In little more than one month’s time, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo will draw more than 2 million people to its 85th annual celebration of bull riding, calf scrambles, potentially dangerous carnival rides and, of course, all your favorite deep-fried, gout-inducing food favorites.
While last year’s gluttonous highlights included bacon cotton candy and literal bucket loads of nachos, this year should be no different in terms of totally Instagrammable, edible fodder. Here now, a preview of Rodeo Houston’s new foods, according to show officials.
New Foods at the Ray Cammack Shows (RCS) Carnival Midway
- Selfie sno-cone, Candy Factory
- Flaming Hot Cheetos roaster corn and Flaming Hot Cheetos corn in a cup, Corn Shack
- Nitro pop kettle corn, Cowboy Kettle Corn
- Nutella funnel cake, Oreo churros with filling, Dutchman’s Funnel Cake
- Flaming Hot Cheetos pizza, Enzo’s Pizzeria
- Deep-fried Tim Tams, deep fried chocolate covered marshmallows, Fair Fix and Sweet Cheeks
- Chocolate-dipped mini pecan pie, Funnel Cake I and Funnel Cake II
- Bacon Nutella pickle, pickle cheese on a stick, Get Pickled
- Deep-fried baked potato bites, Spud Ranch
- Deep-fried nachos, spiral fry dog on a stick, Tater Twister
New Foods from New and Returning Vendors, Elsewhere
Rodeo Plaza
- Gourmet popsicles, Frio’s Gourmet Pops
- Rack of lamb with twice baked potato fries, Philly cheesesteak, The Finer Diner
The Junction
- Half version of the famous Corny Dog (for kids), Fletcher’s Corny Dogs
- The Harlon’s Turkey Leg Potato, Harlon’s BBQ
Arena
- Baklava, chicken gyro bowl, falafel on a stick, footlong corn dog, Greek platters (choice of sandwich with rice and side), Greek salad, gyro (beef and lamb, chicken, Mediterranean sausage, seafood and falafel options), home-cut fries, and gluten-free gyro bowls — Greek Grill
Circle Drive
- Gluten-free fried treats including funnel cake, Oreo-style sandwich cookies
- Churros, yeast and cake doughnuts
The Golden Buckle Foodie competition, which will be held on March 9, will determine the best of this year’s culinary delights. Last year’s champs included Custom Confection’s fried brownie ball with ice cream for Best Fried Food and Holmes Smokehouse’s bacon chili cheeseburger as the Classic Fair Food winner.
This article appears in Feb 2-8, 2017.
