Video: Oh the frieds we tried at the State Fair of Texas

A direct report of our adventure with fried beer, margaritas, frito pie, and salad.

Looking for the fried foods at the 2011 State Fair of Texas? Click here.

Pegasus News at the State Fair of Texas (September 24)

Let's try some fried food ...

Photo by Sarah Blaskovich

Here's all that was left of our Texas Fried Fritos Pie. It was that good.

FAIR PARK — The smell of fried food was already floating through the air when we arrived at the State Fair of Texas just in time for the festival to begin. Onto the first tent we marched, in search of the 2010 Big Tex Choice Awards finalists. And by that we mean fried food.

We tried four of the eight Big Tex Choice Awards finalists. If you're headed to the fair for frieds, it's best to print out this map so you know where all eight are sold.

Fried beer was up first and proved to be our least favorite. Beer encased in dry ravioli made for a salty, bitter taste, though we have to commend them for their creativity. For fried beer shoppers, it costs 10 coupons, is available before noon (it's five o'clock somewhere!), and they will ID you.

Photo by Sarah Blaskovich

Fried margaritas are served with bits of funnel cake and whipped cream. It was by far the fanciest of the fried foods.

The fried margaritas were sugary-sweet and tangy, with a delicious kick of tequila. We were served the very first fried margarita of the day by a team of cooks who prepared the gorgeous dessert with care. We now think that all margaritas should come with shavings of funnel cake. It makes the high-calorie delicacy even more sinful.

Photo by Sarah Blaskovich

Texas Fried Fritos Pie is served with a side of salsa and sour cream. And probably love. We think we found some love inside there.

We agree with the judges about Texas Fried Fritos Pie: It was indeed the best of the four frieds we tried. The insides were still steaming hot when we sank our teeth into the bite-sized nuggets of chili, cheese, and Fritos. If the State Fair could be embodied with a single plate of food (and you didn't choose “corny dog”), fried Frito pie it is. This is a must-try.

Photo by Sarah Blaskovich

Fernie's Fried Club Salad with a side of fried sour dough croutons. It also came with a side of dressing, and I chose ranch, naturally.

We finished with Fernie's Fried Club Salad, a wrap of sorts with ham, cherry tomatoes, and melted cheese inside, among other things. Though the fried salad didn't look like a fried leaf of salad, it had all the fixin's of a club salad inside, right down to the ranch served on the side. We would eat salad for every meal it if tasted this yummy. The salad came with deep-fried sour dough croutons on a stick. The women working the booth said the croutons are everyone's favorite, but I found them to taste just like crunchy croutons with excessive parmesan. It's best to save your bites for the fried salad itself.

The four awards finalists we didn't try were fried lemonade, fried chocolate, fried Texas caviar, and deep fried S'mores Pop Tart. If you do, please tell us how they taste! The Brad has some good photos of the fried food, too.