Get Your Minnesota State Fair Food In Your Very Own Home
State fairs typically attract large crowds of people, and so like all events that attract large crowds of people, they will not be happening this year. Some states have made attempts to pivot by going virtual, which is great if you want to admire butter sculptures and llama costume contests, but not so much if you want to eat the food. Some states had a plan for that, too: drive thru! One of those states was Wisconsin, a mere hour from Takeout world HQ, and we were all set to check it out, but our enthusiasm faded when we learned that fairgoers were advised to go in with a full tank of gas because the lines were hours long. That was too much, even for people who love a deep-fried Oreo as much as we do.
The practical folks of Minnesota have a much better plan: they'll ship the state fair directly to your house! State Fair To Go, a newly-formed company based in Minnetonka, will, for a mere $59.95, send you a care package containing food from six of the Minnesota State Fair's most beloved vendors. The box includes grilled corn, corn dogs, French fries, cookies, mini-donuts, and cheese curds, and it also contains cooking instructions to grill, deep fry, bake, or microwave them as needed.
It seems to me that none of these things will taste as good reheated at home, and that you can probably get the same effect from buying frozen stuff at the grocery store or trying to make it yourself from scratch, but I have also never been to the Minnesota State Fair, so maybe all these vendors really are worth all the trouble, especially if your family is cursing you out for not securing a ticket to the Minnesota State Fair Food Parade, which sold out in a mere two hours. (Minnesotans take their state fair food seriously!)
In any case, Josh Zemansky, the entrepreneur behind State Fair To Go, reports that already the venture is succeeding beyond his expectations. "I had no idea what the public response would be, and man are they excited about this," he told KARE-11, the Minneapolis NBC affiliate. "As an entrepreneur, this has been a blast."
Zamansky said he's already been contacted by officials from other state fairs, so if your loyalties tend toward New York or Iowa, there's hope for you yet.