State fair concessionaire, Isaac Rousso, knows how to please a crowd. Last year, he took home a Big Tex Choice Award in the “Best Taste” category for his deep fried Cuban roll. The combination of pork shoulder, ham and Swiss cheese is luscious. In an artery-clogging kind of way. While he didn’t take home a golden Big Tex statue this year, Rousso was a finalist for his deep fried Texas bluebonnet; a blueberry muffin made from scone batter that is stuffed with blueberries, cream cheese and white chocolate and topped with powdered sugar, blueberries, whipped cream and more white chocolate. Are you drooling yet?
Aside from dreaming up wildly delicious fair foods, Rousso mans the Magnolia Beer Garden at the State Fair of Texas. “The inspiration for the beer garden came from trying to find a place where we were able to create a softer, more relaxing environment. So, that the patrons would feel like they are part of the fair experience but still able to sit and relax and feel like they’re in an oasis,” he says.
The popular go-to spot for foamy cups of beer offers dozens of big-name, international and local choices — including Community Beer Company‘s Funnel Cake Ale. There is also food. “Fairgoers have the opportunity to try authentic-style street tacos or traditional German-style sausages with sauerkraut, but if [they’re] up for Cuban food, our ‘famous’ Cuban sandwich may be the answer.” The beer garden, which has been serving fair-goers for the past four years, received an upgrade this year with the newly-added Magnolia Pavilion. Aside from relaxing with a cup of beer, fairgoers can now catch a game on the enormous, ten-foot television or one of six, slightly smaller, flat screens TVs. “It’s a great place to watch sporting events and just relax and watch the fair-goers pass by.” The pavilion is located near the entrance of Gate 5, across from the Old Mill Inn.
