Let’s be real: Often fair food is merely a vehicle for sugar and sodium slop with a plop of nostalgia. Not so at the 2025 OC Fair. This year the annual fair swings for the fences, bringing some seriously unhinged yet delicious new eats to Costa Mesa. Everything from mozzarella meatballs on a stick to bacon cotton candy, blue raspberry Dole Whip and even frog legs will be available in handheld form, in addition to classic fair fare.
The OC Fair, celebrating its 135th year, will run from July 18 through Aug. 14. The fair is bracing for roughly a million visitors, all of whom — in between roller coaster thrills, baking showdowns, livestock exhibits and live tunes, will require some serious sustenance. And while you can still get your hands on the classics, like corndogs and funnel cake, this year’s theme of “Find Your Happy” is a clear directive for you to discover your own culinary bliss.
The following is just a taste of the new, boundary-pushing snackage coming to the OC Fair this year.
Bacon Nation
Bacon cotton candy and pork belly on a stick: Sure to be the must-have item at this year’s fair, the new bacon cotton candy feature’s Bacon Nation’s thick cut, smoked pork belly enrobed by bacon-flavored cotton candy, studded with even more bacon on top. “We serve it as one big poof ball with a huge chunk of pork belly inside,” said Nate Janousek, co-owner and chef of Bacon Nation and Spud Ranch concessions. “You get sweet and savory, you get that fluffy cotton candy texture, and you get the smokiness from the pork belly.”
Bacon-wrapped carnitas burrito: Janousek offers a new burrito that’s filled with beans, rice and carnitas. “We cook it slowly until it’s tender and falls apart,” he said. Gliding the lily, he then wraps the burrito in bacon, which is then fried and served with homemade salsa, sour cream and cheese. “It’s the bomb dot com,” he added.
Location: Family Fairway
The Candy Factory
Chocolate Dubai strawberry cup: Making his 33rd appearance at the OC Fair this year, Dominic Palmieri debuts the Chocolate Dubai Strawberry Cup this year. But unlike the innumerable Dubai chocolate concoctions flooding the market, which sometimes use a fraudulent filling made with white chocolate and pistachio flavoring, Palmieri’s stuff is the real deal. “There’s a global shortage of pistachio cream right now, but we have secured over 100 gallons of pistachio cream that will be then mixed with our kadayif and we create Dubai chocolate cups.”
Ice cream nachos: Using shards of broken sugar cones that act as the nachos “chips,” these sweet nachos come with vanilla ice cream and sauces in different flavors.
Location: Carnival
County Fair Cinnamon Rolls
Tres leches cinnamon roll: Just as the name suggests, the new tres leches cinnamon rolls for 2025 parallel the cinnamon and ultra-dairy flavors of the famed tres leches cake.
Location: Livestock
Chicken Charlie’s
Bean and cheese waffle cone: Collaborating with Foodbeast (shout out to the Santa Ana-based food and drink publication!) for the first time, Charlie Boghosian’s Chicken Charlie offers a new bean and cheese waffle cone. Just as it sounds, it’s a cone of bean and cheese.
Frog legs: While not new to Chicken Charlie’s, the frog legs are a tip of the hat to Boghosian’s childhood in Damascus, Syria. “When I was young and growing up in Damascus, my uncle was a frog leg hunter, and he would always bring frog legs to the house where he would skin them, batter them and fry them,” he said. Now you can taste part of Boghosian’s heritage at the fair.
Lobster mac and cheese cone: Luxe dish lobster mac and cheese gets the fair treatment by being shoved into an edible cone.
Mozzarella meatballs on a stick: What could very well be one of the most sought after dishes at the OC Fair 2025, Boghosian’s mozzarella meatballs on a stick takes the corndog format to a new level: three meatballs and three pieces of mozzarella are plunged onto a skewer, battered and fried golden brown. “They’re like kebabs, if you will.”
Location: Main Mall
Enzo’s
Chicharron and pork-a-palooza pizzas: Two new pizzas from Palmieri’s Enzo’s concession debut this year. The Pork-a-palooza pie, which Palmieri bills as a New York-style pizza, comes with spicy pepperoni and sausage, which is then drizzled with hot sauce. The dough is made 72 hours in advance in order to develop flavors. The chicharron iteration comes topped with pork rinds fried to glassy crispiness.
Location: Carnival
Mom’s Bakeshoppe
Dubai chocolate brownie: A brookie-ified version of the viral Dubai chocolate treat.
Location: Livestock
ALSO READ: 15 ways to save money at the Orange County Fair
Pepe’s Mariscos
Nopales (cactus) tacos: In addition to ceviche tostadas, fried shrimp tacos, burritos, nachos, quesadillas and other Mexican fare, Pepe’s Mariscos has introduced a new vegetarian-forward nopales taco.
Location: Main Mall
The Pineapple Whip Stand
Blue raspberry Dole whip: This year, Palmieri reimagines a fan favorite, creating a blue raspberry Dole Whip, effectively changing the sunrise-hued pineapple frozen treat into a sky-blue raspberry dessert.
Location: Carnival
Rowdy’s Root Beer
Ice cream floats: Also new to the fair this year is Rowdy’s Root Beer where you can find ice cream floats of many iterations, including root beer, orange, lemonade, Dr. Pepper, strawberry dragon fruit and more.
Location: Centennial Farm
Spud Ranch
Pizza spud: A hefty baked potato gets stuffed with pepperoni pizza sauce, cheese and toppings. “For our baked potatoes, we use a big number 40 Idaho potato, which by itself weighs over a pound,” said Janousek (who also operates Bacon Nation). After baking to fluffy perfection, the spud gets drizzled with a homemade pizza sauce, topped with a generous helping of pepperoni and a mozzarella cheese blend. “Then we melt it so the cheese gets ooey gooey, and we serve it fresh and hot to our customers.”
Location: Family Fairway
Texas Donuts and Ice Cream
Cheddar bacon donut and matcha toasted coconut donuts: Forget glazed and old-fashioneds. Instead, check out the doughnut purveyors’ vivid new creations: a cheddar cheese- and bacon-laced dunker and a matcha donut topped with toasted coconut. (Also of importance, the Maple Big D a la mode.)
Location: Main Mall
Tom’s Puffs and Pie
Pastries and pies: Another new concession at the fair, folks can get their hands on handheld pies and pastries like cream puffs, chocolate eclairs, deep fried apple pie and more.
Location: Centennial Farm