[event] big bite bacon fest recap

Warning: many, many photos ahead! Many including the holy grail of foods: BACON.

You’ve been warned.

sd-fair-game-on

Here’s a non-food photo to warm you up to the onslaught.

Jake and I got to the fair in the mid-afternoon, a little while before the Bacon Fest started. I had skipped lunch and was seriously thinking about getting something else from the fair to tide me over until the fest started. Luckily, I wisely decided to just wait. So… no fair foods this year!

vip-bacon-fest-line

We waited with the other VIP’s for the Bacon Fest to officially open. The nice part about having VIP tickets is that you were granted admission one hour before the general public. This gave us plenty of time to try many samples without having to worry about lines or tables to use. We also got a swag bag that had a “Got Porked” trucker hat, a “Got Porked” chip clip and a plastic Big Bite Bacon Fest mug. VIP’s also got a cushy lounge to hang out in.


bacon-egg-potato-tot

The Spud Shack offered up this very first item that we sampled. It was sort of like a tater tot wrapped in bacon with egg. It was like one little wrapped bite of breakfast!

driveway-chef-bacon-weave

The Driveway Chef was the only booth with neat “bonus” signage. Hello, bacon weave!

bacon-salted-tortilla-chips

The Driveway Chef offered a few things, including these bacon salted tortilla chips. These were really simple – but really good. A nice smoky and salty flavor to go with the fresh, crisp chips.

bacon-blue-cheese-blunts

bacon-blue-cheese-blunt-closeup

Bleu Cheese Bacon Blunts were wontons stuffed with blue cheese and bacon and then deep fried. Crispy, creamy, saltiness – all wrapped in one! This was one of my favorite things from the whole event.

chicken-fried-bacon

Chicken Fried Bacon was the last offering from Driveway Chef. It came with a little cheese sauce. I really enjoyed this one, too. It was actually a little softer than I imagined it would be. I think the coating prevented the bacon from getting super crispy but I still really liked the flavor and the texture. Jake didn’t care for this one as much as me – he let me have the rest of his!

coops-bacon-candy-ribs-fries

Coops West Texas BBQ had a few offerings to share as well. Above (from top left): Bacon Potato Logs, Spare Rib and Candied Bacon. They also had a pulled pork which I don’t have a photo of. The bacon potato logs pretty much are like potato planks or any wide “fry” but they put their BBQ sauce and ranch on them and that made them gooooooood. The rib was good, too, but the highlight was the candied bacon. It had SO MUCH FLAVOR in it! Chewing on it, it kept punching me in the face with flavors of saltiness, savory and sweet. It was pure bliss. Another favorite!

sausage-roll-wrapped-in-bacon

Farmer John was one of the sponsors of the event and had these little sausages wrapped with jalapeno bacon. I thought these were really, really dry.

beer-bacon-donuts

Beer and bacon donuts. Whaaaaat.

In addition to all the food, there were also beer samplings. Jake and I tried the Blue Moon Agave Nectar beer which I totally LOVE and the Blueberry Wheat beer from Callahan’s which I was already in love with. So much beer love going on around here.

These bacon donuts are from Donut Bar. The left one is Bourbon Bacon and the right one is Maple Bacon. I liked the bourbon one just a little more. These donut bites still did not convince me that Donut Bar is “all that”.

nothing-bundt-cakes-marble

Nothing Bundt Cakes was also there with their usual samples of marble cake and red velvet cake. I feel like they are at every event! This didn’t have bacon in it. I ate it anyway, though it was completely unexciting in every way.

bacon-chocolate-chip-cookie-secret-cookie-service

The Secret Cookie Service was also there with Bacon Chocolate Chip cookies, Mint Chocolate and Cookies and Cream samples. They made little cookies and put them in these little plastic containers which I thought was BRILLIANT because then I could just take them home and eat them later. Which I did. And they were excellent. Good proportion of bacon to chocolate.

 deviled-eggs-bacon-roe

These were some fancy pants deviled eggs from The Savage Chef. There’s bacon bits in the devil-y part (err, the filling) and it also had herbs and little fish eggs on top. I *almost* did not eat this because of the fish eggs. But I did. I put it in my mouth! Besides the fish egg part, the rest of it was pretty good. Fanciest deviled eggs I have ever seen. Word.

savage-chef-toastada-thing

We had to swing by later to get this other item from the Savage Chef (that I don’t remember the name of). It was like a pork toastada thing – the tortilla was freshly made and tasted wonderful – all of the fresh ingredients on this little number made it a winner for Jake and I as well. Fresh cheese and salsa – very yummy sampling!

italian-drink-bacon-garnish

Sugar Lab was the only vendor to offer a drink… with a bacon garnish. It was some kind of Italian drink that just tasted like fizzy water to me. The bacon garnish looked pretty cool in the drink… and I tried eating it… and regretted that idea. The bacon was all soggy and picked up some of the fizzy water flavor. Ew.

Sugar Lab also had an awesome bacon granola! But I don’t have a good photo of that. Sad cakes. It was good though. Kind of makes me want to put bacon in my granola now.

pool-pork-sign

pulled-pork-sandwich-bbq-bacon-bits

La Casa de Los Alambres offered this “Pool Pork Sandwhich” that was made with a homemade BBQ sauce that had bacon in the sauce. There was no actual bacon on this “sandwhich”. I couldn’t detect any bacon flavor, really. The pork was okay, I didn’t find the sauce to be particularly interesting. Don’t these buns looks like pandesal rolls?

bacon-toffee

The Sea Salt Candy Company offered up samples of their salted caramels and toffees as well as this Bacon Toffee they made for the event. The toffee was excellent – buttery, crunchy, and delicious. There were bits of salt along with the bacon to make for a nice salty-sweet combination.

smoqued-bbq-offerings

Smoqued BBQ had a few things to sample at their booth, included spicy bbq chicken, spare rib meat, ham, candied bacon, pulled pork and macaroni and cheese. The chicken was way too spicy for me – a couple of bites and I was out. With no nearby water, I had to make Jake find water for me haha. The macaroni & cheese was okay. The spare rib meat was … okay. The ham was also just okay. The candied pepper bacon was the best of the bunch, but it wasn’t as good as Coop’s. Surprising (to Jake and I) this place won as the fan favorite of the fest. I have no idea why.

50-50-patty-slaters

Right before the general public was to be let in, we decided to head over to Slater’s 50/50 for their sample. Their booth was the only one with a line during VIP hour since they were creating a little fire in the back of their tent and making the 50/50 burgers fresh.

The 1/4 sized sample was on their pretzel bun with cheese and egg. The 50/50 patty (50% beef, 50% bacon) was quite charred on the outside. I didn’t really care for it all that much. Too much char for me. It just tasted overcooked.

bacon-wrapped-deep-fried-pickle

Chicken Charlie’s was also represented at the Bacon Fest with their bacon wrapped deep fried pickle.

I did not even try this since I detest pickles.

Jake did not like it. He said, “Pickles should not be hot.” Ew.

bacon-jerky

Bacon Jerky! I liked that it still looked like bacon, mostly. Flavor was decent and it was really chewy, just like jerky.

french-toast-bacon-cookie

In addition to the french toast bacon cookies, there were also samples of lemon lavender bacon sugar cookie by The Sticky Pig.

brown-butter-bacon-cake

These little cups are filled with Brown Butter Bacon Cake from the Trails Eatery. The cake was luscious and moist and had a cream cheese frosting. It was paired with bourbon bacon pecan praline, created a really delicious bite of food. The bacon wasn’t too strong and balanced nicely with the sweetness. Loved, loved, love this!

caramel-popcorn-with-ghost-sauce

Caramel popcorn! With some kind of ghost sauce! I think the ghost sauce had bacon in it? Man, I don’t remember.

bacon-waffle

Brian’s 24 were making bacon waffles on the SPOT. One person handed you your freshly made waffle while another poured some maple syrup on for you. These were pretty good for little mini waffles. The bacon was soft inside of the slightly sweet waffle.

bacon-cotton-candy

Bacon flavored cotton candy, I will never, ever, ever eat you again.

pie-samples-bettys-whole-pie

Betty’s Whole Pie Saloon were offering little pie samples. This place is another company done by the same person who runs Elizabethan Desserts. I didn’t jot down what the samples were exactly – but I believe it was sort of a bacon pecan pie. It was good. I can’t wait to try out Betty’s Whole Pie Saloon when it opens!

texas-maple-bacon-donut

The Texas Doughnut people were in here, too, with their crazy giant donuts. This is a tiny, tiny piece of the huge maple bacon donut. The maple was pretty melty and the bacon was pretty limp and soft. Maybe just get the other Texas sized donuts without the bacon…

cookie-crumble-samples

Badunkachunk Cookies. Looked like they were just serving crumbs to me. I did not care for the samples we got, the cookies tasted a few days old and dried out.

rubicon-deli

Rubicon Deli offered these Ham, Bacon, Swiss, and Chipotle Sandwich which I was really too full to properly enjoy or even take more than one bite of. Man, it looks delicious though. I bet I would have enjoyed it more if we had swung by there at the beginning instead of the end.

bacon-fest-wedding

Also: a couple totally got married at the Bacon Fest. The bride walked down the aisle on a bacon runner and they had bacon “roses” and flowers and stuff.

It was a crazy fun good time even though afterwards Jake and I wanted to swiftly fall into a coma. I was then super double extra glad I hadn’t eaten anything else beforehand AND that I had skipped lunch. Despite this crazy onslaught of bacon, I’m *still* not sick of the stuff. There was enough variety to keep my taste buds guessing and happy.

bacon-fest-photo-box

Jake and I also had fun with the props in the photo box. The heart sign I’m holding says “Don’t go bacon my heart!”

If the Big Bite Bacon Fest comes back next year, you should check it out! If you’ve got an extra stomach, some good walking shoes, and don’t eat for a few hours before hand.

* Disclaimer: My VIP tickets to the Big Bite Bacon Fest were complimentary. I was not further compensated for this review. All opinions, quips, and other jargon are fully mine and mine alone.


16 thoughts on “[event] big bite bacon fest recap

  1. By the reviews of the food, you didn’t seem to like much of the food, so I’m confused on whether or not to go next year, if they have it.

    1. I think it was about 50/50. Some things were really, really good – and other things were a total miss or just okay. I think that’s what you can expect when there are so many offerings. Next sure I’m sure they would have different offerings and tries and I would totally go again. The good parts made up for the bad in my opinion!

  2. Great roundup of the Bacon Fest! Lots of variety! I’m so glad that Coops represented too!

    Bacon blunts. Hmmmm, “stoner” food? Ha ha. And why was Everything Bundt Cakes even there if they didn’t have bacon flavored anything? At least make an attempt. Yes, those Pool Pork sandwich buns DID look like pandesal rolls. Probably were! The tater tot with bacon and egg looks so good! The chicken fried bacon looked good too. We had something similar at Slappycakes in Portland. OMG, I still think about that meal.

    TC did NOT like the bacon cotton candy at all. I thought it was just all right but way too sweet.

    This looks like something I may go to for next year! You’ve convinced me! : )

    1. Hi CC! Yes, I liked the variety of items even if I didn’t love everything 🙂 Haha, the bacon blunts did made me think of stoners! THe bacon cotton candy was pretty gross. I thought the flavor + the extreme sweetness just made it really gross. Ugh. Overall though, I enjoyed it and had fun – I would totally go again!

  3. I am impressed you made it through so many samples! I think with any food fest you’ll have standout bites as well as more mediocre ones. Chicken fried bacon sounds delicious, as does candied bacon. We actually tried the bacon wrapped pickles – I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it needs ranch dressing to make it all taste less salty. I think the creaminess from the dressing helps. I think I’d enjoy the bacon fest more than the beer fest – let’s hope they do it again next year!

    1. I’m also impressed we made it through that many samples. I almost gave up but I figured a bite or two of the last things wouldn’t break me haha. Nice tip about the pickles! I still probably would not even try it though, but that sounds like a good idea! I’m not sure if it was just too salty for Jake or not, I just know after one bite he was done with it.

  4. Wow, that makes me hungry for another bacon crawl! The bacon-wrapped tater tots and the Bleu Cheese Bacon Blunts looked delicious. Great pictures! I love the picture of you and Jake in the photo booth, so cute!

  5. Haha there were definitely some things that I thought sounded a bit “questionable” (especially that bacon cotton candy.. uhhh lol). But some of them sounded really good, especially from companies or places that I normally like, such as the toffee from the sea salt candy company! Hehe. Also I love the photo booth pics – so cute! 😀

    1. Hi Jinxi! Even if it was a totally miss (like that gross bacon cotton candy) it was still so fun to see what every booth came up with! I loved that there was really a great variety of things and some really creative ideas there. Everything was local (or at least in SoCA) so that made it even better. And, thank you 🙂

  6. Love the pics of you and Jake at the end. Hope Bacon Fest finds its way up to San Francisco! Thanks for the pics…..now I’m hungry! 🙂

  7. Wondering if some of the vendors were ‘trying out’ to maybe have their own Fair stand next year…Looks like Chicken Charlie and Bacon A Fair were the only ones with food stands inside the Fairgrounds also. Last year, the Food Truck Fest and this year Bacon Fest- the Fair is really stepping it up and trying for an additional demographic. It looks like you had such fun!

    1. A few of the vendors didn’t even have storefronts or any kind of business set up yet. A few were “caterers in the making” so I think a lot them were trying it out like you said! It does seem like the fair is trying to do more things and it is a lot of fun! I love trying out things!

  8. I bow down to your Bacon post Mary. Jeez man. I loved all the pics and explanations of em! I wanted to go to this event sooo bad but I was already out of town 🙁

    I tried the chocolate covered bacon at this Fair years ago and it sucked butt. But whatever, at least I can say I tried something ‘chocolate bacon’.

    I still agree w/ your statement on the Donut Bar – not sure if it’s worth all the excitement. But I’m surprised they were there ! They have so much fan fare regardless.

    Great post!!

    1. haha, thanks Faye! Don’t worry, I’d rather go to Taiwan, too, then the Bacon Fest 🙂 Yeah, I didn’t like the chocolate covered bacon, either. I was sure that I could make that better if I ever felt like making it (I don’t).

      I know Donut Bar has a great fan following and that’s awesome for them! Three cheers and all, but still just all hype to me. Jake and I share a FANTASTIC cream filled maple bar in LA last night and it only cost us $1.10. I want my mind blown for $3 a donut, okay? Does that make me picky? Hmm. Maybe. 🙂

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