SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WMBD) — The State Fair is a great opportunity for Illinoisans to get together and share their accomplishments, learn about one another, and enjoy all that Illinois has to offer.
But, more importantly, it gives us a chance to eat fair food.
WMBD Digital Producer Maggie Strahan set out to determine the most popular food at the Illinois State Fair, and she involved 100 other fairgoers.
Maggie asked 100 strangers these two questions while at the State Fair on Tuesday.
- What’s your favorite fair food?
- What stand do you get it from?
Everyone is very opinionated about the best fair food, but by numbers alone, there was a clear winner: corn dogs from Vose Fine Food.
Four people said they’d get a corn dog from anywhere, but 25 people said they will only get corn dogs from Vose.
Second place was Culler’s French Fries, with 16 people swearing their loyalty to the local stand.
Third place went to another State Fair classic, the lemon shake-up. It’s like lemonade, but shaken like a cocktail and quite a bit more sugary. Many people get them from Vose while they’re there for a corn dog, but shake-ups are offered all across the fairgrounds.
Honorable mention: Funnel cakes came in fourth, with 11 votes. A majority of funnel cake loyalists said the best ones come from “that stand by Gate 6.” Surprisingly, the stand doesn’t seem to have a name, but this descriptor is very helpful.
Mini donuts from The Donut Family got nine votes, The Original Ribeye Sandwich got five, the Pork Patio Pork Chop tied with corn dogs (from any stand) each with four votes, French fries (from any stand) tied with Dairy Building ice cream at three votes, and fried Oreos rounded out the list with two votes.
