11 OctOber 9 - 15, 2025 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents M ore than 2.4 million people visited the State Fair of Texas last year, hankering for fried food, games on the Midway and a few rides to make the little ones squeal. Big Tex is an icon, as are corny dogs, funnel cakes, and please don’t forget Boris, the 1,000-pound Yorkshire pig snoozing away all day, every day in the livestock barn. Oh, and if you’re not on those deep-fried peanut butter and jelly sand- wiches, you’re missing out. But in this economy? After the first week of the fair this year, instead of videos of this season’s fried sensa- tion — like cotton candy bacon on a stick of 2024 — videos show near-empty esplanades. Headlines call out high prices and the unaf- fordability of it all. But fairgoers aren’t the only ones struggling this year. Concessionaires are paying higher prices and finding ways to avoid outpricing their customers. They know budgets are tight and dollars are stretched, because theirs are too. Chocolate alone is up 71% from just last year. Turkey legs cost more than double what they did just two years ago. Everyone is feeling the steaming heat of inflation. It’s Still Cheaper Than Disney S o, how much does it cost a family to go to the fair? With a bit of strategiz- ing, a family of four could get a full experience for about $200, or $50 a person. This includes riding DART to avoid $30 parking, discounted tickets (there are many options) and sticking to the value food op- tions (actually a great selection; deep-fried Pop-Tarts are 9 coupons). Bringing your own water is a smart move, and everyone should budget for a couple of beers, because that’s the least we can do. The $200 also includes a ride or two and a couple of games. However, if you want to ride the big Ferris wheel, that’ll set a family of four back 64 coupons (16 per person), and each coupon costs $1. Trying to stick to a budget at the fair can get messy, however, especially with kids. Fairgoers usually underestimate the number of coupons they need the first few times, of- ten returning for more. DART can be com- plicated and crowded on busy weekends. Eating before you go seems counterintuitive, but take it from experience, hangry kids in long lines don’t make for a pleasant day out. We were fair first-timers once, and now we’re old pros. We like to go on Thrifty Thursdays after 5 p.m., when the tempera- tures are cooler and concessionaires have smaller portions at lower prices. You can also find cheaper parking, as parking lot at- tendees haggle for fewer cars (the State Fair of Texas only owns a couple of lots; most lots surrounding the fairgrounds are owned by independent business operators, and their prices fluctuate based on demand). Two hundred bucks, though, is much less than a trip to Disney, and the food at the fair is decidedly better. But, $200 is also a week’s worth of groceries. Some choices are made for us. The Unfair Cost of Business M ark Zable’s family has had a stand at the State Fair of Texas since 1964; when he was in diapers, he slept under the counters. Zable has 20 workers covering his two stands, which sell a variety of foods (Belgian waffles are a mainstay); they each work all day for 24 consecutive days, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. The thing about employees is that they can also haggle for wages, literally walking around the fair asking vendors if they need help and what they’re paying. However, most vendors have steady crews who return every year. We caught up with Zable the first week of the fair. He’d compared his bulk food or- der from supplier Ben E. Keith from last year with this year’s; costs have increased dramatically, not to mention increased labor costs, which he said have doubled since the COVID-19 pandemic. “Shrimp went from $62 a case to $74,” he says, and he goes through almost two cases a day. Last year, strawberries were $26 a flat. This year, he was quoted $34.50, but then found a lower price. “The big one, though, is chocolate,” he says. “Last year, for 20 kilos I paid $339.29, and this year it went up to $580.51. That is a huge change [71%]. I think that is probably the most terrifying change for me.” Chicken is a dollar more per pound. The price of liquid margarine has increased by $10 per case. The only way to cover his costs and labor, plus the 25% every concessionaire pays to the fair, is to increase prices. “There is no other option,” he says. Kathy Tran | CITY OF ATE | t Dish DEEP-FRIED STICKER SHOCK It’s not just fairgoers grappling with higher prices this year. By lauren drewes daniels >> p12 Some prices (and costs) at the fair are at an all-time high.
