State Fair Fare: Illinois Pizza Spot Makes National Buzz List

When you head to the state fair, you should just make sure you bring your appetite.

That's because some of the culinary offerings are off-the-charts delicious and slightly crazy.

READ MORE: Illinois' Most Popular State Fair Food Is A Delicious Deep Fried Treat

A carnival sign with flags on top of it
Photo by Brandon Griggs on Unsplash

Move Over Corn Dogs: The Honey Badger Arrives

At Pizza Payaa in Normal, a couple of hours south of us in Rockford, they're making us reconsider what is actually "fair food." You can and probably will forget all about corn dogs, funnel cakes, and lemonade after you try the Honey Badger.

Tasting Table put together a list of the most buzzworthy new state fair foods, and a pizza joint in Illinois made the list for 2026.

It's so good; they called it one of the most buzzworthy fair foods for 2026.

With pepperoni, fennel sausage, fresh basil, and Mike's Hot Honey, this pizza has won rave reviews for its bold combination of sweet, spicy, and savory flavors.

I've never had honey, spicy or otherwise, on pizza, but I gotta tell you, this thing looks amazing.

READ MORE: This Is THE Fair Food You've Gotta Try in Illinois This Year

Where to Find the Honey Badger Now

The Illinois State Fair may be over, but the Honey Badger isn’t gone with it. You can still try one at Pizza Payaa’s restaurant in Uptown Normal, about two hours from Rockford.

Fair food usually disappears when the midway packs up. Thankfully, this one is still only a two-hour drive and one semi-questionable road trip decision away.

LOOK: Top pizza chains in the US

To help you find your next slice, Stacker examined PMQ Pizza Magazine's 2025 Pizza Power report to round up the 30 biggest pizza chains in the country based on annual sales in 2023. Some are classic fast-food franchises, customizable and deliverable to our doorsteps in less than 60 minutes; others are brick-and-mortar family joints.

Gallery Credit: Stacker

LOOK: 20 Discontinued McDonald's Menu Items You'll Never See Again

Discontinued McDonald's items tell the story of eight decades of quiet experiments, from a pizza that took too long to cook to a lobster roll that never made financial sense. Some disappeared overnight with no explanation, others were cut to streamline operations, and a few became cultural phenomena long after they were gone.

Gallery Credit: Stacker

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