The competition for best new foods at the Iowa State Fair took a sweet and savory twist this year, with 11 vendors showing off their best dishes for a chance to win the title of Best New Food. Last year, a riff on a grilled cheese with deep-fried bacon, brisket, and mac-n-cheese from What’s Your Cheez won the honor. This year, fairgoers will have to decide from among three finalists in the competition.
Fair officials narrowed down the list of 84 new dishes coming in 2024 to just 11 that competed for a chance for fairgoers to vote for their favorites.
“Food is really important,” said Iowa State Fair CEO Jeremy Parsons. “In fact, every year we survey our fairgoers and they tell us the No. 1 reason they attend the fair is for food. So we started this process, as you know, with 84 (foods that) got it narrowed down to the 11 today... You’ve got people at home I know that are certainly making those lists, trying to plan out day by day.”
A panel of judges composed of television and radio personalities, newspaper reporters, fair board members, and more sampled all 11 new foods inside the Elwell Family Food Center on the Iowa State Fairgrounds on Tuesday and voted for their favorites with Iowa Nice Guy Scott Siepker hosting the event.
Which 11 new foods competed for the best at the Iowa State Fair?
Contenders included:
The cinnamon crunch apple taco from the Iowa Specialty Crop Growers Association featured a cinnamon sugar taco shell with vanilla ice cream and apple filling for a decadent treat. Expect to pay $6.50 for the dish. Find the booth on the main floor of the Ag Building, under southwest stairs.
The deep-fried Uncrustable PB&J came with strawberry or grape jam options and a honey coating. Find the sweet treat at the Bird's Nest near the MidAmerican Energy Stage for $9.
Dough-chos from Dough Crazy, the cookie dough food truck, features a cookie dough sundae with one ball of cookie dough, another of vanilla ice cream, cheesecake and brownie cubes, and whipped cream. Find it outside the perimeter of the Livestock Pavilion for $6.50.
A funnel cake burger for $20 swaps out the bun for funnel cake. Jada's Concessions, found on the north side of Grand Avenue, south of the Knapp Stage, tops the burger with queso for a savory finish.
Lemonade doughnut drops take the lemonade shakeup to a new level, this time in doughnut form. Find the $6 treat at the Snack Box on the north side of the west entrance to Pioneer Hall.
Party Balls combine A&E Party Dip with a coating of potato chips for the next iteration of chips and dips. Get three walkable balls for $10 at JR's SouthPork Ranch west of Livestock Pavilion.
For the morning fairgoers, look for the Piggy in a Donut, a sausage dipped in corn dog batter, dredged through cinnamon sugar and served with maple syrup or a spicy maple syrup. Find the sweet and savory dish at the Biscuit Bar on Grand Avenue west of the north entrance to Varied Industries Building for $8.
Find the Tipsy Peach at the Bubbly Bar & Bistro in the Grandfather's Barn area. The pearl waffle comes topped with peaches soaked in sangria and dolloped with mascarpone cheese that is whipped with cream, thyme and lemon. The dish goes for $13. Grant Gillon, the Altoona chef who won “MasterChef” last season, worked with Bubbly Bar to create the dish.
What are the top three new foods at the Iowa State Fair?
Those eight dishes competed against the three eventual finalists. Fairgoers can vote on their favorites from these three dishes. All three come from restaurants in central Iowa, and all three are new vendors at the Iowa State Fair who first started serving at the fair in the past two years.
The bacon cheeseburger egg roll from Winn & Sara's Kitchen, found southwest of the Jacobson Exhibition Center, takes the burger, drops it in an egg roll and slices it in half. It has a little kick to it. Expect to pay $12 for the dish. Find the restaurant at 122 W. Ashland Ave. in Indianola.
The Iowa Sm'Oak'ed Roll from Whatcha Smokin' BBQ west of the Jacobson Exhibition Center features a pork tenderloin layered with jalapeno cream corn and house-made Texas taco sauce, smoked and then once it's finished, topped with poblano ranch. The dish goes for $14. Find the restaurant at 403 Iowa Ave., Luther.
Finally, the lobster corn dog from Destination Grille is a six-ounce north Atlantic lobster tail that is breaded, then fried and coated with chives, fresh Parmesan and paprika. Find it west of Jacobson Exhibition Center for $20. Destination Grille's restaurant is at 2491 E. First St. in Grimes.
What's new at the Iowa State Fair with food?
This year, the Iowa State Fair features 200 food locations.
New vendors for 2024: Travelin' Tom's Coffee and Kona Ice, Dairy Zone, Taco King, Breakfast Bar, Jack Frost Freeze Dried Treats, The Nut Farm, Winn & Sara’s Kitchen, Destination Grille.
Same locations, new ownership: Grandfather’s Barn, Bubbly Bar & Bistro, Bird’s Nest, and the Campground Grocery Store.
Crescenti’s owner Barry Vosler retired, so fairgoers will miss a longtime vendor who fried bread filled with meat and cheese or sweet options.
Previous Best New Foods at the Iowa State Fair
2013: Shrimp Corn Dog — Zag's Po Boys
2014: Funnel Cake on a Stick — multiple vendors
2015: The Rib Shack — Ultimate Bacon Brisket Bomb
2016: Iowa Turkey Federation — Not Your Mamma’s Taco
2017: Steer ‘N’ Stein — Pork Almighty
2018: Applishus — Apple Eggroll
2019: G Mig’s Wrap Stand — Georgie’s Roast with the Most Wrap
2021: Cluckin’ Coop by the Iowa Egg Council/Iowa Poultry Association — Chicken Egg Salad with Fry Bread
2022: The Rib Shack — The Finisher
2023: What's Your Cheez — Deep-Fried Bacon Brisket Mac-n-Cheese Grilled Cheese
Susan Stapleton is the entertainment editor and dining reporter at The Des Moines Register. You can reach out to her on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, or drop her a line at sstapleton@gannett.com.
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