The 5 Best Foods at the 2025 San Diego County Fair

Happy Half Hour goes fully fried as co-hosts Troy Johnson and Jackie Bryant broadcast from the San Diego County Fair, tasting their way through 18 brain-and-tastebud-bending entries in the 2025 Fairtastic Food Competition. Spam wonton tacos. Cajun honey dogs. Furikake fries with runny eggs and edible flowers. All of it.

At the end of the day, one came out on top: a tres leches cinnamon roll from Country Fair Cinnamon Rolls, dreamed up by a third-generation baker, Willie Mattis whose family nailed the recipe in one take. The frosting didn’t just sit on top—it soaked through the roll, prompting the creation of a new verb: sauceting. 

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On this episode, Troy and Jackie sit down with the fair’s marketing director, Jennifer Hellman, to chat about her 25 years at the helm; and Mattis to talk tie-dye, road dogs, and how a $1 family recipe became the fair’s reigning icon.