By Diana Cortez and Nicholas Lira, May 7, 2024
From soft serve to birria tacos, the Los Angeles County Fair returns to Pomona with a diverse variety of food vendors. The theme this year is “Stars, Stripes and Fun.” The fair brings vendors from all over every year. From vegan burritos to desserts, food shouldn’t be a problem when picking out what to eat.
One of the vendors of the fair, The Veggie Box, serves only vegan options such as sweet delights and creamy Oreo milkshakes, doughy chocolate chip cookies made from vegan ingredients and more vegan options such as plant-based burritos or burgers, ranging from $6 to $20.
This is The Veggie Box’s second year at the fair. They wanted to bring nontraditional healthier food to the fair. Lisa Gallegos, owner of The Veggie Box came up with the idea after having to change their lifestyle to a more vegan approach. Now she’s excited to participate and share their food with fairgoers.
“We are very excited,” said Gallegos. “We noticed that many people don’t attend the fair because they feel there is no food for them, so they tend to stay away.”
The LA County Fair offers a plethora of food options ranging from a snack, such as toasted pepperoni slices on a plate of crunchy fries from Pizza Slizer, who has been serving the fair for a couple of years.
“We got more stuff out here,” said owner Sergio Acosta. “We figured it might be busier and we’re ready for it.”
With several years of experience at the LA County Fair, Acosta offers a diverse menu yet knows what the big sellers are at his booth.
Fairgoers can also eat full meals like sopes and soaked birria tacos from La Mexicana. Here people will be able to taste authentic Hispanic-food or El Chef’s restaurant run by Jose Santos, who opened his food truck after being in the food industry for 20 years.
The fair also offers several diverse cultures of food according to staff members Melissa Rodriguez, Raul Landino and Citlali Landino. The staff makes sure to bring the diversity to the fair that represents LA County and showcases the wide range of cultures.
Fairgoers can even taste some aged cheese and learn about it from marketplace classes, where visitors can see award-winning cheeses and wines from the dairy awards, the oldest dairy competition in the United States according to Cherice Pacholik an LA County Fair worker.
“We have wine and cheese pairing classes in our education area here at the marketplace here at the fairgrounds,” said Pacholik.
Her favorite cheese is from this year’s winner Joseph Farms, a 12-year aged cheddar cheese.
While taking a break from the food, the LA County Fair offers plenty of attractions ranging from concerts, games, shopping and of course carnival rides. One of the fair favorites according to staff member Raul Landino is the pig, geese and duck race. While watching visitors can find themselves rooting for a team in one of the stands and eating a delicious snack.
One of the favorites, according to Rodriguez, this year is a Dole Whip soft serve. Tasti Whip, a vendor for the fair for the past six years, has a variety of fruit flavors such as strawberry lemonade, strawberry shortcake, pineapple and mango flavors. It’s dairy and gluten-free, making it a more available option for some.
“Very glad to be a part of the community to come back year after year and serve the community that always welcomes us back,” said worker Jessica Garcia.
This year Tasti Whip workers look forward to trying out their new products with the new demographic.
For more information on the LA County Fair go to its website.
Feature image courtesy of Diana Cortez