The 5 Best Things We Ate at the Arizona State Fair

The Arizona State Fair is in town until Oct. 29, and with it comes the most exciting thing about its yearly appearance: fair food.

From fair food staples to local food trucks and stands, there’s always a variety of treats and full-on meals to sink your teeth into.

Here are the five foods you have to try at the Arizona State Fair this fall:

Deep Fried Cheesecake

Photo by Robert Gundran

Stand: Sweet Cheeks Fair Food
Price: $10

Of course it’s a cliché, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it anyway. We went with the deep fried cheesecake at Sweet Cheeks Fair Food. The New York-style cheesecake is dipped in batter and dunked into a tub of piping hot oil for a few minutes. Add some powdered sugar to the fix and you have a delicious and melty snack. And of course, it comes on a stick.

The Lieutenant Crepe

Photo by Robert Gundran

Stand: Le Crepe AZ
Price: $15

It’s the debate to end all debates when it comes to crepes: sweet or savory?

If you head to the Le Crepe AZ truck on the fairgrounds, you have to grab the lieutenant crepe—it’s a savory crepe with ham, cheese, and a light coat of dijon mustard. A perfect combination of dough, meat, cheese, and condiment.

For those who’d prefer a sweet crepe, check out the Lemony Snicket crepe for $10. It’s a crepe with lemon tart and cream laid right on top.

Bailey’s Fudge

Photo by Robert Gundran

Stand: Fazackerley’s Fudge & Candy
Price: $11

You won’t find Fazackerley’s Fudge & Candy outdoors with all the other food stands—it’s actually tucked away in one of the shopping pavilions. There, they offer a massive slice of fudge for $11.

In Fazackerley’s display case you’ll find fudge flavors like dulce de leche, chocolate peanut butter, rocky road, maple, chocolate orange, Nevada sand, cookies & cream, salted caramel, Jack Daniels, and Bailey’s.

It’s fudge, and it tastes like your favorite Irish cream liqueur, what’s not to love?

Birria Egg Rolls

Photo by Robert Gundran

Stand: Chubs
Price: $14

This stand isn’t like standard fair food. You won’t find their offerings at every state fair across the country like you would with deep fried Twinkies or giant turkey legs.

Chubs’ main operation is as a Casa Grande food truck that you can find at local events.

If you don’t anticipate finding yourself around Casa Grande in the near future, then one of their birria offerings is a must-try at the fair.

The birria egg rolls are stuffed with queso, meat that was cooked for almost half a day, cilantro, and onions. Don’t forget the consommé on the side.

Strawberry & Whipped Cream Funnel Cake

Photo by Robert Gundran

Stand: Texas Donuts & Candyland
Price: $19

It’s the main event: the funnel cake. It’s easy to get sticker shock from the price of a funnel cake at the state fair, but this dish of fried batter and sugar covers nearly the entire surface area of a standard paper plate.

The rub with funnel cakes is you can customize it in dozens of ways, depending on the stand you visit.

We went with a strawberries and cream funnel cake, fresh out of the fryer.

The Arizona State Fair is at 1826 W. McDowell Road and runs Thursday through Sunday until Oct. 29.  It is open from noon to 9 p.m. on Thursdays and Sundays, and noon to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

Buy tickets here.

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