Best New Food Winner Sparks Controversy At The Wisconsin State Fair

Every August, Wisconsin turns into a food laboratory ahead of the Wisconsin State Fair, which kicks off this year on August 6 and wraps up on Sunday, August 16.

Between the cream puffs, the deep-fried everything, and the corn dogs longer than your forearm, the Wisconsin State Fair has quietly become one of the most-watched culinary competitions in the Midwest, and the crown jewel is the Sporkies, the fair's official hunt for the best new food.

Earlier, I had broken down this year's tempting finalists when the lineup dropped, so anticipation was already sky-high to see what would be crowned the best new food and best new drink for the 2026 Wisconsin State Fair.

Then the judges made their pick. And that's where the fun — and the friendly feuding — really began.

The Golden Spork Went to the Birria Flamin' Bombs

When the winners were revealed on August 4, the Birria Flamin' Bombs from Fiesta Grill & Cantina took first place in the annual Sporkies competition.

Created by Robert Montemayor, the $12 dish featured deep-fried orbs of beef birria, mozzarella, cilantro, and onion, served with a rich consommé and chipotle aioli. On paper, it sounded like a champion, and the fair crowned it the winner with plenty of fanfare.

Birria Flamin' Bombs - Photo provided by the Wisconsin State Fair

Then the Reviews Rolled In

Here's where things got spicy — or, as the critics pointed out, didn't. Despite the "Flamin'" in the name, several reviewers said the bombs delivered almost no heat at all.

Milwaukee Magazine's Archer Parquette described them as a little underwhelming and "mild and almost cozy," a far cry from the fiery experience the name promised.

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Others were tougher still. One Milwaukee Record reviewer knocked the "bland" cornmeal crust and under-seasoned beef, going so far as to suggest fairgoers consider skipping this perplexing winner to save both the long wait and the six-dollar-per-bomb hit.

One person even claimed the opening-day version wasn't quite the same as the judged one, blaming heavy demand for forcing the kitchen to stretch the ingredients. Regardless, the question of whether the Bombs earned their crown was officially cooking.

Meanwhile, the Porky Puff Stole the Show

While the official winner took its lumps, a food that didn't win a Sporkie became the people's champ.

The Porky Puff from the Bud Pavilion — flaky puff pastry stuffed with pulled pork, house-made peach filling, and garlic-herb cheese, drizzled with hot honey and dotted with mustard seeds — outperformed the finalists among the new foods reviewers sampled this year.

Porky Puff - Photo provided by the Wisconsin State Fair

At $13, it delivered exactly the "nostalgic and indulgent" magic fairgoers were hoping the Bombs would bring.

So Who Really Won?

To be fair to the fair, this is a matter of taste, not scandal. The official judges genuinely loved the Bombs, and even the critics who panned them admitted they were in the minority among their own colleagues.

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That's the beauty of a food fight like this one: your favorite bite is yours to defend, and there's no wrong answer when your napkin is covered in powdered sugar and hot honey. Fairs all across Wisconsin thrive on exactly this kind of good-natured, mustard-stained debate.

So we have to ask: what did you think was the best new food at this year's fair? Were you Team Birria Flamin' Bombs, a card-carrying member of the Porky Puff fan club, or did something else entirely win your heart and your appetite?

At the end of the day, no matter which food takes home the Golden Spork, if you spent a sunny afternoon on the fairgrounds, laughed with people you love, and waddled back to the car full and happy — well, that's a win no judge can take away from you.