This article is excerpted from the Utah Eats newsletter, compiled by Kolbie Peterson, The Salt Lake Tribune’s food and drink reporter. To get the full newsletter in your inbox every Wednesday, become a subscriber by going to sltrib.com/newsletters.

Hello, Eaters!

The Utah State Fair is happening through Sunday, at the Utah State Fairpark, at 155 N. 1000 West in Salt Lake City. If you’re into weird food, it’s the place to be. And where else can you shop for fake samurai swords, friendship bracelets, airbrushed T-shirts and hot tubs all in one place?

This year, there are six new foods at the fair. My editor gave me the task of sampling each one, and I fell upon the challenge with the enthusiasm of a person with much lower cholesterol than me.

I ranked the six foods from the worst to the best, and also gave them scores (out of four stars) based on taste, appearance, eatability and bonkersness. Without further ado and any scientific method, here we go:

6. Funeral potato twister ($11)

From: Twister Fries.

Taste: ★

Appearance: ★★

Eatability: ★★

Bonkersness: ★★

It was a spiralized potato that was deep fried; sprinkled with cheese, chopped chives and bacon; and drizzled with the unfortunately named “funeral sauce,” and it was also stone cold, so none of the cheese melted and all of the toppings fell off. All that was left was basically cold potato chips dripping with oil, stuck on a stick. Yuck.

5. Pizza on a stick ($8)

From: Papa Gino’s Pizza & Wings.

Taste: ★

Appearance: ★

Eatability: ★★★

Bonkersness: ★★

When this pizza on a stick arrived in my hands, I realized it was a piece of French bread pizza stuck onto a stick, not pizza dough wrapped around a stick like I had hoped. Somehow the back was burned almost black, but the cheese on the top was hardly melted. There also was hardly any sauce. I think it was a good idea, just bad execution.

4. Caprese pizza ($8)

From: The Pie Pizzeria.

Taste: ★★★

Appearance: ★★★

Eatability: ★★

Bonkersness: ★

When I was able to get a bite that contained pizza, tomato, basil and balsamic reduction, it was actually a pretty good bite. But the pizza was on the cold side, and the tomatoes were hard to bite into, so I had to awkwardly hold the tomato on the slice while I tried to get a bite of it instead of having it slide off in one piece. Also, it was pretty basic as far as fair food goes.

3. Spam fries ($16)

From: The Spam Stand.

Taste: ★★

Appearance: ★★★★

Eatability: ★★★★

Bonkersness: ★★★★

Now we’re talkin’. It’s a whole block of Spam, sliced into fries, deep-fried and served in a Spam can. Love the concept, the weird factor, the cute presentation and the ease of eating the “fries,” but Spam usually just grosses me out.

2. Corn ribs ($9)

From: CHB Curly Fries.

Taste: ★★★★

Appearance: ★★

Eatability: ★★★★

Bonkersness: ★★

I ordered corn ribs not knowing exactly what “corn ribs” were, but they ended up being whole cobs of corn sliced lengthwise into quarters, and then roasted and topped with spicy mayo and parmesan cheese. They weren’t very photogenic, but I thought they were delicious, and I didn’t feel as guilty eating them as I did other fair foods.

And No. 1 is … the Dish of the Week. Keep reading to find out.

Live deliciously,

Kolbie

Food News

Openings:

• LOMA is a new Italian restaurant at 900 Main Street in Park City. Spearheaded by Adam Ross of another Park City eatery, Twisted Fern, LOMA is open for dinner at 4 p.m. nightly, and brunch on Saturdays and Sundays from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., according to the restaurant’s website.

• Protein House, 1364 N. Freedom Blvd. Suite 1364, Provo. According to a Facebook post, this family-owned business got its start at the Provo Farmers Market and just opened a brick-and-mortar location. It serves plant-based protein shakes, energy and hydration drinks, pre- and post-workout drinks, protein gluten-free waffles, protein smoothie bowls and more.

• Pinkbox Doughnuts, known for its over-the-top doughnuts and storefronts, recently announced that it was going to be opening locations in Sandy and American Fork in early 2025, according to FOX 13 (with which The Salt Lake Tribune has a content-sharing agreement). The Sandy location will be at 10235 S. State St., while the American Fork store will be located at 610 W. Main St., FOX 13 reported.

Closings:

• The Locker Room, an LGBTQ sports bar at 1063 E. 2100 South in Sugar House, and its neighboring restaurant, Fiddler’s Elbow Roadhouse, have closed, Gastronomic SLC reported last week. (The Tribune has a content-sharing agreement with Gastronomic SLC.) I wrote a story about The Locker Room’s drag brunch in 2023.

Dish of the Week

1. Korean corn dog

From: West Coast Weenies.

Taste: ★★★★

Appearance: ★★★★

Eatability: ★★★★

Bonkersness: ★★★★

If you want to eat the quintessential Utah State Fair food, spend $20 on a Korean corn dog (pictured at the top) and don’t look back. This glorious 10 inches of corn dog is actually about 3 inches of melted mozzarella cheese and then 7 inches of hot dog, all dipped in a thick batter and deep fried until crispy, then sprinkled with ground-up hot Cheetos, drizzled with spicy mayo, sprinkled with more hot Cheetos, and drizzled with even more spicy mayo. Surprisingly, though, it wasn’t too spicy. The slightly sweet batter contrasted nicely with the cheese and hot dog, and the whole thing nailed the bonkers fair vibe.