Local and out-of-town vendors dish up fan favorites and new flavors at the fairgrounds.
BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Erie County Fair is back, and so is the food. This year’s vendors are serving up everything from award-winning mac and cheese to sizzling Brazilian barbecue and sweet frozen treats.
Brody’s Mac & Cheese returns
One of the big names returning to the fairgrounds this year is Brody’s Mac and Cheese, last year’s winner for “Best of Fair.” The business is owned by Jeremy Limerick from Punxsutawney, Pa., and named after his 13-year-old son, Brody.
“We have Brody’s Mac and Cheese, which was here last year. We won Best of Fair, and we brought our barbecue trailer this year,” Limerick said.
The mac and cheese comes in several varieties, including “boom boom” chicken mac and cheese and hot honey mac. From their new barbecue trailer, they’re also serving up “hog fries,” a combo of fries topped with pulled pork, cheese, and more.
Limerick says returning to Hamburg was an easy decision.
“It was our first year here last year, and the people here just welcomed us with open arms,” Limerick said. “The fair’s beautiful… it’s like Disneyland for 12 days.”
Brazilian Bowls brings charcoal-grilled flavor
Another standout vendor is Brazilian Bowls, where people have no problem waiting in long lines for owner Devin Falcon’s South American-style bowls.
“We do it over a charcoal grill, a rotisserie charcoal grill,” he said. “We make like a Chipotle-style bowl, but better.”
Guests can choose chicken, steak, or shrimp served over rice, beans, and fresh toppings. Falcon is also showcasing a new item this year: a pineapple pork sandwich, grilled on a showpiece rotating grill.
“It’s like a pork sandwich with a whole piece of pineapple on it,” Falcon said. “People stop just to look at the grill spinning.”
Cool down with Sweet Treats
When the temps climb, the ice cream stands like Polar Bear Ice Cream draw big crowds. This year, they’re going all out with options like frozen bananas, cheesecake, hard and soft serve, and banana splits.
Their entry to the New Food Showdown: a Biscoff cookie butter ice cream sandwich.
“We have a chocolate wafer cookie on top, a chocolate chip cookie on the bottom, and in the middle is our homemade Biscoff cookie butter ice cream,” Joseph Thiel said. “Then we dip that in chocolate and roll it in crushed Biscoff cookies.”
Local ties and a tailgater twist
For a more savory snack with local flavor, Josh’s Delicious Tacos out of Attica is introducing “The Tailgater.”
“It’s Buffalo chicken and Cool Ranch Doritos with all the toppings,” said owner Josh Phelp. “Just a variation of taco-in-a-bag with a Bills twist.”
Phelp is a fourth-generation concessionaire at the fair. His great-grandfather set up shop decades ago with a pop-up skillet stand, and the family’s been a fixture ever since.
“It’s definitely a family tradition,” Phelp said. “My wife’s running around here somewhere. We have a couple different units out here and I’m sure my dad who’s retired now will be around at some point. It’s just nice to keep the tradition going and stay in Western New York.”
To vote in the Fair’s New Food Showdown, just scan the QR code on the front of each vendor’s booth.
