dining out

I am SERIOUS about fair food. Serious. I’ve been known to take over an hour to walk around to every stall before deciding how to spend my fair food funds. The food is all so expensive, and honestly, in my experience, a little extra time can be the difference between a delicious meal and a mouthful of meat tough as leather or a gut greaseball. In fact, my mama still tells the story of how once she rushed to buy a ribeye sandwich because of the smell of the onion and green pepper wafting from a stall. It turned out it tasted like a shoe and took nearly a week to chew. bleck.

The South Mississippi Fair is in Laurel this week, so Sunday afternoon my family and I hopped over to eat, see the sights, and eat some more. (I’m too big of a scaredy cat to ride rides that only take a week to put together, and thankfully, my little guy is too small to even know what he might be missing). After significant “research” Here’s what I recommend you taste-test if you make it over that way this week!

WHAT TO DRINK:

Mcalpin’s Tea. It rivals McAllister’s in flavor…not too sweet OR two strong, but rather, JUST RIGHT. Also, even though it’s $3.50 There are REFILLS.

WHAT TO EAT:

The Potato Ribbons next to Mcalpin’s served with chili and ranch (Shown here JUST with ranch). They cut a whole potato RIGHT THERE for you, and then deep fry it to perfection. The sauces are just gilding the lily, but I mean, it’s the FAIR. $7. I know, that’s a lot of cash, but they’re worth it and you can share.

If you’re looking for chicken on a stick (and let’s be real, who isn’t?) The folks at TK’s chicken on a stick have been serving up something delicious for like 30 years and everyone says it’s THE BEST. Not too much grease and plenty of flavor. Also, served with hand cut potato strings.

Honestly, you can have all the burgers and foot long hot dogs or sausages you want, but you just CAN’T BEAT a fair corn dog. Covered in mustard and ketchup and for $4 from H&T concessions, it’s also a super great deal. BUT do make sure that your servers have on gloves and that the dog is cooked all the way through. If not, even the best corndog could be a recipe for food poisoning or a stomach bug.

Dessert:

• Deep Fried Oreos. Need I say more?
• Everyone goes nuts for Landrum’s old fashioned churned ice cream. I mean, he makes it WHILE YOU WATCH. If you’re looking for something fresh and refreshing, (Because October in Mississippi is still very, very hot.) this is the way to go.
• Funnel Cakes. I mean, I’ve never met a bad one. I didn’t try any this go around because– fried oreos–but it’s such a classic and there are so many different stalls making them, you can’t go wrong.
• Nutty Bars- Ice cream, covered in chocolate, covered in nuts. OK, you can get this at pretty much any grocery store in town, but still. The Fair in South MS can be pretty hot (see old fashioned ice cream)

What I wish I’d tried:

Ok, so I’m pretty sure y’all already know about my Chicken and Dumplins’ obsession… and not one but TWO of the large covered stationary stalls in the center of the fair had this as an option. I don’t know if they’d be as good as my grandmothers, but seriously, can they be BAD? This, along with the turnip greens they served just seemed like it should be a given at a south Mississippi fair. Ya dig?

Also, Tom’s Concessions (I think) had a pretty mean looking BBQ sandwich that I wanted to try but was too full.

Steer Clear of this (in my opinion):

As I’ve already said, ribeye sandwiches and Philly cheese steaks SMELL divine. The peppers, the onions, the steak. But, I’ve had pretty bad experiences with these as the meat is usually cheap and tough…but I didn’t try this at our fair so I can’t speak to their quality this year, but, just as a rule I avoid them.

The sno cones. I’m a sno cone snob… if it’s regular ice rather than shaved ice and if they tell you your flavor choices are “red,” “blue,” “green,” or “purple” that’s not a great sign. Obviously, we went with the sno cone anyway but only because this was the one thing my kiddo said he wanted.