ESCANABA, Mich. (WZMQ) – The fun and excitement of the 2025 U.P. State Fair continued on Tuesday. Each day has a different theme, and for the fair’s second day, it was Chewsday Tuesday.
From savory entrees and hearty sides to refreshing drinks and sweet treats, there is something for every palate at the fair. For many regular fairgoers, Croatian Chicken out of Gwinn is a must-have.
“The business has been around for over 30 years, and this is our sixth year of owning it,” said co-owner Jeff Delmont. “You get a half a chicken, a quarter chicken. It comes with cole slaw and a dinner roll.”
The U.P. State Fair is the biggest event for the business every year.
“It depends on the weather, the music and stuff, but we can go through a couple thousand chickens,” Delmont said. “It’s pretty busy for us.”
With the chickens roasting out in the open, it is one of the most eye-catching options at the fair. Delmont says customers get a high-quality product to match.
“We have good ingredients, and it’s just some good wholesome food,” he said. “We’ve been doing things the same year after year. I think consistency and quality brings people back.”
Another returning vendor is Charlie’s Food Concessions from Madison, Wisconsin. With a wide selection of menu items and several stands, it is an easy name to spot throughout the midway.
“We have Italian sausage, Polish sausage, burgers, fries,” said Amanda Bast, a sixth-generation Charlie’s employee. “We also do fresh-squeezed lemonade and acai bowls. Cotton candy, caramel corn, caramel apples. Our best thing are these corndogs here.”
New this year at Charlie’s Pizza is a Mexican street corn pizza.
“It was inspired by a lot of our crew being of Hispanic culture,” explained Charlie’s Pizza owner Amie Petrovic. “When we’re serving Mexican corn, they kept adding to it and making it better and better, and they’re like, ‘Hey, what can we do with this?’ It’s been wonderful for us.”
The unique pizza recently placed third in the Wisconsin State Fair’s Sporkies competition.
“People loved it,” Petrovic said. “I had people coming back and I’d say, ‘Hey, how do you like it?’ They’re like, ‘This is our fourth time back! We absolutely love the pizza.’ It was fun working together to come up with the perfect recipe, and here we are with a delicious pizza!”
With a long legacy of good food and friendly service, all of the Charlie’s Food Concessions stands usually have a line of hungry fairgoers checking out the menu.
“We’ve been doing fairs for a very long time,” said Bast, holding her young daughter. “It became Charlie’s in 1969, and Maisy is the seventh generation. It means a lot. It’s fun to see just how many generations of serving great food.”
To see what else is in store this week at the U.P. State Fair, visit upstatefair.net. WZMQ 19 is a proud Reserve Champion Sponsor of the 2025 U.P. State Fair.
