Where To Eat at the Orange County Fair

Sharing our thoughts and food reviews of the Orange County Fair today! So much to do and see, let’s take a look!

Orange County Fair

Cullen says:  Having only moved to California 4.5 years ago, we’re not too privy on the history and tradition of the OC Fair. This past week, our boys had a baseball camp right across the street so we couldn’t resist on doing a review of some of the food that sits hot and ready to be consumed by non-calorie counting people. All rules are left at the gate when it comes to food at the OC Fair. Over exaggeration is probably the theme when it comes to cooking or preparing recipes for the fair. Here we’ll show you some of the food we tried.

How Much To Get Into Orange County Fair

We arrived at 10:10am on a Saturday, the 2nd day it was open. Not crowded at all. Perhaps, everyone is at the beach, or it was because this just opened yesterday. Did you know if you show up on Saturday or Sunday between 10am to 11am, fair admission is only $3 per person for ages 6 and up. Age 5 and less than are free. This is a huge discount as adults, 13+ are normally $11 and children 6 to 12 are $6. We saved $22 for the 4 of us just for being bright and early. Also, before we ate even the smallest granule of sugar, we spent $22 for tickets and parking, the latter being $10.

Orange County Fair 2013-2

Right as we walked in, we ran into The Snout v2.o or The Grilled Cheese truck which is owned by BACON MANia Food Truck. We skipped over trying their staple Jack Back Sammie, which is a twice grilled bacon cheese sandwich for their more outrageous Spaghetti Doodle (pictured below). We should have gone for their staple but outrageous is the name of the game today.

Orange County Fair 2013-5

 Spaghetti inside a grilled cheese just didn’t tickle us pink and we thought it was just Ok. In the end, the Spaghetti Doodle just wasn’t outrageous enough for us. At least now we know about the BACON MANia Food Truck and will be on a lookout for them in the OC area. This baby runs you $9 and we give it a 5 out of 10. Good but didn’t blow us away.

The BEST Food To Eat At Orange County Fair

Orange County Fair 2013-3

Jenny says:  Bacon  A-Fair was next up. They had about anything and everything you could think of wrapped in bacon. They said their bacon wrapped portobello kebab was one of their favorite items, but for $15 a kebab, I decided to pass on that. Lots of other things to choose from.

Orange County Fair 2013-12

 Bacon A-Fair’s giant bacon wrapped turkey legs smoking on the grill looked delicious if you ask me.

Chocolate Covered Bacon

 The boys and I thought the obvious choice was chocolate covered bacon. The chocolate was really thick for the thin piece of bacon, but that’s just me being critical. It tasted good to us.

Orange County Fair 2013-7

 The bacon wrapped hot dog was quite tasty. Talk about a juicy smoky hot diggity dog on a stick. We were happy with this choice.

Orange County Fair 2013-17

 I was on the hunt for Chicken Charlie’s after hearing about his crazy Krispy Kreme Sloppy Joe Sandwich. We tried at least a half dozen menu items, let’s take a look at our madness.

What To Eat At Orange County Fair

Orange County Fair 2013-18

 We saw them grilling these chicken kebabs outside of their food station. They looked delicious, but unfortunately the one we ordered was overcooked and dry. Maybe you’ll have better luck.

Krispy Kreme Sloppy Joe

Who on earth thinks of a Krispy Kreme Sloppy Joe?! Well, you know we had to try it. Surprisingly it was pretty good. I was scared of the sweet and savory aspect being too extreme, but it wasn’t. Our only complaint is that they gave us a cold “sloppy joe” center. I thought maybe it was supposed to be cold and they later said it should be hot. Make sure yours is hot 🙂

Krispy Kreme Sloppy Joe

Orange County Fair 2013-24

 Too weird? You decide, haha!

Deep Fried Oreos

 Deep fried Oreo’s have been a state fair staple for a few years now. Always a treat.

Fried Food At The Orange County Fair

Orange County Fair 2013-23

 The deep fried avocados were just ok. I wouldn’t order them again.

Orange County Fair 2013-28

 We all agreed the deep fried bacon wrapped pickles were REALLY good. Sounds kinda weird, but totally worth the calories.

Orange County Fair 2013-25

 The huge surprise of our day of eating goes to the deep fried Klondike Bar. I’m not even a fan of Klondike Bars but something magical happens when it gets deep fried, no joke. The melting ice cream center makes the whole treat worth it. Yum, I want another!

Corn

Cullen insisted on the char-broiled corn. He raved about it. If you are into corn, we recommend this place. It was directly across from Chicken Charlie’s.

Cinnamon Rolls 1

 As if we were not stuffed to the gills, we passed by the homemade cinnamon roll booth in the exhibit hall. I ordered…..extra frosting.

Cinnamon Rolls 2

 I am not going to lie, even being really full, this was a darn good cinnamon roll. Do it.

Orange County Fair 2013-39

 A little later in our day at the fair, we picked up a waffle cone ice cream sandwich from this colorful place.

Waffle Cone Ice Cream Sandwich

Ice Cream Sandwich

 With sprinkles! It was half dipped in chocolate. 2 nice thin waffle cones. Cullen was the one who ate this one. He gave it 2 thumbs up, but would have preferred no sprinkles. Party pooper!

Basketball

 A little game stop. Cullen won Brady this AZ State Basketball he wanted so badly.

Texas Donuts

 I was also on the hunt for the Texas Maple Bacon Donut. For obvious reasons, lol!

Maple Bacon Donut

 It’s hard to tell from this picture, but it really is the size of your head. Massive and absolutely delicious. This baby will run you just under $10 so make sure you are hungry for it.

Orange County Fair 2013-50

The boys and I rode the sky rider back to the front of the park where I got this shot. It’s always fun to go to your County Fair and I will gladly eat as many crazy fried foods as humanly possible. Hope you’ve enjoyed our review of Where to Eat at the Orange County Fair. Chances are you can find the same grub at your local county fair 🙂

Our tip: Go knowing you are going to eat like crazy and share a bunch of items with friends/family so you get to try a little of everything.

27 Responses
  1. Shannon

    So bummed they didn’t have the Krispy cream sloppy joe this year but they said it will be at the LA County Fair! Might have to make a trip just for that HA! Corn was delicious & so was the fried Twinkie yum!

  2. Lynna

    I love going to the fair to see all the crazy fried goodness there. I love the rides too! But, everything is so expensive! LOL. When I go to the OC Fair, I always order corn on a cob!

  3. Amy @ So There by Amy

    Oh, I love your reviews! Thank you!
    It totally is such a disappointment when you pay, like $15, to try a new item, and it is just okay. BOO.
    Did you see the deep fried cookie dough? That is what I want to try this year!
    And I love that maple bacon doughnut! I have gotten it the past two years!

    So fun. Thanks for sharing! 🙂

  4. Kiran @ KiranTarun.com

    You guys are serious foodies!! Love that the whole family is so adventurous 🙂

  5. kimber

    Ahhhhhh fair food at it’s finest! When did it get so darn expensive to eat at the fair though?

  6. Carrie

    Fried pickles are awesome! I order them at bbq places sometimes. I may have to hit the fair this year. If you buy concert tickets, it comes with fair admission fyi (last year I saw Duran Duran and got to go to the fair too!)

  7. Victoria

    Jenny, I always enjoy your posts! You were the one who told me about Bruxie’s, and it is now a family favorite! Guess I’ll be making a trip to the OC fair very soon! 😀

  8. Gina

    Oh how I miss going every year. My favorite is the fish fry that kicks everything off. So good.

  9. Larissa

    So they wrapped pickles in bacon and deep fired them?? Genius!
    All that fair food looks soooo yummy. And messy. Need to hit up a county fair before the summer is out.
    Thanks for the post!

  10. madgevt

    I was ready to throw up but my husband was ready to go…..the bacon stuff was right up his alley. My hats off to you for trying all that stuff.

  11. Pamela @ Brooklyn Farm Girl

    I love a good grilled cheese truck.. MMM!
    Also I want all this food. All of it! I can’t decide…

  12. Heather Christo

    You guys are so adventurous lately! I am loving all of your reviews, and I want to take a nap in that cinnamon roll.

  13. Tieghan

    This is amazing! I wish so badly I lived somewhere near orange county! How darn fun and so darn delicious!

  14. Laura Dembowski

    Sounds like the perfect summer day at the fair! All the food looks so yummy. Really nice it wasn’t crowded too!

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