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Photos by Zeon Santos.
Last week, my boyfriend and I went to the San Diego County Fair, previously known as the Del Mar Fair. We came with hopes of gorging ourselves on fried food and petting the myriads of livestock that are there to be judged. We left with sore bellies, hands that were surprisingly (and disappointingly) clean of animal germs and a full photo story of our day at the fair.
This year’s theme, “Taste The Fun,” left me eager to visit. After all, the best part of these events is a chance to try all the fried goods your belly can handle. Even better, because we went on a Tuesday, most vendors were offering a “Taste of the Fair” deal where one select item would only be $2.
I was eager to see what $2 deals most of the booths offered, but as we discovered, most of the deals were pretty bogus. You could buy half of a cinnamon roll that would ordinarily cost $4 for $2. Or you could get cotton candy, which was normally $2.50.
I have to admit, Mr. Tomato here had me disappointed by the time we walked halfway up the main drag.
Some of the places were even worse, offering $2 “tastes” that were literally a single bite of one of their dishes. I guess they thought it was a fair buy when they were already charging $14 for a basket of fried clams.
Regardless of the price though, the food is still one of the main attractions and these places were raking in the dough, particularly those places that offer more non-traditional fare, such as fried Snickers, Twinkies, etc. This place had a massive line all day. I think the light-up sign helped.
Surprisingly, the Heart Attack Cafe wasn’t that busy, but I suppose that was more due to its bad location than its lack of trendy foods. After all, it was the only place in the fairgrounds serving both deep fried butter and chocolate-covered bacon. The place sounded like a Neatorama post.
This was one of the two booths I finally chose to eat from. I’ve been dying to try deep-fried avacados for years and they were the only place selling them. While I was there, I also took a chance on the deep-fried s’mores. I do not regret telling you that I declined to try the Krispy Kreme custard donut chicken sandwich, which seems beyond revolting to me, despite its journalistic appeal. Have any of you tried it?
Nothing draws attention like oversized objects, and when you’re traveling along the highway, hungry people notice big food. During the 1930s, buildings that look like something else popped up all over to draw in travelers, and many still exist. See 24 examples of appetizing architecture in this collection. Shown is the Big Duck in Flanders, New York. Link -via the Presurfer
