We asked 10 Grange fairgoers about their top food stands. Here are their picks

While the Centre County Grange Encampment and Fair is perhaps best known for being the last remaining tenting fair in the United States, the wide variety of food offered there is another claim to fame for the 151-year-old event.

Located in Centre Hall and taking place this year from Aug. 15-23, Grange Fair offers well over 100 food vendors that are serving up tasty food for any occasion, whether it’s for breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert or even a snack in between meals.

With such a large variety food for visitors to choose from, the CDT took a trip to the fair on Friday to ask 10 fairgoers what their favorite food stands were. Here’s a look at their choices.

A parfait a day?

Hailing from Bellefonte, Phil Blazer is a longtime veteran of the Grange Fair who’s been coming to the event for 68 years.

Over his near-seven decades of experience there, Blazer has seen a number of popular food stands at the fair come and go, but this year, he’s been particularly enjoying the crispy cactus taters from the AC Eat & Treat stand and the Jalapeño Haystack Burger from Twin B. Farms stand, each located along East Rhony Avenue — although neither stand is his top choice.

That honor belongs to Bissinger’s Catering and Concessions, also located on East Rhony Avenue, and the stand’s peach and ice cream parfait, which is made by layering diced peaches soaked in a sweet marinade and either vanilla or cinnamon ice cream in a styrofoam cup, topped off with optional whipped cream.

“If I could, I’d eat one of the parfaits every day of the fair,” Blazer said. “I might even buy some to take home with me, get them all stashed up in the freezer for a rainy day.”

It’s not just Blazer — Tori Bissinger, an employee at the stand, said that the parfaits have been “really, really popular,” this year.

Peach dumplings among sweet treat options

Penny Blazer, the sister-in-law of Phil Blazer, is also a longtime fairgoer, although her son, Henry Blazer, is rather new to the event. Unlike Phil, these Blazers have a much longer trip to the fair, traveling down from Toronto.

While Penny Blazer shares her brother’s love for the cactus taters and peach parfaits, she also enjoys the peach dumplings from the Bissinger’s stand, sharing that they’re “quite filling.”

Penny Blazer’s son isn’t nearly as decisive about his favorite foods as she is though, and has yet to make a decision on his favorite food stand. But his family has told him that after a few more years of fair attendance, he’s bound to finalize a favorite, “just like everyone else does.”

Iconic Centre County pizza place

At just eight years old, Centre Hall native Karrter Walters hasn’t been going to the Grange Fair for very long, but that hasn’t stopped him from already picking out his favorite food stand.

Karrters’ food stand of choice is Canyon Pizza, enthusiastically sharing his love for one of Centre County’s most iconic pizza restaurants and its french fries. He promptly asked his family to take him there after he brought the stand up.

Canyon Pizza’s stand is located in building 35, with the business’s wing stand being located in building 38.

A Grange Fair staple

A Howard native, 17-year-old McKenna Williams camps out at the fair with her family each year, and has formed a list of of top food stands — but the soup and bread bowls from the Gunzey’s Hot Sausage stand tops the pile.

Located along East Rhony Avenue, Gunzey’s has been staple at the fair for many years, and also offers hot sausage and steak sandwiches, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, hot dogs and breakfast sandwiches.

But when Gunzey’s isn’t open and Williams is feeling hungry, she shared that the chicken on a stick from Kendra Snyder’s Concessions along Aley Avenue is her go-to.

Strawberry shortcake tops list of favorite desserts

Laura Lodge, a 19-year-old from Bellefonte, is one of Williams’ close friends, with the duo and their friends regularly exploring the fair and trying new food stands.

Unlike Williams though, Lodge’s favorite food is a dessert, specifically the strawberry shortcake from M & S Concessions, located along Cherry Tree Row.

While the stand’s strawberry shortcake may be popular, it offers a variety of other baked goods too, including apple dumplings, regular or gluten-free blueberry and peach cobblers served with ice cream, foot-long hot dogs and a variety of drinks.

Adding BBQ flavor

Jake and Melody Bloom, an Eagle Valley-based couple in their mid-20s, are regular fair attendees, with each having tried many of the different food offerings there through the years.

From the popular cactus taters to the many Snyder’s concession stands, the Blooms have several top choices for what their favorite stand is, but only one takes the cake as their absolute favorite — Danny’s BBQ, located on Cherry Tree Row.

While Jake Bloom prefers the stand’s beef brisket sandwich, Melody Bloom prefers the brisket-topped mac n’ cheese, although both can agree that regardless of the dish, the brisket is top-notch.

“I wish I could make a brisket that good at home,” Jake Bloom jokingly said. “We’ll definitely be back there later this week too, 100%.”

In addition to the two menu items the Blooms ordered, Danny’s BBQ also offers baked potatoes, other sandwiches and a variety of drinks.

Foods to cool you down

Hailey Zeigler, a 22-year-old from Milesburg who camps at the Grange Fair with her family, has been coming to the fair her whole life. When asked about her favorite foods there, she gave out two near-immediate answers.

“I really like the chicken on a stick [from Kendra Snyder’s Concessions], I get that almost every year,” Zeigler said. “I also really like the big Sunset Ice Cream stand for dessert.”

Located along Sharer Avenue, Sunset Ice Cream is a can’t-miss staple for both seasoned and new fairgoers, having been located at the same spot for decades. The stand serves cones and bowls of ice cream, sundaes and milkshakes, with each selection making for a great cool-down treat during the hottest days of the fair.

Big burger menu

Brian Kelly, a Jersey Shore native who camps out at the Grange Fair each year with his family and friends, offered the highest of praise for a stand that he said specializes in making great breakfast sandwiches, and even better burgers.

Located on East Rhony Avenue, Twin B. Farms’ Jalapeño Haystack Burger tops his list of favorite fair foods, sharing that he loves “everything about that burger.”

Topped with crispy fried onions, sliced jalepeños, a secret sauce, cheese and a half-pound, locally-raised burger patty, the Jalapeño Haystack Burger isn’t for the light-stomached — not dissimilar to all of the other burgers on their menu.

“You can’t go wrong with that place — no matter what you order, you’re getting a huge helping of tasty, fresh food,” Kelly said. “I’d say that it’s all worth ordering again, and then again after that.”

This story was originally published August 18, 2025 at 4:11 PM.