Eating at Montgomery County Fair

[DonRocks]

Your best bet for passable fare here may well be the Pit Beef Sandwich ($6.50) in Building 5F. While they aren't sliced to order, they're actually cooking the beef (and ham, and turkey) out back, and some of my meat was even pink - horseradish and cayenne pepper sauce are available. There are a couple roasted corn stands, decent-looking popcorn by Baker's Kettle Corn, and another barbecue stand run by Blue Ribbon Barbecue which has a place on Muncaster Mill Road in Derwood.

Avoid the grim dining hall which is nominally run by Golden Bull Grand Cafe, but is nothing more than a steam table set up in what looks like an Elks lodge banquet hall. The Big Cheese (also called Ye Olde Cheese Shoppe on the side of the building) is selling pre-packaged slabs of cheap, bulk "Wisconsin" cheddar. The Dairy Bar is serving Briggs ice cream, complete with a delivery truck out back. Chesapeake Crab Dawg Company has a seductive-sounding Crab Dawg which looks exactly like a greasy, heavy-handed, deep-fried egg roll. There's a cheesy latino-themed place nearby, and also two Asian-themed stands (can't remember the name), all of which looked just awful.

I've done all I can do, and ultimately can't stop you if you're really intent on slutting it up: You'll find funnel cakes, huge slices of nasty pizza, nachos with congealed, orange sauce, and even Deep Fried Oreos for $5. The food stands on the midway are slick-looking, colorful, pre-fab eye catchers specifically designed for carnivals, but everything I saw in them looked abysmal. My advice is to stay simple, and head for Building 5F.

Cheers,

Rocks.

[squidsdc]

Your best bet for passable fare here may well be the Pit Beef Sandwich ($6.50) in Building 5F. While they aren't sliced to order, they're actually cooking the beef (and ham, and turkey) out back, and some of my meat was even pink - horseradish and cayenne pepper sauce are available. There are a couple roasted corn stands, decent-looking popcorn by Baker's Kettle Corn, and another barbecue stand run by Blue Ribbon Barbecue which has a place on Muncaster Mill Road in Derwood.

Avoid the grim dining hall which is nominally run by Golden Bull Grand Cafe, but is nothing more than a steam table set up in what looks like an Elks lodge banquet hall. The Big Cheese (also called Ye Olde Cheese Shoppe on the side of the building) is selling pre-packaged slabs of cheap, bulk "Wisconsin" cheddar. The Dairy Bar is serving Briggs ice cream, complete with a delivery truck out back. Chesapeake Crab Dawg Company has a seductive-sounding Crab Dawg which looks exactly like a greasy, heavy-handed, deep-fried egg roll. There's a cheesy latino-themed place nearby, and also two Asian-themed stands (can't remember the name), all of which looked just awful.

I've done all I can do, and ultimately can't stop you if you're really intent on slutting it up: You'll find funnel cakes, huge slices of nasty pizza, nachos with congealed, orange sauce, and even Deep Fried Oreos for $5. The food stands on the midway are slick-looking, colorful, pre-fab eye catchers specifically designed for carnivals, but everything I saw in them looked abysmal. My advice is to stay simple, and head for Building 5F.

Cheers,

Rocks.

But you can feel good that whatever you may eat, it'll be trans-fat free!

[DanielK]

Your best bet for passable fare here may well be the Pit Beef Sandwich ($6.50) in Building 5F. While they aren't sliced to order, they're actually cooking the beef (and ham, and turkey) out back, and some of my meat was even pink - horseradish and cayenne pepper sauce are available.

Good call.

They were very happy to fill an order of "rare" beef, and with some raw onions, horseradish, and a bit of hot sauce, it was easily the best choice at the fair. They're a Carroll County catering firm, and they definitely know Ballimer-style pit BBQ.

[AlexC]

I had a pretty tasty carolina bbq pork sandwich from the Blue Ribbon BBQ stand (www.blueribbonbbq.net)... that and a triple-helping of demolition derby awesomeness.

Alex

[bookluvingbabe]

We went too early to on Saturday for most of the food stands to be open but I did get my annual funnel cake. I figure once a year, how bad can it be for me????

[rkduggins]

Our meal was not as satisfying as going to the exhibits and being able to point out the breed of pig that my +1 ate from my Liberty Tavern leftovers the night before (Duroc)

[Gillian Clark]

I am a fair food fanatic...can you tell? Don't answer that. Three ears of roasted corn on top of just about everything else. The toothpicks at the corn stand were a great touch.

[goodeats]

Funny how times passes by so quickly sometimes. Did anyone go last year? Any new, shareable food additions??

This year's fair will be from August 13-21.

[Ericandblueboy]

Question for IP lawyers. Can the fair selling Bloomin Onions when that's an Outback registered trademark? My favorite food at Carnivals are gyros - the last one I had at the Bedford (PA) Fall Foliage Festival was better than any Gyro I've had in the DC area (actually, I've only had gyros in G'town, McLean, and Vienna).

[goodeats]

Question for IP lawyers. Can the fair selling Bloomin Onions when that's an Outback registered trademark?

Spelling, enforcement and common usage. Can sell (violating TM, of course) until enforced (typical cease and desist), but this one may be falling under the "kleenex" rule.

[jayandstacey]

Question for IP lawyers. Can the fair selling Bloomin Onions when that's an Outback registered trademark? My favorite food at Carnivals are gyros - the last one I had at the Bedford (PA) Fall Foliage Festival was better than any Gyro I've had in the DC area (actually, I've only had gyros in G'town, McLean, and Vienna).

Well, technically the fair is advertising, not selling, Bloomin Onions. I suspect the actual seller has a different name, and that if told, the fair people would change their ad verbiage. From the Outback standpoint, it is another bit of evidence that their trademark has become a standard name and offering.

I wonder if the fried Oreos actually include Oreos, or the evil Hydrox wannabes. I lose sleep on this issue.

[ol_ironstomach]

I wonder if the fried Oreos actually include Oreos, or the evil Hydrox wannabes. I lose sleep on this issue.

IIRC, Hydrox predate Oreos by a year or two, so... [ eta: four years, it turns out: Hydrox (1908), Oreos (1912) ]

[jayandstacey]

IIRC, Hydrox predate Oreos by a year or two, so... [ eta: four years, it turns out: Hydrox (1908), Oreos (1912) ]

And they taste it

[Ericandblueboy]

Corn dog $3. The batter is very sweet. I saw Dipsy Dog mix at one stand, not sure if all the vendors use that mix.

Egg Roll $2 at Chan's Famous. It's a smallish eggroll with lots of white/black pepper.

Carne Asada Tacos 2 for $6. Pretty tasty, each served with 2 corn tortillas.

Italian Sausage $7, oversized bun, flavorless red pepper and onion (I threw them away),

Gyro at Demitrio $8. They said it's huge but it's mostly shredded iceberg lettuce with a ton of thick super garlicky sauce (I hesitate to call it tzatziki).

Overall - some of the worst fair food I've ever had. We were recently at Greensburg IN fair. It's a tiny city with nothing yet they had better food.

[Ericandblueboy]

The vendors are exactly the same - as far as I can tell.

Got a corn dog and a polish sauage at a vendor closest to the rides. After a couple of bites of the polish sausage, I threw it away.

The beef and chicken tacos were both overcooked. The pupusa was okay.

Gyro at St. Mary's Church stand was pretty good.

Not sure it was really worth $30 (two adult tickets and parking) just to go eat. Okay, I'm sure it wasn't worth it. We'll find some other fair next year.