Zavion Hyatt, owner of Irie Jamaican restaurant, woke up Wednesday morning to a buzzing phone and a barrage of interview requests.
News had just gotten out that he was one of eight new food vendors at the 2025 Minnesota State Fair — the equivalent of winning the restaurant lottery.
Also on the list were two of his neighbors at Midtown Global Market: Oasis Grill and Hoyo Sambusa. Another new vendor, Lumpia City, will serve Filipino fried spring rolls.
The fair will offer 33 new food items this year, including fresh takes from Union Hmong Kitchen, Afro Deli, El Burrito Mercado and Baba’s. They are among the 1,600 food items at nearly 300 concessions on offer at the 2025 Minnesota State Fair.
Hyatt said it was a five-year struggle to get accepted as a vendor at the State Fair. He and his wife learned the news months in advance, but the weight of the moment really set it in Wednesday morning, he said.
“This food has never been at the State Fair, but I guarantee that when they try it they won’t be disappointed,” Hyatt said. “I can’t predict the future, but hopefully we’ll be busy.”
Cousins cook up a State Fair plan
Two other new vendors this year come as a duo. Mariam Mohamed, a co-founder of Hoyo, said she never dreamt of selling her food at the State Fair but after recently opening up a kitchen at Midtown Global Market she convinced her cousin, Amina Deble, owner of Oasis Grill, to join her in making a pitch.
Mohamed and her business Hoyo have been rapidly expanding over the last few years, but according to her, the State Fair represents a culmination of sorts, a showing of the American dream.
“It’s not an easy time now to be an immigrant in America, especially new immigrants, but still, there are people in Minnesota who believe in us and who care about immigrants and remember that America is made of immigrants, and it’s made up of different cultures, and that’s what the fair will display,” Mohamed said.
The cousins first learned about their admission to the fair in late April, according to Mohamed, who said they couldn’t stop jumping and screaming when they got the call.
For them, it’s about the exposure more than the money.
“We’re so excited, and we feel like we were in a different position than yesterday. Today is a good day for us to be part of the State Fair, millions of people will know us,” Deble said.
Hoyo’s owner said the business is planning to sell between 20,000 to 25,000 sambusas every day they’re at the fair.
New food vendors
The State Fair has eight new food vendors this year.
Lumpia City will offer lumpia — Filipino fried spring rolls — in two fusion flavors: pizza lumpia and ube butter banana French toast lumpia.
Midtown Global Market’s Oasis Grill and Hoyo Sambusa will be serving Somali street fries; cones of mini sambusas and full-size beef or lentil sambusas with choice of sauce; and slushies in two flavors. They’re available Aug. 21-26 only at the Midtown Global Market booth.
Midtown Global Market’s Irie Jamaican will serve up oxtail with festival (a sweet, fried bread); sweet plantains; coconut shrimp skewers; and a ginger and hibiscus drink. Available Aug. 27 to Sept. 1 at the Midtown Global Market booth.
Other new vendors this year are Beans and Beignets serving beignets covered in powdered sugar; Chocolate Strawberry Cup selling fresh strawberries with various toppings; Greater Tater offering jumbo tots with savory fillings; Magdalena’s Chimney Cakes which sells Hungarian coned-shaped pastries and Urban Glow Mocktails.
New diverse foods
Along with new vendors, the State Fair also announced new street food offerings from established vendors, including fan favorites Afro Deli and Union Hmong Kitchen.
Afro bean pops: Afro Deli will offer these deep-fried bites of ground black-eyed peas, onions, jalapeños, cilantro and seasonings with a spicy red chili sauce on a bed of mixed greens.
Fawaffle: Baba’s is rolling out this savory twist on the waffle, a falafel pressed in a waffle iron, topped with tahini butter, and served with tomatoes, hummus, green shatta, mint and toasted sesame seeds.
Chicken-fried bacon fries: Soul Bowl concocted these double-breaded, tempura-fried beef bacon strips, that will be served in a cup with dipping sauces that range from sweet to hot.
Flauta dippers: El Burrito Mercado is also leaning into portability with their chicken flautas in a cup with salsa, sour cream and cotija cheese.
Shrimp and pork toast on a stick: Union Hmong Kitchen’s new offering this year has pork and shrimp with Hmong aromatics — lemongrass, ginger, garlic, shallots and Thai chilis — on Texas toast and deep-fried. Served with apricot jelly hot sauce.
Tandoori chicken quesaratha: Holy Land is offering its twist on the quesadilla: spiced tandoori chicken with cheese, onions, peppers, corn and cilantro, folded inside paratha bread and griddled. Served with a side of avocado cilantro lime sauce.
