List: The Ohio State Fair unveils new food and dessert creations
The Ohio State Fair recently announced the list of crave-worthy concoctions debuting this summer. In a news release, organizers listed 31 dishes in which fair-goers can indulge while taking a break from the rides, activities and entertainment.
2025 Ohio State Fair: What to know before you go
This year, about half of the items are desserts. This includes various ice cream sundaes, frozen treats, a buckeye lemonade drink, a variety of funnel cakes, a caramel apple cream puff, candies, a ghost pepper fudge, strawberry-flavored kettle corn, gummies, and donuts. Fans of the viral Dubai chocolate craze can seek out the new Dubai chocolate funnel cake or Dubai chocolate bar.
Fair-favorite corn dogs also appear with some twists, such as the jalapeño cheddar and Korean corn dogs. A wide array of other meat-focused selections are also on the menu. This year's line-up features a sirloin steak tip dinner, pork tenders, smashburgers, sausage s'more skewers, moonshine chicken on a stick and a 'Thanksgiving sundae' or sandwich that highlights turkey and the whole holiday meal.
More noteworthy innovations include a deep-fried taco, a jalapeño popper pizza, a grilled orange chicken egg roll, mac n' D (mac and cheese, Doritos, and chicken), hickory french fries, smashadillas (quesadillas combined with a smashburger) and uniquely-flavored cheese curds.
Additionally, the fair is offering $3 Thursdays, where vendors offer a menu item of their choice in a smaller size for just $3. This year, visitors can save on July 24 and 31.
This year's Ohio State Fair deviled egg featured flavor is…
The fair is also helping visitors with special dietary restrictions find new tastes to explore with lists of dairy-free, egg-free, gluten-free, peanut-free, tree nut-free, sugar-free and wheat-free options. Vegetarian and vegan items are also listed on the fair's website.
Full list of new foods at the Ohio State Fair
BluRaz Crunch Funnel Cake: Prowant Specialty CompanyFunnel cake topped with cream cheese frosting and homemade blue raspberry cookie crunch.
Buckeye Lemonade: Miller Food Concessions LLCLemonade infused with creamy peanut butter and chocolate.
Build Your Own Cinnamon Roll Sundae: Molnar ConcessionsCinnamon roll and ice cream with sundae toppings.
Caramel Apple Cream Puff: Schmidt'sSchmidt's new caramel apple cream puff, featuring a blend of caramel-apple cream puff filling with small apple chunks and topped with caramel drizzle.
Chocolate or Vanilla Ghost Pepper Fudge: The Nut ShackChocolate or vanilla fudge made with 100% ghost pepper powder.
Chocolate Covered Frozen Coconana: Maggie's ConcessionsA chocolate-covered frozen banana rolled in sweet-toasted coconut.
Cookie Milk Ice Pop: Eaton ConcessionsThis vendor is working with a local artisan ice pop maker (Rime-Time Curiously Crafted Pops) to offer a Cookie Milk Ice Pop, made with their chocolate chip cookies.
Deep Fried Taco: Jim's ConcessionsA 12-inch taco shell loaded with a choice of meat (chicken, buffalo chicken, or ground beef), lettuce, tomato, sour cream, and cheese. Then wrapped, sealed, dipped into a batter, and deep-fried.
Dubai Chocolate Bar: LADS ManagementThe famed Dubai Bar is a 1/2-pound viral sensation, filled with a pistachio crème center then covered in chocolate.
Dubai Chocolate Funnel Cake: GH ConcessionsScratch-made funnel cake covered with pistachio crème, kadayif and chocolate chips.
Grilled Orange Chicken Egg Roll: Eggroll Love, LLCGrilled chicken breast, homemade orange sauce, chopped green onions and mozzarella cheese hand-wrapped into an egg roll, dipped in a special crunchy batter and deep-fried to perfection.
Hickory French Fries: Dre's Place BBQFrench fries loaded with your choice of beef, pork or chicken, topped with North Carolina-style cheese, jalapeños, and barbecue sauce.
Hot Cheetos Cheese Fries: Prowant Specialty FriesFresh-cut fries are cooked to order, covered in cheese sauce and topped with crumbled Hot Cheetos.
Jalapeño Cheddar Corn Dog: GH ConcessionsA traditional hot dog, hand-dipped in Jalapeño-packed corn dog batter, fried to a golden perfection, and topped with cheddar cheese sauce and ranch.
Jalapeño Popper Pizza: GH ConcessionsCream cheese spread over hand-tossed, freshly made dough, topped with cheese, bacon, jalapeños, and ranch.
Korean Corn Dogs: Miller & Company ConcessionsThis Korean Corn Dog is mozzarella cheese dipped in corn dog batter, and add Cheetos or Fruity Pebbles.
Mac n' D: Fork'et Me NotDoritos layered with creamy mac and cheese, topped with crispy hand-breaded fried chicken, and finished with a drizzle of the house Yum Yum sauce.
Mangonada: A&M ConcessionsA hand-blended mango slushy topped with chamoy (a sweet tangy syrup), tajin (a chili lime salt), and a tamarind stick (a chewy spicy candy).
Monster Baby Donuts: Monster Baby Donuts, LLCMonster Baby Donuts is a gluten-free, vegan bakery serving up fun, allergy-friendly mini donuts. A variety of donut flavors crafted without common allergens.
Moonshine Chicken on a Stick: Imperial Food ConcessionsChicken drizzled in world-famous, made-from-scratch Moonshine sauce that is a perfect balance of sweet and savory notes, with a pleasant, subtle kick.
New Tea Blend: Jumbo Iced TeaJumbo Iced Tea's Signature Blend is now crafted with premium Argentine tea leaves.
Original Lemon Shake-Up Sundae: North American Food ServiceClassic fair lemonade transformed into a sundae with soft-serve vanilla ice cream, real lemon, crushed ice, sugar sparkle, whipped cream, and a cherry on top.
Sirloin Steak Tip Dinner: Pickle Barrel Sirloin TipsBite-sized pieces of sirloin steak are served alongside red-skinned mashed potatoes, topped with sautéed onions and peppers, and marinated mushrooms.
Pork Tenders: Ohio Pork CouncilOhio Pork Council's new juicy, crispy, tender pork tenders.
Sausage S'more Skewer: Top Notch ConcessionsBites of juicy smoked sausage alternated with toasted marshmallows on a stick, drizzled with creamy chocolate, and sprinkled with graham cracker crumbles.
Smashburgers: Fork'et me NotSmashburgers start with fresh, beef smashed on a hot griddle for a crispy edge, stacked on a soft toasted bun, and loaded with melty cheese and a variety of toppings.
Smashadillas: Fork'et me NotA quesadilla combined with a smashburger. Seasoned smashed beef, melted cheese, pickles, onions, and tortillas, grilled to perfection.
Smarties Squashies: LADS ManagementSmarties Squashies is a foamy gummy candy that combines two delicious flavors for an all-new Smarties experience.
Strawberry Kettle Corn: Old Time ConcessionsA new strawberry-flavored Kettle Corn.
Thanksgiving Sundaes and Thanksgiving Sandwiches: W.E. EnterprisesTurkey, mashed potatoes, dressing, gravy, and cranberry sauce served in a bowl sundae-style or as a sandwich.
Wisconsin Cheese Curds: Spazz Dog ConcessionsSpazz Dog Concessions offers several new flavors of Cheese Curds at this year's Ohio State Fair, including:• White Cheddar Bacon• Yellow Cheddar JaJalapeño• Yellow Cheddar Ghost Pepper• White Cheddar Dill Pickle• White Cheddar Funnel Cake
More about the foods and dietary restriction options can be found at ohiostatefair.com/food.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Solve the daily Crossword
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Axios
2 hours ago
- Axios
Jilli brings San Francisco a taste of Korea's drinking scene
Jilli, the Mission's new spot serving rice wine flights and bold bar snacks, introduces San Francisco to a Korean drinking culture it didn't know it was missing. State of play: The restaurant, with roots in LA, brands itself as a modern sool jib — a communal Korean "drinking house" — by spotlighting makgeolli, a funky, lightly effervescent rice wine with a cloudy appearance and milky texture. The big picture: Jilli's opening reflects a broader trend of Korean cuisine gaining popularity across the U.S. — expanding beyond traditional barbecue and bibimbap to elevating lesser-known specialties like makgeolli and comfort dishes like gukbap and jajangmyeon. Dig in: The low-ABV drink pairs nicely with the rich flavors offered on Jilli's menu, like the gooey tteokbokki ($21), deep-fried shrimp toast ($16), popcorn chicken ($23) and $50 caviar bump — and, yes, it is worth it. Sips to savor: First-timers should begin with the flight, which features four varieties: Sang Takju: Traditional and a great starting point to get your bearings. Nomi Doga Takju: Slightly sweet, creamy and tangy — with a subtle nuttiness and faint fizz. Hana Makgeolli Takju: The funkiest of the flight, made from brown rice with a slightly sour and earthy profile. Hanna Forbidden Takju: Infused with red berries, this version has a slightly sweeter fermented taste. The drink menu also includes a rotating list of natural wines, craft beer and soju. Best bites: Other standouts include gochujang-marinated pork jowl ($35), sous-vide and cooked on a charcoal grill, and rigatoni alla kimchi vodka pasta ($23), topped with house-made burrata. The vibe: Laid back and welcoming, Jilli feels more like a friendly hangout than a bar, with staff who'll chat through the menu, share fun anecdotes and hand out Korean " hangover cure" packets they swear by. Inside, there's '80s hip-hop, Korean animation projected on the walls and neon signs reading "Drink Responsibly Reckless," while the patio twinkles with string lights. My thought bubble: My favorite (and owner Hwanghah Jeong's) was the "Yakju" ($72) from Hana Makgeolli, a small artisanal producer based out of Brooklyn, New York.
Time Magazine
3 hours ago
- Time Magazine
Breaking Down the Ending of Netflix K-Drama 'Trigger'
If Trigger were a U.S. production, the action thriller that follows a police force as they deal with an influx of guns into their city wouldn't have a very novel premise. In the U.S., where gun violence was declared a public health crisis last year, there are more guns than there are people, with an estimated 120.5 guns per every 100 people. But in South Korea, where Trigger is set, there are only 0.2 guns per every 100 people. Korean gun control laws are strict, and the weapons are practically a non-issue when it comes to public safety. While gun violence does occur, as was the case last week when a father shot his adult son using a homemade gun, it is a rarity in Korea, where private gun ownership is uncommon. According to a 2022 article in the Korea Herald, private guns are intended for shooting athletes, manufacturers and sellers of firearms, and for those who need them for construction or as props in film or TV production. Licensed hunters may apply for gun ownership, but they must go through a rigorous qualification process and are only allowed to keep their guns at home during hunting season. Other times of the year, the firearms must be stored at the local police department. Otherwise, only authorized personnel in security-related fields can be in possession of firearms, and often, police officers choose not to carry them. Trigger envisions a world where gun control laws in Korea are ignored Trigger, a Netflix K-drama from writer-director Kwon Oh-seung (Midnight), imagines what would happen if all of these regulations were ignored, and unregistered, highly deadly firearms started streaming mysteriously and rapidly into the country. Across 10 anxiety-inducing episodes, we follow police protagonist Lee Do (Island's Kim Nam-gil) as he tries to keep Korean society from falling into a panic-induced frenzy, and succumbing to a status quo where gun violence is the norm. The thriller is simultaneously a parable for Korean viewers and a mirror for American viewers, who already live in a society where buying a gun can take as few as five clicks. Who is behind the gun plot in Trigger? The guns in Trigger are being funneled into the country by the fictional International Rifle Union (IRU), a black market arms dealer with immense political and economic power globally. The person behind the plan is Moon Baek (Evilive's Kim Young-kwang). Baek stumbles upon the IRU when as a kid, looking for revenge after being trafficked from Korea to the United States for his organs. Jake, one of the organization's higher-ups, sees something valuable in the desperate, vengeful kid. He raises Baek to be a part of the organization. The IRU's entrance into Korea is facilitated by Baek, who has been diagnosed with six months to live due to cancer. While Baek presumably presents the plan to Jake as a business opportunity, he is really looking for retribution against the country that failed him. Upon his arrival in Korea, Baek murders the man who made his childhood a living hell. He hides bullets in the ceiling of the man's apartment, a signal to officials that everything in Korea is about to change. Baek uses some local gangsters, posing as regular mail couriers, to distribute the guns. He targets individuals who are marginalized for some reason or another. Many of them are physically and mentally bullied by the people in their lives. 'Everyone carries a trigger in their heart,' a psychologist says early in the show's run. Trigger implies that everyone is capable of violence, and it is the job of a functional society not to give its citizens access to a weapon that can so easily lead to violent self-destruction. Lee Do's backstory explained Lee Do serves as a counterpoint to Baek's nihilistic ruthlessness. While Do's childhood may not have been quite as horrific, he didn't have it easy. His parents and brother were killed during a home robbery when he was just a child. Immediately following the incident, Do takes a gun off of Captain Jo's (Kim Won-hae) desk and aims it at the man who killed his family, intending to pull the trigger. The captain talks him out of it, but the moment is a formative one for Do. Jo raises Do as his own, alongside his daughter. Decades later, Lee Do is the Platonic ideal of a policeman, protecting the vulnerable and preferring de-escalation to violence. Until guns start appearing amongst the civilian population, Do chooses not to use a gun himself, still haunted by the lives he took during his years as a soldier. When gun violence starts ramping up, he decides to pick up a gun once again—but only when it is necessary to take someone down. Moon Baek kills Captain Jo While Trigger has a complex cast of characters, Lee Do and Moon Baek are the protagonist and antagonist at its center. Both suffered tragedy as children. One was given the support they needed to become a happy, healthy adult. The other was not, and has grown into a ruthless killer as a result. While Lee Do wants to protect the innocent (and even the guilty) around him, Moon Baek wants to see people suffer like he has. Gun violence is his method. When Lee Do starts getting in Moon Baek's way, the criminal mastermind becomes intrigued by the stalwart cop. To get closer to him, he poses as just another recipient of one of the illegal weapons, and offers his 'help' in trying to stop various shootings. Do almost immediately identifies Baek as one of the people behind the organized influx of guns. However, when the police go to arrest Baek, he uses his immense resources to slip between their fingers and continue to wreak havoc. Captain Jo, Do's surrogate dad, becomes one of Baek's desperate targets when a jeonse fraud drives his daughter to suicide. Jo finds the men who scammed his daughter, confronting them at a karaoke room. When they show no remorse, he starts firing. Lee Do arrives on the scene once Captain Jo has followed one of the men outside. He convinces Jo to put the gun down, asking him not to let the feeling that killing the man will help fool him in this moment. 'How did you bear this pain at such a young age?' Jo asks Do. 'It was all thanks to you, Captain,' Do tells him, embracing his distraught father figure. Baek, who has orchestrated the entire scenario to drive up public anxiety around shootings and to break Do's resolve, doesn't like how the scenario ends. He comes out of the shadows to shoot both Captain Jo and Lee Do. 'Just wait and see,' Baek tells Do as he loses consciousness. 'You'll wake up to a whole new world.' The ending of Trigger explained As intended by Baek, Do is out of the action for at least a few days following the incident. When he wakes back up, he is devastated to learn that Captain Jo has died. He grieves Jo and her daughter, acting as the chief mourner at their funeral. Meanwhile, Baek has announced to the public that anyone who wants a gun in Korea can get one. Public fear is at an all-time high as thousands of weapons are delivered to the populace, and incidents of gun violence become more common as a result. On the news, political pundits begin to debate whether gun ownership should be legalized in Korea. The president is considering martial law. A 'Free Guns' rally is organized by Baek to pit the two sides of the argument against one another. Lee Do leaves the funeral in order to attend. Baek has a truck filled with boxes of weapons driven into the middle of the rally. Chaos breaks out as people frantically grab the weapons, thinking they need them to protect themselves. Baek sets off smoke bombs to further confuse the crowd. As Lee Do makes his way to Baek, he remembers a philosophical argument they had over dinner, before Do realized Baek's villainy. 'Wouldn't pulling a 5-milimeter trigger in pursuit of revenge spread fear in the minds of many?' Do told Baek. 'Out of fear that they might die without a gun, everyone will rush to get one. And a society like that will soon be destroyed.' Baek wants to create that society, and he is well on his way. 'It was this world that made the people angry,' he tells Do, making the bad faith argument. 'All I did was hand them a gun. It's up to them whether they pull the trigger.' In the smoky plaza, as scared people point guns at one another, Baek taunts Do. 'What I want is a single gun shot … that will make these people start shooting at each other' He wants Lee Do to be the one to pull the trigger. Baek disappears into the smoke and Do follows, gun drawn. Before he can find the man, a gun shot rings out. Baek has been shot, perhaps by his own hand. The plaza erupts into gunfire. In the chaos, Do sees a boy alone, crying for his mother, a gun in his hands. It is an echo of the boy he once was. Rather than defend himself, Do drops his gun and rushes to him. He embraces the child as the gunfire continues. 'It's okay. You're safe,' he tells him. The image is captured by a livestreamer on the scene. It stops nurse So-hyeon, whom we have been following throughout the series, from using a gun to kill the co-workers who bully her. Once the dust has settled, and scores of people are dead, the image of Lee Do embracing the scared child becomes a symbol of choosing empathy over violence. Later, we see the image at a memorial for the victims of the shooting. Another message at the memorial states: 'We will remember the innocent lives lost and work to create a safer world.' Does Moon Baek die at the end of Trigger? Baek is in a coma following the events of the firefight. The doctor tells Do, who visits Baek in the hospital, that he is unlikely to recover, due to his cancer and the blood loss sustained from the gunshot wound. Later, we see an English-speaking cabal of IRU members, including Jake, vaguely discussing their next business move. A woman walks into the wards where Baek is unconscious, presumably to kill him. Does Trigger have a happy ending? The ending of Trigger isn't happy, but it is hopeful. Across the country, the police hold illegal firearm drop-off drives to collect as many of the weapons as possible. One of the people who drops off a fun is nurse So-hyeon. "It took too long," she tells Officer Jang, who collects her signature. "You did the right thing,' he tells her. Lee Do survives to de-escalate another day. In an echo of what Captain Jo did for him, Do adopts the child he saved in the firefight. He picks the boy up from school, and holds his hand as he walks him home. Do is doing what he can.
Eater
6 hours ago
- Eater
Achieve Maximum Bougieness With Caviar-Bumped Limited-Edition Dishes at Outside Lands
is the associate editor for the Northern California and Pacific Northwest region writing about restaurant and bar trends, coffee and cafes, and pop-ups. San Francisco's Outside Lands music festival is not quite at Coachella seen-and-be-seen level, but it's damn near. From Friday, August 8, to Sunday, August 10, the extravaganza in Golden Gate Park will host full stack coders spending their final paychecks before agentic AI takes their jobs and would-be Beat poets brazenly blasting through the paychecks they don't have (read: their parents' credit cards) alike. It's the food and drink that attracts some to Outside Lands. Wisely so, as the festival just announced this year's 10 limited-edition items. Caviar rules the day. The dishes are all from local players and all are over-the-top indulgences. There are only a finite amount served each day, and attendees are encouraged to show up early to try them out. There are up to 30 of some of the items, while there are just 10 or 15 of others, making this a Northern California shiny Charizard-of-the-food-game situation — extremely rare, and sought-after. This year, there are super wild bites from 10 Bay Area players, ranging from Gumbo Social to Pedro's in Los Gatos. My Friend Fernando's Wagyu and caviar-riddled tostada. My Friend Fernando The real magic here is in the details. Caviar-topped Korean corn dogs from Michelin Guide-recommended for instance, and beef tartare tostadas from pop-up phenom My Friend Fernando, edible flowers littering the plate. Caviar here and caviar there on Mamahuhu's General Roe's fries with mushroom seaweed garlic seasoning, ginger scallion creme fraiche, and, yes, Siberian caviar. The Mission shows up large with Piglet & Co.'s caviar-topped wings and Pink Onion Pizza's mushroom and shaved-truffle pizza. The festival's food managers Taste of the Bay Area curated this hit list, like they put together the entire festival's food and beverage options. One does not need to pay extra to access these items; the Bites of the Bay program from 2024 is not back in 2025. For those who can't make Outside Lands this year, there's plenty of good food by the park. You can stream the festivities through Amazon and Twitch, if that's your thing. Here's the full list of participating restaurants and limited-edition items: • Gumbo Social's Cajun bayou shrimp burger, 20 available per day • Johnny Doughnuts' Dubai dream bar, 15 available per day • Mamahuha's General Roe's caviar fries, 20 available per day • My Friend Fernando's wagyu beef tartare tostada, 10 available per day • Pedro's wagyu quesabirria crunch wrap, 30 available per day • Piglet & Co.'s wings and caviar, 30 available per day • Pink Onion Pizza's truffle magic pizza slices, 30 available per day • Provecho's sashimi tostada, 20 available per day • lobster tail Korean corn dogs, 10 available per day • Woodhouse Fish Co.'s lobster roll cones, 30 available per day Outside Lands 2025 is Friday, August 8, through Sunday, August 10, at Golden Gate Park. For the entire food lineup, head to Pedro's crunch wraps are not to be slept on. Bex Wyant Eater SF All your essential food and restaurant intel delivered to you Email (required) Sign Up By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
