At the fair: What’s for lunch?

What’s for lunch?

During the run of the S.C. State Fair, it’s more like, “What’s NOT for lunch?”

There are more than 90 food stands this year – and the weekday Lunch at the Fair promotion offers a great opportunity to sample them all.

Starting at noon weekdays, fair guests can exchange $5 cash for a ticket at the ticket booth for admission, then receive a $5 refund when they return their tickets by 2 p.m. That will grant you admission to eat all the food you can during those two hours.

To optimize those two hours of pure premium food fun, check out the offerings below, and plan your menu now.

New this year

Southern Belle Burger: Burgers don’t get any more Southern than this. Grab one of these burgers topped with pimento cheese, fried green tomatoes and, of course, bacon.

Bacon cinnamon rolls: Speaking of bacon, don’t miss these classic cinnamon rolls – also topped with crispy bacon.

Sriracha Fire and Ice Kreme: Sriacha’s good on everything, right? So why not serve it atop soft serve ice cream? Oh, and while you’re at it, throw in some corn chip crunch and top it all off with whipped cream.

Traditional favorites

The fair offers solid proof that there’s nothing you can’t batter and dip and fry in boiling grease. Among traditional fried favorites include candy bars, cookies, turkey legs, corn dogs and elephant ears (fried dough).

A few other longstanding traditional fair favorites:

Greek: Salads and gyros

Italian: Pizza and meatball subs

Mexican: Nachos, tacos and quesadillas

Asian: Tempura, egg rolls and teriyaki rice

Sweets: Cotton candy, caramel apples, snow cones

And, of course, no fair is complete without its quintessential staple –funnel cakes.

This story was originally published October 14, 2015 at 3:36 PM.