2017 Final Thoughts

Hi All!

Super late to the party here, as we realized we never consolidated our final thoughts for the 2017 new foods! And really, the whole intent of this blog is to help us remember what delicious foods we tried a year (or 2 or 10) ago so we can enjoy them again in the future, so we need to post these thoughts even if it's almost a year late.


So! Let's talk about 2017

Overall, 2017 was pretty much a disappointing shit show.

Just 3 foods made the A grade, one of which wasn't even on the official new foods list!


The vast majority of foods ended up in the C range, so just average, and in addition, we lost 2 of our Classics this year- Chicken Fried Bacon from Giggle's and Doughsant from French Meadow Bakery.

Ok, let's just get this over with. The following reviews are the in-the-moment thoughts about the food posted on social-media day-of. So not our normal verbose style, but you get the idea.

(also- don't judge the font formatting in this post. Blogger is being a giant fuck and I just couldn't fight it anymore)


THE BEST FOODS THIS YEAR- GRADE A


Pizzarito from Green Mill. $5

Like everything Green Mill makes, this is fantastic. Delicious and pizza-y, would get this at a restaurant. Plus, the price is great!


Thai Rolled Ice Cream at That Rolled ice Cream. $7.50

 Good ice Cream. Fun flavor choices (we went with strawberry midnight). So cold (like dipping dots). Entertaining to watch them make it. Worth going into the grandstand for.


Bacon Fluffernutter from the Sandwich Stop. $9

At first this was a solid B. Sweet, but not too sweet. Good bacon. And then we got a patch of peanut butter. And it was crunchy peanut butter. And OMG that just elevated this for all of us. The Sandwich Shop never disappoints.


THE PRETTY DURN GOOD FOODS- GRADE B


Pork Belly on a Stick (FKA Swine and Spuds) at Swine and Spuds. $8

Some of our group liked this more than others. We’d also like to try the other sauce flavors.


Cherry Bombs at Vegie Fries (don’t you dare spell that Veggie). $5

The batter on this was fantastic. Strong cherry flavor from the Australian licorice. Really rich. Still wish it was maraschino cherries. And now I have Cherry Bomb all over my chest from the dang powdered sugar.

Onion and Potato Vegie Fries (new to us) at Vegie Fries. $4

Nice flavor, good batter. The onion was better than the potato


Honey Puffs (Loukamades) from Dino’s Gyros. $6

Dang that honey! An explosion of sweet. Very Greek


Brown Ale and Onion-Gouda Tipsy Pie from Sara’s Tipsy Pies. $6

Even though she spells her name wrong, Sara makes a pretty good ale hand pie. Sweet and savory. The onion sugar is a nice touch.


Pie in the Sky Malt at the Dairy Barn. $6

Came off more as ice cream than a malt, and the lemon curd was a bit intense at first, but the awesome airplane cookies, chocolate, and ice cream quickly came through and made for a tasty, sweet treat.


Mini Sconuts at French Meadow Bakery. $6

Oh man, this was sweet bliss. Chocolate, marshmallow, and Nutella inside a soft scone-donut hybrid. Super rich, could only eat one ball. On a sad note, the doughsant is no longer available. A dark year gets darker.


Deviation Stout Steak Taco Naan at San Felipe Tacos. $10

A stupid name for a damn good taco. The steak was tender and flavorful and the naan was soft and fresh. Surprisingly satisfying


THIS YEAR'S AVERAGE FOODS- GRADE C


Breakfast Buddy Bowl from Lulu’s Public House. $8T

The first taste had the flavor of something burnt or maybe a smoke flavor. It was off-putting to most of us. Could use a bigger punch of flavor. It was pretty meh.


Bowl o’ Dough from Blue Moon Dine-in Theater. $8

This was just…we wish this was better. The best part was the potato chip followed by the sea salt ice milk (aka salted ice cream).


The Fall Guy Breakfast Panini from The Hideaway Speakeasy. $8

Ugh, wtf is up with a food vendor on the 2^nd floor of the Grandstand? And why do they get to feature 3 new foods? Anyway, the cheapest and the best of the 3, it still is just a regular old breakfast sammich that is nothing special, especially in the flavor department.


Italian Bomba Sandwich from Mancini's al Fresco. $8.25

We liked the meatiness and the mouth feel but wasn’t very flavorful. And some of the meat was cold. Also, don’t you dare call it the Boomba #goaheadandorderitthatway #seehowthatfuckinggoes

Bacon Up Pup at Granny’s Kitchen Fudge Puppies. $7

Ok so we really liked the fudge puppy part of this, but the bacon detracted from it. We wished we were eating the turtle one instead. It was so fresh the whipped cream was melting on the way back to the table.


Sonoran Sausage: ONE. BAD. DOG. By Sausage Sisters. $7

The sausage is great (like it always is from Sausage Sisters) but it’s nothing special. You don’t need the corn on it but without that it’s just a hotdog.


Sweet Corn Chocolates at the Honey Candy Stand. $7

Sarah would have rated it lower but we all had differing opinions on this one. What we all agreed on, though, was that $7 for 3 tiny bonbons was fucking ridiculous.


Sweet Corn Blueberry Éclair at The Farmer’s Union. $6.50

The blueberry glaze was much too intense, the cream didn’t have much flavor other than a slight corn aftertaste, and the kernza flour pastry was not great.


Cheesy Nacho Corn on the Cob from Texas Steakout (no price info because we're basic bitches)

It’s like someone said “You know what could be harder to eat? Nachos. Let’s throw it on corn on the cob.” Flavor was fine, but it loses points for being sloppy and slimy.



Pina Colada (new to us) at Manny’s Tortas. $8

This virgin Pina colada was made fresh from the cored out pineapple. Too much pulp, not enough coconut flavor, and it left us wishing it was alcoholic.


Memphis Totchos at the Snack House. $9

Let’s be clear, they were potato rounds, not tots. Our opinions were very mixed on this and it averaged out to a C. The sauce tasted more like peanut butter than like a Thai peanut sauce, and the bananas were overpowering, but the potatoes were salty and bacon was good.


Chocolate Popover with Peanut Butter Spread at Lulu’s Public House. $6

Peanut Butter Good. So good, you can’t really taste the pastry or the chocolate. If you love peanut butter you might enjoy this.


Wild Rice Meatballs with Lingonberry Sauce at Hamline Dining Hall. $11.95

Good, standard Swedish meatballs. About the same as you get at IKEA. A fair amount of food for the price (came with a roll, coleslaw, and mashed potatoes and gravy). Nice seating and AC in the dining hall.


Slow-Roasted Pork Mole Tamale at Tejas Express. $10

Not bad, but not great. The pork and mole were good, the tamale was meh. Not a lot of food for that much moolah.


Maple Cream Nitro Cold Press Coffee at The Farmer’s Union. $6.50

A very smooth and slightly sweet, cold coffee. I rather liked it, and even Sarah and Anne who don’t like coffee thought it was ok. Nice energy boost.


Duck Bacon Wontons at Giggles’ Campfire Grill. $8.50

They were ok, too much cream cheese, first time we got something that wasn’t amazing from Giggles’. As an added, devastating note, they got rid of the chicken fried bacon. A dark year.


THE "DO BETTER, YOU BASTARDS" FOODS- GRADE D


Deep Fried Avocado from O’Gara’s. $8

Great way to start the day! Soggy and not very flavorful. Expensive and Packie doesn’t even like avocado. At least O’Gara’s is consistent so we don’t get our hopes up. My phone wants to change O’Gara’s to Obamas and that would be preferable in every way.

Sweety’s Churros from Potato Man and Sweety. $5

Sarah wanted to give it an F but was outvoted. It was like biting into a stick. Not soft and light at all. Dense and stale and almost impossible to chew. Flavors weren’t horrible.

Spicy Thai Noodles from Oodles of Noodles. $10

Much too spicy, even for Packie. So spicy we couldn’t even taste the flavors. Which is too bad because it smelled really good and Oods of Noods is a good bet.

Double Dose of Pork Belly at RC BBQ. $7

This was disappointing. Not enough pork belly and the patty didn’t taste great (weird even). Small ass sandwich, even at seven bucks. Boo.


Swing Dancer Sandwich at the Hideaway Speakeasy. $12

Why the fuck did I spend $12 on this? I have had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches thicker than this. The sandwich was ok, if I’m being generous. Fresh taste and soft bread but not a big fan of smoked salmon. Also, never forget that they had to change the name of this sammich because the first name was offensive.


Mobster's Caviar at Hideaway Speakeasy. $11

Fuck this. Fuck the price. Fuck having to walk to the top of the Grandstand to drop a mint on 3 shitty items at this place. I’m literally building a rage lather about this. The bread was old and stale. The caviar was fishy tasting and gross. Never again.


THE WORST OF THE WORST, STRAIGHT UP FAILS- GRADE F


Wild Bill’s Breakfast Bake at Blue Barn. $8.75

To be fair, one of the group rated it a D. The first impression of this trash is the overwhelming smell of pickled red onion and it’s all downhill from there. Tried to be Mexican but “tastes weird” according to Dad. We had a nice shaded table that was ruined by the stench of the food from Blue Barn.


Triple Truffle Trotters at the Blue Barn. $7.50

There was something really off-putting about the smell, which didn’t help at all. Five of us tried it and no one liked it. Of the few that thought it was okay, they also thought it got worse the more they ate it. Unsurprising, since this is the Blue Barn.


And that's all she wrote!


Tune in next week for our pre-reviews of the new 2018 fair foods!