Fairgoers get 'Taste of Fair' Thursday

LIMA — Sheila Rose said Taste of the Fair gave her and other families at the Allen County Fair a chance to sample foods from multiple concession stands at a discount, like the walking taco she got from Triple D Concessions Thursday.

A total of 18 vendors participated in Taste of the Fair, selling foods like sugar waffles from Poeppelman Concessions, loaded chicken feed nachos from J’s Lip-Smackin’ Wings and cheese curds from Fiske Cheese Curds.

“It’s a fun way of sampling them and it comes at a cheaper price so you get to try more things,” Rose said. “There are five of us roaming around today so it’s a lot easier on the wallet to try a bunch of different things, especially when the kids want so much.”

Dar Hollar, concessions manager for the fair, said it was nice to see families taking advantage of the opportunity to try new things from vendors.

“Our vendors are always coming up with something different, but things aren’t cheap anymore,” she said. “Maybe the customer doesn’t want to spend that six or seven dollars for a sandwich or walking taco, but if they could get a smaller version for a little bit less, they’ll try it. Plus, if the portions aren’t as big, you can try more things instead of just eating a big bag of fries and corn dog.”

For Jeff Poeppelman, that meant getting the chance to share sugar waffles with fairgoers who might not have tried them before.

“Some people like funnel cakes and elephant ears or deep-fried Oreos, but they may not know what a sugar waffle is,” he said. “It’s like a small funnel cake, but it actually has a different texture, similar to a potato chip with sweet powder chip. (Taste of the Fair) is a good way to have people taste our food and see if they enjoy it.”

Wayne Rickard said the promotion was a good way to market the loaded chicken feed nachos from J’s to locals and those from out of state.

“We tend to find a lot of people from Indiana or Michigan visiting family,” he said. “Grandma and grandpa might be here to see the grandkids so it’s good to be able to introduce ourselves to a wider range of people with something that is maybe a little different than the normal offering of fair food. And it’s good to be able to offer it at a discount.”

For more information, visit allencofair.com.

Reach Jacob Espinosa at 567-242-0399.