The Arizona State Fair is back in town from Sept. 19 to Oct. 26, 2025. The lineup of festivities includes an exciting schedule of concerts, classic rides, carnival games and over 25 brand-new food items to indulge in, from new takes on fair favorites to trendy items like Dubai chocolate and Mike's Hot Honey.
With a list that extensive, it would be impossible for one person to try everything. Lucky for you, we tried as many of the new items as we could, so you don't have to.
There were a few items that we were really excited to try, but when we went to the stalls that reportedly sold them, we were told that they were unavailable. Bill Goodykoontz was particularly excited about the Hot Dog Mac, but when we got to Maggs Mac Shack (#63), they did not have any hot dogs, so he went with the lobster mac instead.
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Despite some items being unavailable, we still ate more food than any human being probably should in one day. So without further ado, here are the best and worst things we ate at the Arizona State Fair.
Best: Dubai Chocolate Strawberry Cup
This was my first time trying anything with Dubai Chocolate, but certainly not my first time hearing about it. The delicacy has taken the internet by storm in recent months, so I was pretty excited to finally see what the hype is all about. What makes Dubai chocolate so special, you might be wondering? It's made with pistachio and kataifi, a shredded phyllo dough often used in Middle Eastern desserts.
The Dubai Chocolate Strawberry Cup comprised strawberries drizzled with chocolate and pistachio syrups with sprinkles of kataifi. I was actually disappointed that I could barely taste the pistachio — it tasted just like chocolate-covered strawberries, so it's really no surprise that it was good. As I got further down into the cup, more of the kataifi was present, adding an extra crunch but no distinct separate taste.
It didn't blow me away, but it definitely wasn't bad. I ate the full cup, at least.
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— Endia Fontanez
Details: $22 at Candy Factory (#30), Swirl Ice Cream (#38) and The Chocolate Strawberry Cup (#58).
Heading to the Arizona State Fair? Leave these bags, items at home for faster entry
Worst: Mike's Hot Honey Pickles
Pickles, topped with melted cheese, hot Cheetos and Mike's Hot Honey. To be completely honest, I had high hopes for these. It's made with four ingredients that I already know I like. But in practice, I felt like I was going to be sick before I could even swallow the single bite I took. I thought the pickles would be dipped in cheese, encrusted with Cheetos and drizzled with hot honey. But instead, the ingredients felt like they were thrown together like a nightmare cereal concoction, with the "hot" honey in a cup on the side. "Hot" is in quotes because, well, it wasn't hot at all. I essentially just poured honey over hot Cheetos and pickles. I do not recommend it.
Hot honey pickles served at the Arizona State Fair, topped with hot Cheetos and cheese Sept. 19, 2025, in Phoenix.
For what it's worth, some of the other reporters enjoyed them. The whole box didn't end up in the trash.
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— Endia Fontanez
Details: $12 at Biggy’s (#22, #17).
Best: Ice cream nachos
New to the fair are the ice cream nachos, which turned out to be a surprisingly fun and tasty treat. You start by choosing your base of soft-serve vanilla, chocolate or swirl, then pile on sauces ranging from caramel, hot fudge, cherry, peanut butter or pineapple. Additionally, you can top it with sprinkles or nuts. The “nachos” themselves are clever little circle waffle cone chips that serve as a substitute for tortilla chips. But what really makes it a must-get for me is the fact that it’s a cool and refreshing way to beat the relentless Arizona heat as you walk around the fairgrounds.
— Tiffany Acosta
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Details: $16 at Waffle Cone (#59)
Worst: Dubai chocolate Oreos
Deep-fried Dubai chocolate Oreos sound like an over-the-top dream, but honestly? It was a bit too much. Sure, the Oreo itself did its job, because Oreos rarely disappoint, but the heavy batter it was dunked in had the texture and flavor of a bad pancake. The promised chocolate drizzle turned out to be your run-of-the-mill Hershey’s syrup instead of rich melted chocolate, which felt like a missed opportunity. The pistachio sauce barely made an impression, but hey, at least the kataifi was crispy.
— Tiffany Acosta
Details: $16 at Fried a Fair (#19)
Fried Dubai chocolate Oreos served at the Arizona State Fair on Sept. 19, 2025, in Phoenix.
Best: Lobster Mac 'n Cheese
My favorite food at the fair started out as a disappointment. As an old friend, gone too soon, used to say, I had my mouth all set for hot dogs in macaroni and cheese. As happened fairly often, the stand was out of what we wanted.
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First nights at the fair are tough, almost like a soft open, where they’re working all the kinks out. Maggs Mac-Shack was no different. They had everything but hot dogs, so we settled.
For lobster.
That may sound like trading up, I know. But sometimes when you want to drive the dirt bike, the Rolls Royce seems like settling.
Mac and cheese is prepared on a griddle at Magg’s Mac Shack at Arizona State Fair on Sept. 19, 2025, in Phoenix.
Not in this case, though. For one thing, the way they cooked the macaroni was kind of cool. It was already done, but then tossed onto a flat-top griddle with cheese. It gave it a great texture and flavor. Once that was done, they added in chunks of lobster, also grilled at some point, but now residing in a steam tray.
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There was a sriracha sauce more dumped than drizzled on top of it all, which we ended up trying to avoid rather than eat. It wasn’t bad. It was just inescapable.
But that lobster! Very tasty, juicy, great texture, a real compliment to the macaroni. This was surprisingly tasty, and one of the few things we tried that didn’t consist of disparate ingredients thrown together into a dish that was more like a fourth-grade dare than something you would actually choose to eat.
In other words, extra points for no hot honey or Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.
― Bill Goodykoontz
Details: $22 at Maggs Mac-Shack (#63).
Fun times: The Arizona State Fair is back with 4 new rides you simply can't miss
Worst: Turkey Leg
A turkey leg is typically a fair classic. It’s what you think of when you think “fair food.” The one at the Arizona State Fair, however, was just disappointing.
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The new mini turkey leg with hot honey costs $16.96 at Biggy’s but I think you’re better off just saving your money. We were all struggling to bite into this dry hunk of meat. For me, after finally getting a bite, it took a couple of minutes to chew. It was a lot more work than it was worth and felt like chomping on cardboard.
Hot honey turkey leg served at the Arizona State Fair on Sept. 19, 2025, in Phoenix.
Oh, and the "hot honey," which isn't very hot to begin with, did nothing to combat the dryness, instead adding an oddly sweet glaze to it all.
— Dina Kaur
Details: $16.96 at Biggy's.
Best: Cotton Candy Bacon on a Stick
This one was the ultimate surprise. After dealing with the unpleasantness of the dry turkey leg, we headed over to Bacon Nation to try the new Cotton Candy Bacon on a Stick.
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Going into it, we all thought we would hate it. To our surprise, the dessert was actually a pleasant balance of savory and sweet.
It was a stick of what appeared to be pork belly wrapped in candied bacon, with bright pink cotton candy on top and two more pieces of bacon crowning the fluffy cloud.
The pork belly was tender and juicy, a welcome change from the dryness we had experienced before. The fairy floss was the perfect sugary touch; the only downside is that you had to eat it pretty quickly because the cotton candy was melting from the warmth and probably the grease of the pork.
If you’re looking to try something new at the Stare Fair this year, this might be a fun one. Cotton candy is always the safe way to go. And who doesn't love bacon?
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— Dina Kaur
Details: $17 at Bacon Nation (#82).
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona State Fair taste test: Best and worst new foods
[SRC] https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/articles/best-worst-foods-arizona-state-120134733.html
