Pocket Guide to the Best Tasting 2014 State Fair of Texas Fried Foods

If you're going to take the calorie hit to try several fried foods at the State Fair of Texas, you don't want to waste those calories on something that tastes just okay. You want to be wowed! You also don't want to spend a whole fair coupon sheet on food that tastes too funky to finish (anyone remember Fried Beer?)

Lucky for you (and me), I tasted all eight fried food finalists at the Big Tex Choice Awards official judging event. I photographed, reviewed, and ranked them all into this handy, single-image pocket guide, the "2014 Best Tasting Fried Foods at the 2014 State Fair of Texas":

Vote for the Best Looking Dallas Foodie Photos of All Time

Thanks to all the fans who made suggestions and inspired me to dig up some of my best food photography of all time. Be sure to scroll through all 20 photos before clicking LIKE on Facebook to vote for the BEST LOOKING photos (not your favorite tasting food). The most Liked photos will end up printed on the back of my new square business cards!

If you're wondering how I get square business cards with different photos on the back of each card, it's an awesome feature of Moo cards! I’ve been using Moo business cards for 4 years and always get compliments on the smooth feel, thickness, and unique shapes (large, skinny half-size, and now square to fit Instagram photos). Their color matching and cuts always come out perfect to the pixel, which is so hard to find in a printer. They also allow order quantities as small as 50, so you can test your designs before ordering hundreds or thousands. If you'd like to get 10% off your first Moo order, use my referral link at http://www.moo.com/share/gdhd8w.

2013 Dallas Foodie Gift Ideas

For the Dallas foodie on your gift list, I present my favorite locally-made food products in 2013. Any one of these gifts could stand on it's own (if you're looking for a cheap gift), or you could create a Dallas foodie gift basket by combining several of these items. It feels good to give people unique gifts they might actually enjoy, and you can feel extra good knowing you're supporting local small businesses.

All 23 New Fried Foods at 2103 State Fair of Texas

There are two big secrets about the fried food at the State Fair of Texas that I never hear other media outlets talking about, so I'm going to let you in on what I know:

1. Most of the best selling (and hence, best tasting) winners and competitors from previous years' fried food contests are still there! I highly recommend the Deep Fried Butter (2009 Best Taste winner), Fried Grilled Cheese, and Deep Fried Jambalaya (2012 Best Taste winner), if you can find them again this year.

2. Every year there is a long list of brand new fried foods that didn't make someone's cut to be in the Final 8 for awards judging, but that doesn't mean these foods aren't also delicious. Some of them sound amazing to me! I never see other publications mention these fried foods, I couldn't find the list on BigTex.com, and their PR rep didn't have a digital copy to email me, so this might be the only website where you'll find this list. I received it as an old-fashioned printout in my media packet at the Big Tex Choice Awards judging, so I have it photographed below for your food planning pleasure. Click to read the pages at full size. I've already starred the ones I want to try!

And, drumroll... I need someone to go to the fair with me and taste test as many of these fried foods as possible! I have a free admission ticket for you (thanks to the State Fair of Texas), but I would like to split the food and food costs with someone. This is a serious foodie challenge! Last year my mom was in town, and we managed to share nine fried foods in one visit. We arrived strategically starving and spent almost the whole time hunting for our food (booths). I'd like to go on the evening of Thursday, October 3 or Friday, October 4. If you're available and up for this delicious quest, comment below or in one of my social media profiles and let me know you qualify. I'll start looking for a winner on Saturday morning.

2012 Guide to the Best Fried Foods at State Fair of Texas

I've tried at least 21 fried foods at the State Fair of Texas, including all eight of the 2012 Big Tex Choice Awards fried food finalists. I've posted my photos and commentary in real-time all over the socialsphere, but I thought I'd pull all the links and comments together in one detailed page so you can choose which social site to drool, read, and share your favorites or create your own list of fried foods to try. Scroll down for Facebook, Foursquare, and Pinterest photo links. Up first are descriptions of this compilation photo…

30 Days of the Best Foods in Dallas

If you follow one of my daily food photo social media networks, you may have noticed I've been eating amazing food more often than normal. It was all in the name of research! I couldn't just write a list of 30 of the best foods I've eaten in Dallas without double-checking the worthiness of some items or getting a better photo that more accurately portrayed its extreme deliciousness. This list took weeks of re-evaluating, polling trusted foodie friends, and reviewing my food photo archives, and now my list of 30 of the best foods in Dallas is complete.

For each day in September I will add one dish with a review and photo below. I will also make it easy for you to find these foods and follow the daily updates by adding the hashtag "#BestFoodDallas" to my original Instagram post of that food and every tweet update, plus I have created a Foursquare list, Foodspotting guide, Facebook photo album, and Pinterest board that you can follow.

The 6 Best Restaurants I Ate in Las Vegas

Reflecting back on my nine days dining out in Las Vegas, there were a few dishes and restaurants that really stood out above the rest, regardless of price point. Below is a recap for anyone who is looking to eat well in Las Vegas, complete with Dallas restaurant comparisons.

In order of what I'd recommend:

1. Nobhill Tavern by Chef Michael Mina, inside MGM Grand
Dallas restaurant equivalent in price, ambiance, service, and creative cuisine: Stephan Pyles
Dallas restaurant equivalent for creative, fresh cocktails: Bolsa

This is the only restaurant I ate at in Vegas where EVERYTHING TASTED AMAZING and the service was perfection, so I'm going to detail what I ate here more than I will the other restaurants.

A fellow Dallas foodie in Vegas told me this restaurant has the best cocktails in Vegas, and that the $14 Nobhill Cablecar was their best one. I was blown away by the creativity and fresh flavors…

How to Eat Free Food in Dallas on Friday

This article is part of my weeklong food blog series, "How to Eat Free Food in Dallas Every Day of the Week".

Friday is not a one of the better free food nights of the week. As far as I could tell, the options are limited to the restaurants that offer the same free food deal Monday–Friday: Blue Mesa Grill, and reportedly, Campisi's.

Blue Mesa Grill
I think every location of Blue Mesa Grill has been offering this deal since the beginning of time, A.K.A. when I arrived in Dallas four years ago. The deal is every weekday from 4-6PM (note the early end time), their bar features a self-serve chips & salsa station and a grill station with mini-quesadillas cooked-to-order.

How to Eat Free Food in Dallas on Monday

This article is part of my weeklong food blog series, "How to Eat Free Food in Dallas Every Day of the Week". Editor's note: Trece closed on Monday, August 1, 2011.

Monday is the best free food night of the week. Not only are there lots of restaurants with food specials, but there are two restaurants offering totally free, two-course dinners, with no purchase required! Check out my receipt showing "Monday Dinner" discount at -$47.95 in free food for two people! My friend wanted to buy wine, so that plus tip was our only expense.

What to Expect From This Blog Site

If you're looking for more insightful food reviews than typical bland comments like, "mmm this burger tastes great", then you've come to the right blog! Some of you may know me from my start on Twitter @Dallas_Foodie, and I hope you will follow me there and here. Although Twitter will remain my more frequent posting method, sometimes 140 characters just isn't enough to give you the whole truth (and all of my undercover iPhone photos) describing the taste, texture, and appearance of food, drinks, and my restaurant experiences around Dallas—and wherever else I travel.

In this blog you can look forward to many entries detailing my "Best of Dallas" food lists that I've tried and re-tested over several months. I'm actually a picky eater and a brutally honest person, so I'm not going to tell you something is the best in town unless it was really that good and I've compared it to several competitors. You can also look forward to detailed restaurant reviews, including the downright unflattering stuff, plus an occasional original recipe of mine and anything newsworthy in the world of food and drinks.

Your comments are appreciated and friendly debates are encouraged, so please subscribe to this blog now, and soon, you will be in-the-know about the best food spots in Dallas-Ft. Worth!