DALLAS — The State Fair of Texas is a little more than a month away from opening, and the anticipation continues to build as celebrity judges named the best new food options at the fair this year at the Big Tex Choice Awards on Thursday.
Judges tasted 10 finalists this year for three award categories: Best Taste - Savory, Best Taste - Sweet and Most Creative.
Here's a look at each award:
Best Taste - Savory: Dominican Fritura Dog, Justin Martinez
This savory dish brings an explosion of flavor that starts with fritura cheese and Dominican salami. Taking classic Fair food up a notch, this dish is then double deep fried with their famous corn dog batter! Split open and topped with garlic plantain chips, top-secret Dominican sauce, and cilantro, the Dominican Fritura Dog will bring you the best of salty and sweet with an explosion of Dominican flavor. “Hopefully, we’re opening another avenue for people at the State Fair to try something they don’t normally try. That’s what the State Fair is about,” said Justin Martinez, creator of the Dominican Fritura Dog.
![](https://media.wfaa.com/assets/WFAA/images/e7d8fcc7-69be-4430-88d4-ca5d00dfb046/20240807T115357/e7d8fcc7-69be-4430-88d4-ca5d00dfb046_16x9.jpg)
![](https://media.wfaa.com/assets/WFAA/images/e7d8fcc7-69be-4430-88d4-ca5d00dfb046/20240807T115357/e7d8fcc7-69be-4430-88d4-ca5d00dfb046_1140x641.jpg)
Best Taste - Sweet: Rousso’s Cotton Candy Bacon on a Stick, Isaac Rousso
This masterful combination of sweet and savory flavors comes to life with the Cotton Candy Bacon on a Stick—a thick, 12-inch piece of bacon cooked to perfection with a cotton candy glaze on top. The bacon is spun inside a cotton candy machine and torched to caramelize the center and lock in that sweet flavor.
![](https://media.wfaa.com/assets/WFAA/images/db0465d6-b592-4526-adda-57659bbd32ba/20240807T120222/db0465d6-b592-4526-adda-57659bbd32ba_16x9.jpg)
![](https://media.wfaa.com/assets/WFAA/images/db0465d6-b592-4526-adda-57659bbd32ba/20240807T120222/db0465d6-b592-4526-adda-57659bbd32ba_1140x641.jpg)
Most Creative: Texas Sugar Rush Pickles, Heather Perkins
These cotton-candy-flavored pickle slices are coated in three cereal varieties—Lucky Charms™, Froot Loops®, and Cap’n Crunch® —and then layered in cotton candy, cotton candy sugar crystals, and powdered sugar before being drizzled with strawberry sundae syrup. As if that wasn’t enough, these dressed-up pickles are served with a helping of vanilla ice cream, adding a perfectly cool touch to this crazy concoction!
![](https://media.wfaa.com/assets/WFAA/images/a2240668-ad8d-43e0-a461-c6158b6085c7/20240807T120528/a2240668-ad8d-43e0-a461-c6158b6085c7_16x9.jpg)
![](https://media.wfaa.com/assets/WFAA/images/a2240668-ad8d-43e0-a461-c6158b6085c7/20240807T120528/a2240668-ad8d-43e0-a461-c6158b6085c7_1140x641.jpg)
The State Fair of Texas begins on Sept. 27 and will run through Oct. 20.