Last year when we did a similar challenge, we set a rule for ourselves that we couldn't use our money for food or drink. The goal was to find some cool Summerfest "stuff."

This year, to mix it up, we decided to open it up and see how we'd best spend $20 on the grounds with no real restrictions.

This is what we found ...

Drew Olson
Senior editor

I spend a lot of time on the Summerfest grounds, so I can pretty much hit all my favorites during the 11 days of the festival. What I tried to do with this challenge was plan a full meal that would sustain me during a long stretch of beer-drinking and band-watching.

I begin with a palate-cleansing container of grapes ($2.50) from Catalano's, which serves an array of delicious healthy fruit. (I wanted to start healthy, because it's mostly downhill from here.)

I'll follow the grapes with an ear of corn ($3). That's my first course. The main course is a Goolsby's cheeseburger ($5). It's simple. It's cheap. It's filling. It's consistent. Best of all, it's delicious. I know I can make a great cheeseburger on my own grill, but something about this one makes me think about ordering a second.

To wash down the corn and cheeseburger, I'll need a red wine cooler ($6). It's Summerfest's own recipe. Even though they don't make them by hand any more, they're still refreshing. And, it's a nice break from beer.

With $3.50 left on my budget, I'm hankering for dessert. There is nothing better than cannoli from Peter Sciortino's bakery near the Lite Oasis. That meal will keep me going for a few more hours.

Molly Snyder
Staff writer

I scoured the grounds, looking for great food deals, and determined to make my $20 stretch far enough to feed me and my kids. I think we did pretty well. It was especially easy considering I wasn't buying beer, which would have made me get way less proverbial bang for my buck.

I got two Thai egg rolls at the King & I for $3.50; my sons each got a pork tamale from Botanas for $5 ($2.50 each); we all got pickles on sticks for $2 from Mader's (family tradition) and later, we snacked on the eggplant strips from Venice Club for $5.75. I probably could have skipped the strips and bought sodas -- instead I bought one out-of-pocket -- but really, who can pass up deep-fried eggplant? Apparently, not I.

If you do the math, our load of food totaled exactly $20. Hooray.

Bobby Tanzilo
Managing editor

In past Summerfest challenges like this one, I think I found some decent stuff, including a quippy guitarists' tee and some festival playthings for the kids. This year I again got something for the little ones and something for me.

For them, I chose an inflatable Spiderman, because they had so much fun with the Hulk version I nabbed last year at State Fair. It won't last forever, but they'll get enough play time out of it that it's worth the $8 I spent at the booth just inside the South Gate.

Next I dropped $12 on some considerably more ephemeral stuff for me: an Oktoberfest beer from Water Street Brewery, just behind the kiosk where I picked up Spidey, and the combo platter -- with deep-fried mushrooms and cauliflower and eggplant strips -- from Venice Club. I don't eat this stuff at any other time or any other place during the year. It's my go-to Summerfest nosh.

Andy Tarnoff
Publisher

It took me two tries to spend exactly $20 at Summerfest. I knew right away that I wanted my budget to represent my "food lap," which is my same menu of food and drink that I enjoy every year at the Big Gig. But I went over when I tried it on day one: an earn of corn ($3), a red wine cooler ($6), two Saz's mozzarella sticks ($3.50) and volcano chicken from King & I ($9). Weighing in at a total of $21.50 (and a few thousand calories), I tried again, substituting the wine cooler with a slice of stuffed spinach pizza from Edwardo's ($4.50).

That combination worked out for a fattening and filling lunch and dinner: pizza, corn, mozzarella sticks and Thai food. Walk off the calories with a few trips up and down the grounds … and get a friend to buy you a drink.

Andrew Wagner
Staff writer

This challenge couldn't have come at a better time.

Heading down to the Summerfest grounds, I realized that I forgot to grab my debit card when throwing my ID and some cash into a smaller wallet.

With a $20 bill in hand, I walked into the park right around 8 p.m., leaving me four hours to make my money work for me.

The first order of business, as always, was getting food. Needing to keep it simple, I went for a summer favorite: the roasted pork loin sandwich from The Schwabenhof. I live off these things during the summer, when they're known at various German events as "rollbraten" sandwiches. Just $5 (an extra buck with steak fries) and my hunger has been quenched.

Fortunately, a friend ran into me and bought me a beer -- buying me some time in the process. With $15 and about three hours to go, I was debating whether or not to go with the $6 bottle of Genuine Draft or a $4.50 cup of High Life.

Doing some quick math in my head (OK, on my iPhone calculator), I realized the bottle -- per ounce -- was a better buy, so I handed the cash over and had $9 left.

The plan couldn't have worked out better. I finished my bottle just as the show was about to begin. A few songs in, I grabbed my cup of High Life and had enough left to pay for a second a little while later. (Though I did make up for the lack of a tip on another visit ...)

Beer prices are an annual topic of angst for Summerfest patrons, but for $20 ... I had three beers in about three hours (plus a sandwich). Not too bad at all.