Iowa State Fair new food reviews 2024: What you need to know

Welcome to our special series this week, where we give you our honest fair food thoughts and let you know if it's "fair" for your money.

First up: The candied bacon gnocchi — a rich Alfredo sauce topped with herbs and parmesan cheese.

• The potato dumplings are gluten-free.

Jason's thought bubble: The sweet and salty bacon pairs nicely with the sauce.

🧈 Butter ranking: one stick = ick; five = don't miss it

• Aesthetics: 🧈🧈🧈
• Creativity: 🧈🧈🧈
• Overall taste: 🧈🧈🧈🧈

Try it: Destination Grill, west of Jacobson Exhibition Center.

What's next: Check back here.

• We'll post additional reviews of new foods in the coming days!

Illusion Ice Cream

Bauder's Ice Cream is serving up "Illusion Ice Cream" ($10), which has a fun twist.

• Vanilla ice cream is served with a chocolate shell and warm strawberry syrup with a cherry on top.

Linh's thought bubble: This new sundae is a creamy delight. The warm syrup breaks down the thick chocolate shell, so it wraps around the ice cream.

• It tastes like the frozen version of those old-school chocolate-covered cherries. Ask to see a demo!

🧈 Butter ranking: One stick = meh. Five = don't miss it.

• Aesthetics: 🧈🧈🧈
• Creativity: 🧈🧈🧈
• Overall taste: 🧈🧈🧈🧈

Try it: Bauder's Ice Cream, southwest of Agriculture Building

Deep-fried Hot Cheeto Pretzel

Hot Cheetos are all the rage at the Iowa State Fair, including this fried pretzel smothered with nacho cheese and Flamin' Hot Cheeto crumbles ($8).

Linh's thought bubble: It looked like something made by Cheech & Chong.

• By that, I mean it tastes like somebody went to a gas station late at night, grabbed a stale pretzel and drenched it with whatever they could find.

🧈 Butter ranking: One stick = meh. Five = don't miss it.

• Aesthetics: 🧈
• Creativity: 🧈🧈
• Overall taste: 🧈

Try it: Smith's, east of Riley Stage and south of the Administration Building.

Apple fries

Apple Fries are true to their name: deep-fried fruit sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon.

• They come with a side of caramel dipping sauce.

💬 Jason's thought bubble: The dish is like warm pie.

• It's a perfect fair-inspired dessert.

🧈 Butter ranking: one stick = ick; five = don't miss it

• Aesthetics: 🧈🧈
• Creativity: 🧈🧈🧈🧈
• Overall taste: 🧈🧈🧈🧈

Try it: Applishus, on the main floor of the Agriculture Building or at the east canopy of the Varied Industries Building.

Deep-fried bubble gum

Linh here. When I saw the list of new fair foods, I was instantly intrigued by the deep-fried bubble gum from Bubbly.

• In my head, I imagined a wad of Dubble Bubble, greasy and fried.

State of play: I'm happy to say, the dessert concoction doesn't involve any oily gum wads.

What it is: A fluffy, marshmallow bite dipped in bubble-gum funnel cake batter, fried and with a sweet drizzle.

Linh's thought bubble: This is a fun, creative take on gum that isn't overly sweet.

• The marshmallow fluff mimics the stickiness of gum, while the actual bubble gum taste is light.

🧈 Butter ranking: one stick = meh; five = don't miss it

• Aesthetics: 🧈🧈🧈
• Creativity: 🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈
• Overall taste: 🧈🧈🧈🧈

Try it: Bubbly, up by Grandfather's Barn at the top of the hill