courtesy of Yonx

There are also sandwiches on house-made toasted focaccia such as the Italian tower with melted provolone cheese, sliced ham, salami, lettuce, red onion, pepperoncinis, & sundried tomato aioli.

Appetizers include comforting soups served in a bread bowl including tomato basil and jalapeno cream soup with charred jalapenos. Plus wings, garlic knots, and "Brooklyn Ballers" — their signature meatballs in marinara, made in-house. topped with whipped ricotta and Parmesan, served with pesto and focaccia ends.

A full bar features frozen margaritas and frozen mojitos made with agave gold tequila. The best day to order those is "Frozen Fridays" from 11 am-10:30 pm when the blueberry mojitos are $6 and the margaritas are $5.

The Melissa location opened in January, with the same menu as the Wylie original, and has been met with an unprecedented wave of positive reviews on Facebook: one comment after another raving over how great the pizza is, and what a godsend it is — positive reviews that began to stack up even before the place had officially opened, the likes of which have been rarely seen.

This location boasts almost double the size of the original in Wylie, with a covered patio where they'll host live music on the weekends outside.

Hede, who has been hands-on at the Melissa location since it opened, says he's all-in on these northernmost suburbs of Dallas.

"I like this area — I feel like all the growth is heading out in this direction, there's just a lot of activity up here," he says.

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