"I do like the Big Fat Bacon on a stick. I mean, it's pork belly, so what's not to like? My wife and her family are really big State Fair people, and they taught me that a corn dog is way better than a Pronto Pup. The corn dog has that delicious and slightly sweet cornmeal breading, and now I've totally sworn off the Pronto Pup. We definitely love the French fries, and if the line isn't too long, we'll get those warm Sweet Martha's cookies. And I'll usually get a sundae or a shake in the Dairy Building. When it comes right down to it, so much of the food at the fair is really about tradition, and nostalgia. I don't know if the shakes at the Dairy Building are the best that I've ever had, but at the time I'm having one, it tastes like the best that I've ever had, because I'm at the fair."
— Don Saunders, the Kenwood, Minneapolis
"I've been a fairgoer since I was a kid. I like the classics: the cheese curds, the Sweet Martha's cookies. Nothing too crazy, I don't really follow the new stuff. I like the Pronto Pups, there's a flavor in the batter that I love. Oh, and the fried green tomatoes; they're super-good. They're served with a little ranch dressing, and even though the tomatoes are fried, they still have a little bit of freshness to them. There isn't enough of that at the fair."
— Jim Christiansen, Heyday, Minneapolis
"I've been emceeing the afternoon program for Minnesota Cooks for almost 10 years now. I always arrive hungry. I let my appetite tell me what I'm going to be eating that day. I'll usually go to the Food Building and walk around. If I wave at Manny at Manny's Tortas, he'll usually shove his frozen pineapple drink in my face. I love hitting Harry Singh's. Oftentimes I'll grab a gyro; last year I got one at Falafel King. After the program, I stay pretty mainstream, pretty middle of the road. I'll get myself a Summit, and the obligatory corn dog. I mean, you have to have a corn dog."
— J.D. Fratzke, the Strip Club Meat & Fish and Saint Dinette, St. Paul
"I've been going since I was a little kid. It's part of growing up in Minnesota. My first job ever in the food business was at the State Fair, at Rainbow Ice Cream, scooping cones from 7 a.m. until midnight. I was maybe 14. I always go the first day it opens — because it's still clean — and I have my routine. This is going to be disgusting, because it's a lot. I always have a foot-long hot dog, and fries, and mini-doughnuts, and a Pronto Pup, and roast corn. I always have the pork chop on-a-stick. Can you believe it? This Jewish girl, telling you that I have to eat a pork chop. It's once a year. Oh, and a peach, from the Produce Exchange. They are the world's best peaches. I took some home last year and showed them to our U.S. Foods rep and said, 'Can't you get these for me for the restaurant?' I'm obsessed with them."
— Patti Soskin, Yum! Kitchen and Bakery, St. Louis Park