San Diego County Fair Announces Winners of ‘Fair-tastic Foods Competition’

The disco pop shake took the top slot in the second annual “Fair-tastic Foods Competition” at the San Diego County Fair Saturday.

The shake, produced by TJ’s Ice Cream, beat out its competition in the “Theme-Sweet” category, which called for participants to incorporate this year’s fair theme, “Let’s Go Retro,” a nostalgic voyage back in time from the 1950s through the start of the new millennium.

The dessert was then named the best of the six winners from all categories in the competition, which showcased the most creative and newest treats.

A special tasters’ panel also selected the candied bacon-wrapped pork belly bites from Bacon A Fair as the People’s Choice award winner.

The host for the event was Rick Morton, and the three primary judges came from the world of cable television and local news outlets, with head judge Troy Johnson, owner of San Diego Magazine, who was featured on the Food Network, Shawn Styles, host of CBS 8’s “Cooking with Styles,” and Rudy Acosta, co-host of “Despierta San Diego” on Univision.

The following is a list of the Fair-tastic Food competition winners by category:

— Sweet, disco pop shake from TJ’s Ice Cream (Best of Show);

— Savory, SPAM fries by Boba King;

— New Sweet, Cap’n Crunch Berry chicken sandwich by Biggy’s;

— New Savory, hot honey funnel cake chicken sandwich by Funnel Cakes by Chicken Charlie’s;

— Wow Sweet, surfing USA party shake from Fruit Caboose;

— Wow Savory, spicy Korean corn dog by West Coast Weenies;

— People’s Choice (chosen by a special tasters panel): candied bacon- wrapped pork belly bites by Bacon A Fair.

The San Diego County Fair is the largest annual event in the county, with an attendance of nearly one million. The 20-day season will run through July 7, with closures on Mondays and Tuesdays. More information can be found at sdfair.com.