The OnMilwaukee Summer Festivals Guide is presented by Potawatomi Hotel & Casino. Create your summer story by participating in casino wide promotions with the chance to win big. This summer I will own it! Click here for more details.
There’s a smorgasbord of new fare at Summerfest this year, including a load of summertime festival indulgences that are deep fried, super sweet or otherwise spectacularly outside the norm of most peoples' regular diets.
In an effort to narrow down the list, we've pulled together a number of items that we're pretty sure should end up on your "must try" list.
Deep fried Old Fashioned
Unlike the deep-fried beer or butter you may have tried at the Wisconsin State Fair in years past, the deep-fried Old Fashioned isn’t liquid at all. This achingly sweet dessert is comprised of deep-fried orange pound cake that’s both filled and topped with cherry- and brandy-flavored cream cheese and drizzled with orange bitters syrup ($6.50). Find it at Trinity Irish Pub near the Briggs & Stratton Big Backyard.
Lobster corn dogs
Upgrade your corn dog experience with the lobster corn dogs, featuring a house-made lobster sausage (made with tail and claw meat, along with corn salsa) dipped into sweet cornmeal batter, deep fried and served up with creole remoulade ($10 for two). Get yours at the Lakeside Supper Club, located in the Ethnic Village on the north end of the grounds.
Mac bottom pizza
Our pop culture editor Matt Mueller offered up the skinny on this artery-clogging masterpiece, comprised of deep-fried macaroni and cheese topped with tomato sauce, melted mozzarella, pepperoni and sausage ($7.50). Find it at Solo Pizza in the Marcus Amphitheater food court.
Doughnut cupcakes
If you’re looking for a monster sugar high, look no further than the doughnut-topped cupcakes from Classy Girl Cupcakes. The size of a small cake, these flavorful sugar bombs are $10 and come in three flavors:
- Loaded Cookie Dough: a chocolate cupcake filled with cookie dough, iced with vanilla buttercream and topped with a chocolate doughnut
- Jelly Doughnut: a cinnamon French toast cupcake filled with raspberry jam, iced with vanilla buttercream and topped with a cinnamon toast crunch doughnut
- Samoa: featuring a coconut cupcake with coconut caramel filling, topped with salted caramel buttercream and a coconut doughnut
Get yours near the BMO Harris Pavilion.
Deep-fried pickles
If you love pickles, you're likely to love these thick-cut ones, which are breaded, deep fried and served up with Saz's spicy white barbecue sauce for dipping.
Loaded milkshakes
Why settle for a regular old milkshake when you can have one that’s loaded with toppings?
Choose from the Cookie Monster (pictured), the Shamrock Grasshopper or Tiramisu for $10 each. Get yours in the Ethnic Village on the north end of the grounds.
As a passionate champion of the local dining scene, Lori has reimagined the restaurant critic's role into that of a trusted dining concierge, guiding food lovers to delightful culinary discoveries and memorable experiences.
Lori is an avid cook whose accrual of condiments and spices is rivaled only by her cookbook collection. Her passion for the culinary industry was birthed while balancing A&W root beer mugs as a teenage carhop, fed by insatiable curiosity and fueled by the people whose stories entwine with every dish. Lori is the author of two books: the "Wisconsin Field to Fork" cookbook and "Milwaukee Food". Her work has garnered journalism awards from entities including the Milwaukee Press Club. In 2024, Lori was honored with a "Top 20 Women in Hospitality to Watch" award by the Wisconsin Restaurant Association.
When she’s not eating, photographing food, writing or planning for TV and radio spots, you’ll find Lori seeking out adventures with her husband Paul, traveling, cooking, reading, learning, snuggling with her cats and looking for ways to make a difference.
