While The Hound was pleased with new and planned construction of food stands for the New York State Fair, we’d like to see more existing spaces utilized. You may have noticed empty spots in the Eatery, on Restaurant Row and around the grounds this years. Some of those holes once housed very popular and profitable businesses.

We’re not sure why they sat empty this year, but a return of favorite vendors or opening of new ones would be good to see. We hope that Fair administration will make that a priority for 2024.

The Fair is home to all of New York’s official flavors, many of which are sold and displayed in the Horticulture Building. Passing under the glorious art-deco facade, you’ll find a wide array of apples and the nearby honey stand with its gazebo full of swarming bees on display just inside the west wing .

The one product that for many tastes best captures the deliciousness of New York’s sharply contrasting seasons, the sweet velvet of maple syrup, does a booming business annually from its prime location among these Hort neighbors, with Maple Day celebrated annually. Rightly so, as the Empire State is the second largest maple-producing state in the US, following a tradition that dates back to the first maple gatherers, Native Americans.

New York Maple Producers have the biggest stand in the building–1200 square feet occupying one whole side of the wing–as well as one of the oldest stands on the grounds. Though nearly every New Yorker has drizzled their pancakes or waffles with gooey maple syrup, more than two dozen consignors produce an inspired variety of products to satisfy rabid maple lovers.

Maple sugar, candy, granola, popcorn, cotton candy, coated peanuts or cashews, spreads, creams, popcorn and flavored coffee all occupy shelf space.

Maple ice cream, sold in a corner near the back door, has proven a strong seller with a soft serve cone or bowl–priced at $6 last year. Milkshakes and other specialties are also available.

Containers of syrup ranging from 3.4 oz. bottles to gallon jugs, glass or plastic, including decorative containers that make better gifts than the tacky trinkets sold on the midway. In addition to the economic boost from sales to Fair customers, maple producers compete for bragging rights by entering their products for judging. A glass trophy case displays winners of ribbons in State Fair competition for syrup, candy, creams, condiments and treats.

Awards are issued strictly for Empire State products submitted to the Fair. Any New York state maple producer can bring products in to be judged. Champions are chosen in different categories, including light syrup, medium syrup, dark syrup, sugar candy, granulated sugar, creams among other various categories. Ribbons are awarded early in the Fair with winning products put on display. Overall scores determine a grand champion.

While product sales are important, consumer exposure and promotion of New York maple are as important as the bottom line.

Also in the Hort, you’ll find the Taste NY Marketplace where you can score free samples of food and beverage products, and meet the people who make them. Featured vendors change daily throughout the Fair, offering ample opportunities to sample local products.

Nearby the Taste NY Pop-Up Market returns, featuring more than 100 food, beverage, and gift products from around the state.

Local businesses are courting customers in the Horticulture Building, many giving free samples to passers-by. Culinary exhibitors are are back to their sales and promotion at the New York State Fair after the weirdness of 2021 slowed traffic for many vendors.

Father-daughter team Mike and Marissa Sharlow, owners of Syracha’cuse of Baldwinsville are back in the Horticulture Building, giving tastes and selling their spicy condiments, many of which represent partnerships with other local businesses. In addition to 14 hot sauces, the company bottles hot mustard, barbecue sauce, wing sauce and spice rubs.

Early returns for the Sharlows and neighboring vendors were strong as traffic in the Hort was moderately brisk right from the opening bell. Shoppers and curious tasters can investigate a wide variety of state and local products including snacks, mixes, sweet treats and beer and wine clustered in the building. It’s a good place to buy in order to stock their kitchen cabinets or buy gifts for loved ones.

With beloved New York State Fair restaurant Baker’s Chicken Coop closed and its iconic A-frame building demolished, you may be wondering which food vendor has the longest history feeding Fair crowds. One stand laying claim to the title is P-Z-O’s, just down restaurant row from the former locations of Baker and the also-departed Haddock’s Paddock.

Stand manager Mark Stachurski wears a cap that puts the origin of the P-Z-O’s Fair joint at 1939. It remains a family-owned business with Dave Pizio, son of the original proprietor, at the helm.

Dave Pizio’s sister Doris works alongside Stachurski, who has been at the Fair for 33 years. The current building is one of several newer stands, erected a few years ago to replace the landmark original home of P-Z-O’s that was known for having a dining area within its perimeter counters.

An interior wall at the Fair P-Z-O’s memorializes the business with vintage photos taken during the early years, when the Pizio family was also operating several Syracuse-area locations as well as satellite eateries in Lake Placid and Florida.”Everywhere he went on vacation, he opened a restaurant,” Stachurski recalls.

While local baby boomers nurture fond memories of the restaurant’s popular spots on Erie Boulevard and West Genesee Street, the tradition lives on at the State Fair, where fried specials, grilled meats, pasta, beer and its top-selling steak sandwich, bring back customers every year.

“We see a lot of the same people–repeat customers–every year,” Stachurski says. “This year, with Haddock’s Paddock gone, we’re serving a lot of fried haddock sandwiches.”

It’s been widely reported that several of the most popular food stands did not open for the 2021 New York State Fair, but one notable absence wasn’t mentioned. The venerable Grange stand, known as Ye Olde Ox Roast, was famous for decades as a spot for tasty, no-nonsense meals at value prices.

It was particularly favored by senior citizens, who for decades had lined up at its large corner shack opposite the cattle barn, shown at right, for its whole-meal deal that included the namesake entree with salad, a baked potato, dessert and a drink. The all-volunteer staff also served a restaurant quality breakfast to Fair workers and visitors alike.

The original stand was demolished in 2018, and the business moved into a vacant stand a few feet away. It seemed cramped in its new location and now that joint is gone, too and the Grange Ox Roast is nowhere to be found.

There’s something fishy about the withdrawal of four major food vendors from the 2021 New York State Fair. News broke on Channel 9 Wednesday that Gianelli, Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, Haddock’s Paddock and Baker’s Chicken Coop will not open this year.

The only explanation so far is that Gianelli wants to concentrate on its core business–making sausage, while Dino sticks to running restaurants and selling bottled sauces.

But it would seem that there’s something we don’t yet know. Four of the most famous, popular and presumably profitable eating spots on the grounds have all decided to forgo this year a business venture they haven’t missed for many years, in some cases for decades. For Baker this would have been its 71st year at the Fair.

If one or two had pulled out, maybe they could shrug off questions with the vague answers given. But four such major players in one year? Come on–what’s up?

It’s possible that the extension of the Fair to 18 days this year, up from their previous high-water mark of 13 days in 2019, was too much for some vendors. Syracuse.com reported that some business owners cited the strain the Fair would put on limited staff. But the Hound is guessing there’s more to it.

It could be contractual or regulatory changes, higher fees to open or other cost-related issues. We’ve seen New York State interfere with business in the past, the worst example being the mandating of sources and prices on bottled water.

Whatever is happening, it’s just tough to buy the exit of four favorite vendors in one year unless there’s more to this shocking news. The Hound would like to know more. And on behalf of devoted Fair foodies, something should be done to retain such popular businesses.