Oohs and ahhs erupted from a crowd in Dallas’ Fair Park when a State Fair of Texas spokesperson announced the belt-busting, headline-making dishes at the Big Tex Choice Awards, the fair’s annual food and drink contest.
The loudest cries came for one of the strangest: Wagyu Bacon Cheeseburger Deviled Egg Sliders. It won “most creative.”
“To use egg as the vehicle for a bun, who’d ever thought that would work?” asked Jeff Allen, a Super Bowl winning NFL player for the Kansas City Chiefs and a judge for the annual State Fair event.
He loved it.
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The entire panel of five judges did. And just like that, concessionaire Kendall Williams’ Wagyu Bacon Cheeseburger Deviled Egg Sliders was lauded for its zany name and great taste.
Related:What to know about the 2025 State Fair of Texas
“Listen,” said Keandre “Dre” Hopkins, another Big Tex Choice Awards judge and an influencer who runs @dreindallas.
“I think I’m gonna buy at least 10 of these.”
‘Defined Dish’ cookbook author Alex Snodgrass was one of five judges at the State Fair of Texas’ Big Tex Choice Awards on Aug. 21, 2025.
Nathan Hunsinger / Special Contributor
The Big Tex Choice Awards made history in 2025. Judges crowned four winners, one more than the usual three. A category called “best taste – sipper” was added in 2025 after an influx of “fairified drinks” were entered into the contest, said Karissa Condoianis, senior vice president of public relations and spokesperson for the State Fair, during the Big Tex Choice Awards announcement on Aug. 21, 2025.
And although food and drink have been highlights at the State Fair of Texas for most of its nearly 140-year history, the menu was supersized 20 years ago, when the Big Tex Choice Awards was founded.
Related:How did State Fair of Texas’ food and drink contest get so big and bizarre?
It’s the 21st year of the Big Tex Choice Awards. Concessionaires submitted 76 entries into the contest in 2025. From that list, 30 were named semifinalists and 15 were announced as finalists.
Related:State Fair of Texas unveils 15 finalists — not 10 — in surprise update
Here’s a breakdown of the four winners of the 2025 Big Tex Choice Awards. Think of these as the queens of the State Fair of Texas.
They’re bound to be the belles of this fried-food ball.
Best Taste – SweetChill & Thrill Delight
The Chill & Thrill Delight, created by Tony and Terry Bednar, is the best-tasting dessert at the State Fair of Texas in 2025, judges said.
Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer
Husband-wife team Tony and Terry Bednar’s Chill & Thrill dish was created to beat the Texas heat. It’s a cup of fruit topped with shears of mango sorbet that sit on top like a cool hairdo.
It’s “colorful, refreshing and fresh,” said judge Jeff Allen. Judges seemed to enjoy that the Chill & Thrill wasn’t too sweet — and that it had real fruit in it.
Hopkins called it “crazy,” in a good way.
“It’s really, really, really good.”
Best Taste – SipperCookie Chaos Milkshake
The Cookie Chaos Milkshake by Brad Weiss is the first winner of ‘best taste – sipper.’ The State Fair added the category in 2025.
Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer
Concessionaire Brad Weiss missed the Big Tex Choice Awards announcement because his wife was in labor during the event. State Fair execs presented his stand-in family member at the event with a Big Tex onesie to honor the occasion.
Weiss’ award-winning Cookie Chaos Milkshake is a cookie butter drink mixed with crumbs from snickerdoodles, Golden Oreos and classic Oreos. It’s topped with whipped cream and more cookie butter — earning its name.
Judge Marissa Allen and her NFL husband Jeff Allen, both judges of the Big Tex Choice Awards, co-own a company called Cookie Society. They critiqued the milkshake first, and Marissa Allen called it “amazing.”
She said of the “best taste – sipper” winner: “They did cookies proud.”
Best Taste – SavoryCrab & Mozzarella Arancini
Crab and mozzarella arancini is the best-tasting savory dish at the State Fair of Texas in 2025, according to judges at the Big Tex Choice Awards.
Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer
Concessionaire Stefan Nedwetzky makes nearly every part of his crab and mozzarella arancini. It’s a fried ball of cheese, rice and crab encased in breadcrumbs that come from bread Nedwetzky bakes at his Plano restaurant, Texapolitan Pizza.
Big Texas Choice Awards Judge Alex Snodgrass, the author of the cookbook The Defined Dish, offered this insight as she sat at the judges’ table: It’s a “cross between a mozzarella stick [that] meets a Cajun-inspired jambalaya fried ball.”
“I dig it,” she said.
Most Creative Wagyu Bacon Cheeseburger Deviled Egg Sliders
“Most creative” 2025 winner Wagyu Bacon Cheeseburger Deviled Egg Sliders were created by Kendall Williams, a chef and caterer when not working at the State Fair of Texas.
Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer
“I don’t know how you think of something like this,” said Marissa Allen, a Big Tex Choice Awards judge and the co-founder of Cookie Society with her husband Jeff Allen.
Her praise was well received by the woman who dreamt up the Wagyu Bacon Cheeseburger Deviled Egg Sliders, Williams. She is a second-year concessionaire at the State Fair and a first-time Big Tex Choice Awards entrant.
Each slider is a bacon cheeseburger with fried deviled eggs as buns.
“This dish is the king of texture: crunchy, soft, crunchy, soft,” said judge Chris Meyer, general manager of Karbach Brewing.
The State Fair of Texas runs Sept. 26 to Oct. 19, 2025, at Fair Park in Dallas.