Berry Me in Matcha cheesecake on a stick and the winner of the Most Creative food for 2026.

State Fair of Texas

Audio By Carbonatix

It’s ridiculous that some of us  — 30 people, in fact  — call it their day job to judge the Big Tex Choice Award winners. But today, we filed into the Briscoe Center at the fairgrounds to taste 15 finalists. We dug in. We pushed through. We did the heavy lifting.

There’s one winner in each category — best taste savory, best taste sweet, best taste sipper, plus a most creative. The ranking is based on four points: taste, value, fairgoer appeal (is it easy enough to eat at the fair) and creativity.

State Fair of Texas

Burger Chop Tater Tacos
Here they took tater tots, smashed them and grilled them with cheese to make the shells for beef tacos. It makes for a crispy potato-cheese wonder that does a fine job at holding the ground beef and cheese inside. What a lot of judges liked about this dish was its creativity with the tater tot shell and the price: at $16, the two tacos and side of tots is a hearty meal — or enough for two.

State Fair of Texas

Chocolate Corny Dog
Fletcher’s is synonymous with the State Fair of Texas as the entire event pretty much rides on their lauded corndogs. This year, they made a chocolate corndog with a traditional coating and a thick sliver of semi-sweet chocolate down the middle. It comes with a raspberry sauce and is only $7.

Tropical Coco Fiesta
It says something that this was the last item of the day and I drank every drop of it. I only thought I was full until I had this. Two aguas frescas are blended with coconut shaved ice, topped with watermelon, pineapple and Tajín. This cost $12; it’s huge and is worth a trip to the fair. This is the first Big Tex win for Luis Cano, a third-generation fair vendor.

Berry Me in Matcha
We imagine that Stephen El Gidi, a former Olympic swimmer, dreamed up this cheesecake on a stick while practicing the butterfly in the pool for hours. This dessert is a dream: a creamy slice of cheesecake has a thick graham cracker crust and a thick coating of matcha with a drizzle of strawberry. This was our favorite bite of the day. At $15, this is worth the long line that will form in front of the booth at the State Fair this year.

The article you just read is made possible by a mix of advertising, sponsorships and reader support. As advertising revenue continues to shift, reader support plays a vital role in sustaining the reporting, investigations, restaurant and arts coverage, and storytelling our community relies on. Become a member today and help keep our journalism free and independent.

Select how much you'd like to contribute

Support Us Today

Lauren Drewes Daniels is a senior editor at the Dallas Observer. She started freelancing in 2013 and became the food editor in 2021. In 2026, she was promoted to senior editor. Beyond covering Dallas’ dynamic restaurant scene, she helps drive community engagement and digital innovation. Lauren holds degrees from the University of North Texas and the UT Arlington. If you have a tip about an amazing pastry, pie or taco, let her know.