The state of new Minnesota State Fair food

It's opening day of the 2010 Minnesota State Fair, and your stomach is prime real estate. Don't just offer it up to the first deep-fried thing on a stick that comes along. To help you map out your eating strategy, The A.V. Club weighed in on seven new offerings that hope to win a spot in your tummy.

Danny Boy Burger and sweet potato tots at O’Gara’s (Dan Patch Avenue & Cosgrove Street): A corned-beef burger served with swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and Thousand Island dressing. And tots. Made of sweet potatoes.
Novelty factor: 2/5. Good fair food raises the question, “Who the hell came up with this?” Great fair food makes us ask, “Why hasn’t anyone come up with this before?”
Will we eat it?: The burger sounds fine, the tots irresistible.

Cincinnati chili at Sabino’s (Warner Coliseum): Spaghetti topped with mild chili, beans, shredded cheddar, and diced, raw onions.
Novelty factor: 2/5. The city’s restaurateurs started serving chili this way in the '20s, so it’s not exactly on the cutting edge of the culinary world. But hey, 350,000 Cincinnatians can’t be wrong.
Will we eat it?: A big part of the allure of state fair food is the idea that you can’t get it anywhere else. A plate of chili, beans, and spaghetti not only sounds like an easy make-at-home dish, but one made by lazy people. Save your appetite for something more exotic.

Fried pigs ears at Famous Dave’s (Dan Patch Avenue & Liggett Street): Thinly sliced pig's ears rolled in seasoned flour, fried until crispy, and glazed with a lime-chipotle sauce.
Novelty factor: 3/5. Like many offal dishes, swine ears have been served up around the world for centuries. And like many offal dishes, they’re sure to elicit an “ewww!” from close-minded children and adults alike.
Will we eat it?: Definitely. Famous Dave’s peach-glazed pig cheeks were a big hit last year, and we’re always looking for more evidence to support our theory that pork in all its forms is proof that God wants us to be happy.

Deep-fried avocado at Tejas (Crossroads Building): An avocado cut into slices, lightly breaded, fried, and served with ranch dressing.
Novelty factor: 3/5. Healthy foods gone bad—fruit dipped in chocolate, deep-fried vegetables—are always fun, and this one actually seems like a fresh idea.
Will we eat it?: They had us until “ranch dressing.” Crispy-on-the-outside, creamy-on-the-inside avocado sticks sound good on their own, though.

Chocolate Tornado at Sonny’s Spiral Spud (Food Building): A spiral-cut potato is seasoned with sugar, fried, and dipped in chocolate.
Novelty factor: 4/5. Creative but beautifully simple: Make French fries but swap the salt for sugar.
Will we eat it?: Chocolate-covered potato chips have already proven the compatibility of cocoa and spuds. Whether that magic combination hinges on the chip’s crispy texture can only be determined with a taste test.

Chicken-fried bacon at Giggles’ Campfire Grill (Cooper Street & Lee Avenue): Thick-cut bacon is battered, fried, and smothered in gravy.
Novelty factor: 4/5. We're suspicious of snacks that seem to value the idea of overindulgence over taste. Also, this thing is clearly missing a layer of melted cheese.
Will we eat it?: No thanks. Bacon is the perfect food. Doing all that stuff to it is just insulting.

Corndog pizza at Pizza Shoppe (Food Building): Corndogs are sliced length-wise and placed on top of a cheese pizza. Because why wouldn’t they be?
Novelty factor: 5/5. This menu item is the attention whore of the bunch, existing solely so that people can read about it in articles like this one and marvel at humanity’s innovation/decline.
Will we eat it?: Maybe, but only so that we can Tweet about it and gross out our out-of-state friends who use the phrase “flyover country.”