Geddes, N.Y. — Today is your last chance to grab some deep-fried sugary, ride some rides and drink some wine slushies while watching some free concerts at the New York State Fair.
After Skid Row plays its last chord at Suburban Park, after the Beer Garden pours its last 16-ounce Utica Club, and after Bosco’s shaves its last spud for Potatoes O’Rielly, we will have another State Fair in the books.
Attendance is up over last year, with 95,591 stopping by on Saturday. Longtime vendors said visitors bought much more food and drinks this year than the past two fairs, despite rising wholesale food costs and rent.
So speaking of food costs, I spent some of my company’s dollars to find yet one last menu for those of you visiting the Fair today.
Today’s Menu
I write about food and drinks for syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. During the Fair, I choose one or two items I ate or drank and create a menu of what I think you’d like. After consecutive days of smoked brisket parfaits, maple-covered chicken tenders in pink waffle cones and frozen cheesecakes on sticks, it’s time to shock my digestive system back to normalcy. I need it, because even after walking a total of 70.81 miles with the 138,736 steps I took at the Fairground over the past 12 days, I still gained weight. My doctor will not be pleased.
So today, I’m offering to you a specially designed detox menu. I’m recommending tasty yet somewhat-healthy foods your body might appreciate. If you’re looking for traditional Fair food suggestions, I hereby direct you to my first 11 daily State Fair menus. You will find all kinds of saturated fat fun there.
Breakfast: No over-easy eggs with a side of Bacon Bomb this time. I went with a frozen fruit bowl from Baga Bowls, a new stand along Restaurant Row. They serve fruit-based bowls with no dairy or gluten.
A Copacabana Bowl from Baga Bowls on Restaurant Row at the New York State Fair. (Charlie Miller | cmiller@syracuse.com)
The base of the Copacabana Bowl is frozen bananas. Cold raspberries, apple chunks banana slices, cinnamon crunch cereal and strips of peanut butter filled out the 16-ounce bowl ($16).
By 10:30 a.m., the temperature was nearing 80, nearly 90 degrees if you figure in the humidity. The Baga Bowl was like having ice cream for breakfast, but without the dairy and extra sugar. It did its job cooling me off while filling me up.
Lunch: I bought a gyro almost every day here. Our State Fair has so many options, and I’ve tried them all. This time, though, I swapped the traditional Greek sandwich for a Greek salad.
The basic Greek salad at Ye-Ero’s is $10, but I had them add the lamb and tzatziki sauce for $7. It was worth every dime that the company spent.
A Greek salad from Ye-Ero's at the New York State Fair. (Charlie Miller | cmiller@syracuse.com)
It was pretty much just a gyro, but on top of lettuce, tomatoes, kalamata olives and other vegetables. It even had the grilled pita on the side. I’m not sure how healthy it was because it was doused with more tzatziki sauce than any gyro I had this year, but it was just as good as any gyro I had.
Mid-afternoon drink: The Latin Village is just beyond Restaurant Row, where the Asian Village was at the start of the Fair. Maria Rotella runs Exhale Bake Shop, one of few food stands here. She sells cupcakes, churros and tres leches cake. She also serves cold drinks.
One of her specialties is a Brazilian lemonade ($8). The non-alcoholic thirst-quencher is freshly-squeezed lime juice, a little water and sugar. Maria adds a touch of sweetened condensed milk and ice so it becomes frothy and slightly creamy when shaken. (No, there’s no lemon in this Brazilian lemonade.)
The Brazillian Lemonade from Exhale in the Latino Village at the New York State Fair. (Charlie Miller | cmiller@syracuse.com)
Dessert: Finding all this healthy food really worked up an appetite. To finish off the hot day, I visited Munjed’s Middle Eastern stand in the Eatery for another ice cream alternative. A 7-foot sign was advertising their new hummus shake ($8). A hummus shake?
It’s a vegan milkshake without the milk. It’s dairy-free, nut-free, gluten-free with no added sugar. It’s high in protein and high in fiber.
I scratched my head and asked the woman at the counter: “Is it fun-free too? And does it come with pita chips?”
The hummus shake from Munjed's Middle Eastern stand in the Eatery Building at the New York State Fair. (Charlie Miller | cmiller@syracuse.com)
She set me straight, saying I’d never know it’s not a true milkshake. Munjed’s mixes chickpeas, tahini, bananas, oat milk, dates, cinnamon and vanilla. It goes into a soft-serve ice cream machine to churn and freeze.
They machine dispenses the thick chocolate-looking icy drink into a basic milkshake cup. They finish with a squirt of coconut-based whipped topping on top.
It is certainly not devoid of fun, and it’s not devoid of flavor. This shake was the best shake (milk OR non-milk) I had at the Fair this year. This is just what those afflicted with an intolerance for lactose needed. It was a good thing because I left the Lactaid in the car.
Late-night snack: This probably doesn’t qualify for a detox menu, but I did go into this assignment saying I was just going to wean my appetite of fatty foods. On my way from the Yung Gravy concert to my car, I grabbed some bacon-wrapped scallops. They are seafood, which is supposed to be healthy. These mollusks just happened to be wrapped in bacon and cooked on a greasy flattop grill. Baby steps.
****
Beer of the day: The last day of the Fair tends to draw the hardcore fairgoers or some folks who originally planned to ignore it but changed their minds after developing a case of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). Erin McDowell, the head greenskeeper at the Beer Garden, picked Genesee’s Ruby Red Kolsch as our final drink of the day.
“Whatever your crowd, you won’t be disappointed when you sip on this extra light extra flavorful grapefruit kolsch,” Erinn said. “With one in hand you’ll feel extra empowered to find one last sausage sandwich, one last show at Suburban Park and one last spin on the ferris wheel.”
You might want to put the drink down first, though.
>> Detailed daily schedule for Monday, Sept. 3
Concerts
>> The High Kings, noon at Chevy Court
>> Hairball, Cancelled
>> Foghat, 4 p.m. at Chevy Court
>> Skid Row, 6 p.m. at Suburban Park
Fair Basics
Tickets: Entry to the fair is $6 for an adult. Seniors 65 and older get in free. So do kids 12 and under. You can buy tickets online in advance. You won’t be able to pay cash for tickets at the gate — you’ll need to purchase them on your phone, or using a kiosk at the gate. Your best bet? Get them ahead of time.The fair is offering a new “frequent fairgoer” ticket this year. It’s $20 and gets you access every day.
Hours: The Fair is open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. today; buildings open at 10 a.m.
Parking: Parking will run you $10 per car this year, up from $5 in previous years (you can thank New York’s lawmakers for that). You can pay with EZ Pass Plus or with a credit card at entrance to the parking lot. You can also buy parking passes in advance online.
Other rules: Smoking is only allowed outside the gates in designated area. You can bring coolers with food and non-alcoholic drinks. No pets are allowed, unless they are working dogs or in a competition. Visitors must wear a shirt and footwear. Alcohol will not be served after 10:30 p.m. each day.
State Fair newsletter: Stay up-to-date on all New York State Fair news, food, music, schedules and more with our free newsletter. While the Fair is ending today, we will keep you up to date all year long. And we won’t bombard you with emails.
****
Charlie Miller finds the best in food, drink and fun across Central New York. Contact him at (315) 382-1984, or by email at cmiller@syracuse.com. (AND he pays for what he and his guests eat and drink, just so you know.) You can also find him under @HoosierCuse on Twitter and on Instagram. Sign up for his free weekly Where Syracuse Eats newsletter here.
All daily 2023 State Fair menus
Meet the other rock stars who bring NYS Fair concerts to everyone
JID shows the future of hip-hop is in good hands (NYS Fair concert review, photos)
A rooftop tiki bar and other spots to beat the heat this weekend at the 2023 NYS Fair
Where can I find cheap beer? And can I carry it around? (NYS Fair mailbag)
‘A bikini contest for cows’: Inside the NYS Fair’s Dairy Barn show ring