The Big Fresno Fair is back and ready to entertain fair-goers, with interesting exhibits and crazy food. From 20-foot pythons to bacon-wrapped pickles, the fair attracts thousands of people from around the country.

The fair is open daily through Oct. 7-18, with an affordable price of $10 for students and adults; it gives many people an opportunity to attend the fair. With food truck and oversized stands, fair-goers have a cornucopia of choices to soothe any hunger.

Our first stop was La Familia Mexican Food, right across from Char-Boiled BBQ. Patrons will find quality tacos and burritos there. One taco sells for $2.75 and a burrito for $7. The Famalia food stand went with a simplistic style for the tacos. Loved Carne Asada, onions, cilantro, and a corn tortilla.

The tacos from La Familia lived up to their expectations and did not disappoint. I ordered two tacos, hoping they would be great. More fair-goers prefer a soft taco, even though they were small the tacos were amazing. With a little bit of hot sauce they provide, it gave the tacos so much more flavor.

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The highlight of all the food vendors however, was the return  Chicken Charlie’s. Based on the long lines, interesting foods, and people’s suggestions at the Fresno Fair, we had to try the longtime fair favorite who has noticeably been missing for five years.  The long lines seemed to indicate a pent up demand so we joined the queue.

The stand’s ‘store front’ was huge, showing off many mouth-watering options as well as a few of the wonderfully odd yet delicious items: deep fried Oreos, deep fried Kool-Aid, fried frog legs, lobster on a stick, bacon wrapped pickles and the newest creation, the triple decker cheese burger with Krispy Kreme Doughnuts as the buns.

While the photo on the menu looked big, I wasn’t actually prepared for the ginormous, sticky, triple decker cheeseburger. I looked at this burger with awe. I barely could fit this cheeseburger in my hands, let alone my mouth. Anxious to taste this gooey thing, I took my first bite into the burger. I did not even make it through the second patty.

The Krsipy Kreme bun made the burger into a sugar meat overload. The burger was not bad at all. Actually I thought to myself, $10.95 might be worth it for this serious fair creation. My advice would be to bring a partner because this thing is to hard to eat alone.

The owner of Chicken Charlie’s, Charlie Boghosian, shared the first time he heard about the Big Fresno Fair when he was 14. His father gave him permission to work at the fair and he has always wanted to come back.

“I was 14 years old I saw an ad on TV: Fresno Fair coming to town and I wanted to go work there,” Boghosian said. “I asked my dad and he let me work there, and now 32 years later I’m still here. I started my own business here at the fair with a cart; I bought with a lot of chicken in it. I prepared chicken and other products, like deep fried oreos for my customers to enjoy.”

Expanding his business, Boghosian not only has a successful fair food business, he recently opened a restaurant in San Diego called FryBQ.

While I enjoyed the tacos and the cheeseburger from Charlies Chicken, a pulled pork sandwich was calling my name.

Fair attendee Tyler Villines, ’18, beat me to the punch when he purchased a $11 pulled pork sandwich from Big Bubbas Bad BBQ.

“The line was short and I got my food very fast,” Villines said. “The pulled pork was kind of expensive, but it was definitely worth it. Out of all the things I ate at the fair it was by far my favorite. It was awesome and I really suggest people try one.”

These writers can be reached via email: Rees Roggenstein and Devin Pitts.