These Are the State Fair of Texas 2024 Big Tex Taste Award Winning Foods

The Dominican Fritura Dog is the Big Tex Choice Award for Best Taste — Savory at the State Fair of Texas. It was created by Justin Martinez. Martinez said his dad inspired the dish and dedicated the win to him.

The celebrity judges were obtuse from the panel this year, but across the board the complimented the texture and color of the dish. Leslie Brenner, the longtime Dallas Morning News food critic who currently runs her own food publicity and consulting firm, clarified for Donovan Lewis, a host on SportsRadio 96.7 and 1310 the Ticket, that the extra crunch he found so appealing in the dish was plantain chips.

The Best Taste — Sweet winner is Russo’s Cotton Candy Bacon on a stick. Isaac Russo introduced the crowd to his son when the judges tasted the dish, calling him his retirement plan to take over the business.

This dish seemed to bowl the judges over, and it is a 12-inch piece of bacon on a stick so of course it did. Calvin Golden, a longtime Wingstop exec and board member of Wingstop Charities, called it “sinful” while noting that he was at a loss for words on first sight. Nikky Phinyawatana, the founder of Asian Mint and an award-winning cookbook author, said its “Presentation blew it out of the park.” The overwhelming consensus is that this will be the item people see around the fair grounds and immediately go buy.

Finally, the Most Creative winner is Texas Sugar Rush Pickles. The dish garnered a lot of interesting commentary from the judges, but ultimately creator Heater Perkins took the prize, saying she is honored, grateful, and ready for more. Perkins has been doing pickles at the fair for the last three years and finally made it to the finalists with this item.

Surprisingly, the judges uniformly loved it and were fascinated by it. Lewis started laughing as he ate it, and told the crowd that it was because he found the pickle in the cup full of cereal, cotton candy, sugar crystals, and other treats.

The State Fair of Texas will open on September 27 and run through October 20.