Grade: A
I first visited the Upper Ohio Valley Italian Festival several years ago. But I returned this weekend to get a real taste.
Here's what I got this year:
Glen Elk Boys Italian Kitchen
Sausage hoagie with onions, peppers and cheese. The sausage was like a flat plank and had quite a bit of spice.
Uzi's Pastries
Cookies with Italian-colored sprinkles. There were so many goodies here, but the simple sugar cookie hit the spot.
Stephens Cotton Candy Lemonade Shake Ups
Strawberry lemonade slushie was fresh and tart on the warm day.
Faygo's Street Corn
I opted for a cup of the mild street corn. The creamy, tangy, cheesy topping is just so good on sweet corn.
Taters
A deep-fried hot dog was hard to pass up. I had mine with ketchup and onion.
Rimedio's Bakery
A strawberry strudel with powdered sugar also had a cream wrapped in phyllo sheets.
Uguaglianza Bellaire Lodge 754 - Order Sons and Daughters of Italy in America
Known for their sausage hoagies, these folks have the sandwiches pre-wrapped. It did make the transaction quick, but the top got a bit soggy from the peppers. It was a medium-sized sausage, but overall a bit smaller sandwich than some of the other places.
DiRusso's Real Italian Sausage
Italian sausage hoagies is what's on the menu - and the only thing on the menu. The long strips of peppers and onions are not my favorite. They can overpower the sausage link.
Scarlet Fire Authentic Neapolitan Pizza
Since I was doing a taste of Italy, I didn't need a whole pizza. Instead, I got an order of garlic knots. These were a bit burnt, which was disappointing.
Wheely Good Food
Basic fair concessions like fries, burgers, hot dogs here. But then I saw mozzarella sticks - these ended up being the toughest to transport. But not bad overall.
Marilyn's Italian Kitchen
The gnocchi was the spotlight option here. "Classic Sunday Red Gnocchi - Enjoy our heirloom potato gnocchi served in our homemade red sauce, a true taste of authentic Italian fare. The sauce is so good it's practically drinkable, and our meatball has received the Grandma seal of approval."
DeChellis Concessions
The veggie stromboli was very sulfur-y due to the broccoli.
Holey Rollers Donut Truck
I was disappointed there was no actual pineapple or cherry for the pineapple upside down cake donut. For $3.
Plus I got a bottle of mead from Howe Sweet It Is/Nine Hives Meadery.
Other food:
Dr Sweets - Food Truck
Old Fashioned Lemonade
Frosty's Frozen Frenzy
Kathy's Kettle Corn
Sprankle's
Chan's Authentic Korean Style Corn Dogs
Tom's Concessions
Casa D'Italia MHI Concessions
Here's what I got this year:
Glen Elk Boys Italian Kitchen
Sausage hoagie with onions, peppers and cheese. The sausage was like a flat plank and had quite a bit of spice.
Cookies with Italian-colored sprinkles. There were so many goodies here, but the simple sugar cookie hit the spot.
Strawberry lemonade slushie was fresh and tart on the warm day.
I opted for a cup of the mild street corn. The creamy, tangy, cheesy topping is just so good on sweet corn.
A deep-fried hot dog was hard to pass up. I had mine with ketchup and onion.
A strawberry strudel with powdered sugar also had a cream wrapped in phyllo sheets.
Known for their sausage hoagies, these folks have the sandwiches pre-wrapped. It did make the transaction quick, but the top got a bit soggy from the peppers. It was a medium-sized sausage, but overall a bit smaller sandwich than some of the other places.
Italian sausage hoagies is what's on the menu - and the only thing on the menu. The long strips of peppers and onions are not my favorite. They can overpower the sausage link.
Since I was doing a taste of Italy, I didn't need a whole pizza. Instead, I got an order of garlic knots. These were a bit burnt, which was disappointing.
Basic fair concessions like fries, burgers, hot dogs here. But then I saw mozzarella sticks - these ended up being the toughest to transport. But not bad overall.
The gnocchi was the spotlight option here. "Classic Sunday Red Gnocchi - Enjoy our heirloom potato gnocchi served in our homemade red sauce, a true taste of authentic Italian fare. The sauce is so good it's practically drinkable, and our meatball has received the Grandma seal of approval."
The veggie stromboli was very sulfur-y due to the broccoli.
I was disappointed there was no actual pineapple or cherry for the pineapple upside down cake donut. For $3.
The Hawaiian chicken sandwich was OK. The chicken quality could be improved - but I do snjoy the pineapple-teriyaki flavor.
I loved seeing some meat smoked on the grill, so I did a pulled pork dinner. The pork was good, the potatoes could use more cheese, and it was interesting that there were banana peppers in the baked beans.
I ordered the shark attack drink, which has blue raspberry, sugarfree strawberry and a gummy shark.
I have had baked goods from this vendor, but this waa the first time I've seen this food truck. They simply core an apple - mine still had plenty of core left unfortunately - then ladle caramel over top. Easier to eat this way.
I picked up some garlic parmesan pork rinds. I'm not typically much of a pork rind fan, but these have great seasoning.
Edible cookoe dough with caramel and a pretzel. I do wish it was cold - it was kinda room temperature. It made it too reminiscent of Play-Doh for me.
They were out of pepperoni rolls, but I did grab a square of fudge that I'm looking forward to trying.
I tried a piece of goats milk fudge, which was great. But I purchased a jar of goat's milk caramel, which will be perfect over ice cream.
I have a small bag of kettle corn that I'm looking forward to enjoying.
The Mexican Restaurant Cozumel has a food truck, Lupita. I saw a sign for a Mexican fruit cup. It was less of a cup and more of a giant fruit salad. It has some of the traditional toppings, but not as flavorful as I've had out west.
Last but not least, I grabbed my one and only pepperoni roll on this day. TBD on how it is!
All work property of Candace Nelson. Powered by Blogger.