Fried Food News

State Fair of Texas narrows down 10 fried finalists for food awards

State Fair of Texas Sugar Rush Pickles

SFOT

The State Fair of Texas has narrowed down the 10 finalists for the 20th Annual Big Tex Choice Awards, their annual contest where concessionaires compete for prizes.

The 10 finalists were culled from a field of 24 semifinalists, who themselves were culled from a field of 65 entries submitted by 40 concessionaires. So much culling.

There are five savory entrants and five sweet. Anyone considering competing next year would do well to note that this year's entries had 14 semifinalists competing for the five Sweet finalists slots, but only 10 semifinalists competing for the five Savory slots — making the odds better for those competing in the Savory category.

Three winners will be chosen at a judging event on Thursday, August 22, in the categories of: “Best Taste – Savory,” “Best Taste – Sweet,” and “Most Creative.”

SAVORY

Dominican Fritura Dog, Justin Martinez
Dominican queso frito and salami frito coated in seasoned corn dog batter and fried, drizzled with red Dominican secret sauce, topped with crushed garlic plantain chips..

The Drowning Taquitos, Tony & Terry Bednar
Taquitos are stuffed with shredded chicken, served in a cup, and topped with tangy cream sauce, jalapeño, guacamole salsa, shredded lettuce, avocado, tomatillo, pico, and Cotija cheese..

Hippie Chips, Rose & Tom Deschenes
Wavy potato chips covered in choice of ranch or blue cheese dressing, topped with green onions, bacon bits, and sriracha sauce.

Hot Chick-in-Pancake Poppers, Palmer & Amanda Fortune
Nashville hot chicken and pimento cheese mixture rolled into a ball, dunked into pancake batter, and fried, drizzled with Sriracha honey and Nashville hot powdered sugar.

Texas Fried Burnt End Bombs, Nick & Vera Bert
Beef burnt ends wrapped with shredded potato, bacon, and green onion mixture and fried, with raspberry chipotle barbeque sauce.

SWEET

Nevins Nutty Bar-laska, Tami Nevins Mayes & Josey Mayes
Chocolate-dipped nutty bar rolled in peanuts, smothered in marshmallow and toasted, topped with two Oreos, strawberry sauce, and freeze-dried strawberry pieces.

Rousso’s Cotton Candy Bacon on a Stick, Isaac Rousso
Bacon on a stick dipped in a caramelized cotton candy syrup glaze.

Strawberry Pop-Tarts® Beignettfle, Justin Martinez
Waffle made from beignet and croissant dough, with strawberry filling, vanilla icing, and whipped cream, served on a stick.

Texas Sugar Rush Pickles, Heather Perkins
Three cotton candy-flavored pickle slices coated in Lucky Charms, Froot Loops, and Cap’n Crunch, layered in cotton candy, strawberry syrup, and vanilla ice cream.

Tropical Two-Step Punch, Binh Tran
Punch with citrus, passionfruit, and mango, in alcoholic or AF versions.

The 2024 State Fair runs from September 27-October 20 in Fair Park.

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Crepe News

Sweet Paris crepe chain folds in another Dallas location in Addison

Photo by Julie Soefer

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Sweet crepes are coming to Addison via Sweet Paris Crêperie & Café, the Houston-based crêpes chain, which is opening a location in Prestonwood Place, at 5290 Belt Line Rd. #110, with doors expected to open in early 2026.

Sweet Paris was founded in Houston in 2012 by Ivan and Allison Chavez with a mission to revive the art of eating crepes. There's a location in Southlake, which opened in 2024, and another in McKinney, which just opened in June. (There's also a location coming soon to Dallas' Snider Plaza.)

The menu offers 20 crepes in varieties savory and sweet including dulce de leche, lemon & sugar, s'mores, chicken enchilada, Philly cheesesteak, and a vegan option with portobello mushrooms, black bean purée, corn salsa, and chipotle sauce.

While crepes are the signature, they also serve waffles, egg breakfasts, panini, and salads. A "croque madame" crepe has scrambled eggs, gruyère, smoked ham, & béchamel sauce, while an Alaskan has smoked salmon, pickled red onions, capers, and scrambled eggs, topped with dill sour cream, & scallions. Everything is $20 or less.

They also serve beer and wine, mimosas, milkshakes, espresso drinks such as lattes, and hot chocolate.

This new location marks the third of four units to be developed by franchisee duo Ludo and Yi Le Gall.

“We fell in love with Sweet Paris the moment we discovered it,” Ludo says in a statement. “Bringing this unique experience to Texans has been a dream come true, and we’re thrilled to grow our presence throughout the state with a new location in Addison.”

Situated within Restaurant Row at Belt Line & Montford, Prestonwood Place includes hot hot restaurants like Mendocino Farms, Flower Child, Loro, Postino, Original Pancake House, and more. All it was missing was crepes. Now that niche has been filled by Sweet Paris, with crêpes, coffee, and charm.

Sweet Paris Crêperie & Café has been growing and now has 21 stores in operation in Arizona, Florida, Minnesota, Texas, and Mexico.

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