Although the new Big Tex Choice Awards winners and the deep-rooted State Fair of Texas concessionaires sometimes steal headlines about what to eat at the state’s biggest deep-fried carnival, do you have the stomach to add a few more names to the must-eat list?

You do.

On Sept. 7, 2023, the State Fair of Texas announced that four new-to-the-fair companies — several, unexpected — would also be serving food.

Italian grocer Eataly, which opened in Dallas’ NorthPark Center in late 2020, is the most surprising addition. Japanese sandwich pop-up Sandoitchi might be the most interesting. Local company Pound Cake Experts is one of the most relatable. And Stay Cheesy is easily the most historic: Concessionaire Cheyne Hickey comes from a family that has been serving food at the State Fair of Texas since 1949.

For a scrappy company like Sandoitchi, becoming a concessionaire at the State Fair of Texas is “bucket list” stuff, says Keith Tran, one of four owners.

“We’ve never done anything as big as the State Fair of Texas,” says Tran, whose Sandoitchi pop-ups have attracted lines of faithful fans, especially during the pandemic. They’ve even served food at the biggest Asian food fest in the country.

“For us, this is a huge milestone to even be selected,” Tran says.

Related:Fried pho and Biscoff cheesecake win big at State Fair’s Big Tex Choice Awards in Dallas

Here’s more information about the four new State Fair of Texas vendors.

Eataly at the State Fair

In Cotton Bowl Plaza, Eataly chefs will fry cacio e pepe. The upscale grocery store is known for its lively shopping experience and its expansive Italian brands, some of which are tough to find in the United States.

Eataly’s fried cacio e pepe is the traditional Italian dish, made with spaghetti-like noodles, pecorino-romano cheese and black pepper. That gets fried — it’s the fair, of course! — and topped with Parmigiano-Reggiano. Marinara comes on the side.

Sandoitchi

When the State Fair of Texas opens on Sept. 29, 2023 and continues for 24 days, the Sandoitchi shop in downtown Dallas will pause operations. The owners of Sandoitchi ask customers to move over to Fair Park, where they’ll be selling their best-selling Japanese “sandos” on Japanese milk bread. It’s a dream come true for the four owners who launched the business as a temporary restaurant idea during the pandemic, one that’s since been nimble and often on-the-move.

Sandoitchi’s “classic” items sold at the fair will include the egg salad sando, seasonal fruit-and-cream sando, and two versions of the chicken katsu sando: classic fried chicken and spicy truffle chicken. They might also fry the seasonal fruit-and-cream sandwich. It’s a go-big-or-go-home moment, Tran says, in so many words.

Sandoitchi will be in the Tower Building, an air-conditioned building that makes sense for some of this food, which wants to be cold.

Tran says “it was a shot in the dark” when they decided to apply to be a State Fair concessionaire. They were thrilled to be one of a few hundred picked.

”I think they’re opening up the fair to next-generation food concepts — not your traditional funnel cake and corn dogs,” he says. “I love that stuff. But I think the fair is open to new flavors, new traditions, new cuisines.”

Pound Cake Experts

Also in the Tower Building, Black business owner Sandy Duncan has a mission to “make pound cake cool again.” She sells more than 50 flavors of pound cake and is bringing 10 of those to the State Fair.

One of her signatures is the Red, White & Blue Crumble: red velvet, blue velvet (a play on a blueberry muffin), and butter pound cake, crumbled over soft-serve ice cream.

Stay Cheesy

Cheyne Hickey grew up at the State Fair of Texas. Her family has run the Nevins concession stands since 1949 — decades before she was born — and she makes her State Fair solo debut in 2023. Stay Cheesy is a grilled cheese stand in the Tower Building that takes cheese and bread to a new level. One example is the Boujee Grilled Cheese, a brie sandwich with turkey, arugula, green apple, Havarti cheese and cranberry mayo.

The State Fair also announced seven new concession stands from established vendors. These are never-seen-before stands, but they come from concessionaires who have been at the fair in the past.

Other new concession stands at the State Fair 2023

• The Cajun Cowboy: Concessionaire Isaac Rousso, who created 2023 Big Tex Choice Awards finalist Deep Fried Cheesy Crab Tater Bites, is launching a new Cajun-themed stand on First Avenue inside the fairgrounds. Items include a giant, fried onion; fried boudin balls; fried bread pudding and a muffaletta.
• East Meets West BBQ: Dallas Design District spot Ferris Wheelers is doing Asian-themed barbecue at the State Fair, with barbecue egg rolls, banana pudding mochi and three bao buns with fried chicken, pork belly burnt ends and chopped brisket as fillings.
• Fryed: You like tots and fries? Fryed offers both with toppings like Hatch chili queso, brisket, Buffalo chicken and more. The stand on the Funway will also serve a cheeseburger and chicken strips.
• Borracho Nacho Bar: At Cotton Bowl Plaza, fairgoers can build their own chicharron (pork rind) nachos with items like beef fajita meat, chopped beef barbecue and queso.
• Stiffler’s Steak Stop: From the fair-famous family that sells Stiffler’s Mom’s cookies comes a steak shop. The Steak Bowl is the main course, with a wholesome serving of prime sirloin, mashed potatoes, mushrooms, onions and peppers topped with chimichurri, butter sauce or both. (It’s both, right? It’s both.) The stand will also sell jalapeño margaritas and peach bellinis, all on the Funway.

• Texas Sopapilla Factory: Bourbon Banana Caramel Sopapillas, the 2023 Big Tex Choice Award winner for “most creative,” will be the big talker at this sopapillas-only stand. Concessionaires Lauren and Cody Hays expanded the menu with other sopapillas like strawberry shortcake, Cinnamon Toast Crunch and chocolate. Find them in Cotton Bowl Plaza.
• Pineapple Dole Soft Serve: The Leonhardt Lagoon — that’s the body of water at the State Fair where you often see the swan paddle boats — has a new dessert. Pineapple Dole Soft Serve is a sweet, frozen dessert close to the new Dinosaurs at the Lagoon exhibit, which features 10 life-size dinosaurs for tiny science fans.

The State Fair of Texas runs Sept. 29 through Oct. 22, 2023, in Dallas’ Fair Park.

For more food news, follow Sarah Blaskovich on X (formerly Twitter) at @sblaskovich.