Then, after his sixth time applying, he received a call.
“They said they weren't giving me a contract, but they wanted to try my food. And that to me was just as good,” Bednar told the Observer. ”My wife, she literally thought I won the lotto, because I was screaming outside.”
Bednar, who specialized in taco plates served with rice and beans, was invited into the opening taste test panel of the state fair’s Big Tex Business Masterclass. The class was started in 2017 as a way for state fair hopefuls to bolster their businesses applications, and Bednar is one of the class's success stories.
He joined the 2019 cohort, attending night classes for the months leading up to the fair. Classes cover everything from human-resource management to building a menu. Bednar walked away having learned how to do his sales taxes and balance the books. After months of classes, each person spends the 24 days that the state fair runs at an established booth where they are mentored by an experienced concessionaire.
After his program, Bednar was invited to run Tony’s Taco Shop on the fairgrounds. Four years later, he runs two locations and was named a Big Tex Choice Awards finalist for his “Drowning Taquitos.” His wife, Terry, has already rolled 20,000 taquitos in advance of the state fair’s opening on Sept. 27.
And, this year, he will serve as a mentor for another fair hopeful.
“It does not matter your background. When we step into the fair, we're all family," Bednar said. "We're all just folks."
Building a Business-Minded Community
In the late 2010s, the state fair started to notice something missing from a growing number of applications submitted by concessionaire hopefuls. Whether the applicant hadn’t finished their menu, didn’t have the business chops to handle the economics aspect or hadn’t raised enough capital, fair officials saw an opportunity to grow their business development outreach.The Big Tex Business Class was born. It’s a bootcamp to bring family-run establishments up to the speed of the largest state fair in the country. The program almost stalled out after the COVID-19 pandemic, but Jessica Vitela, a community relations manager for the fair, refused to let that happen.
“I told myself, there's absolutely no way we're going to stop this program. It's needed,” Vitela told the Observer. “I’ve seen what it does to businesses.”
@statefairoftx THE DROWNING TAQUITOS!🤠🥑 This finalist of the Big Tex Choice Awards, presented by our friends at Karbach Brewing, is battling it out for the Best Taste - Savory!! 📍Find it at Tony’s Taco Shop in the Tower Building or in the Centennial Building 👩🍳👨🍳: Tony & Terry Bednar
♬ original sound - State Fair of Texas
Last week, during the final meeting of the 2024 business class cohort, four of the nine panelists giving the class advice were graduates of the program who went on to join the fair. Bednar was on the panel, alongside his cohort classmate Heather Perkins, who received a thunderous applause after announcing herself as a Big Tex Choice Award winner for this year.
Planning food for a state fair crowd is nuanced and something that can be done only with boots-on-the-ground experience. Some years it rains every day, and business is a snail's crawl. Other years, the final day of the fair happens to fall on a Sunday when the Cowboys aren’t playing. If that happens, you better hope you ordered triple the amount of food you’d think you need.
The crowds of Grambling State University and Prairie View A&M fans who attend the State Fair Classic want to eat, and they’ll start overwhelming the fairgrounds as soon as the halftime performance is over. The Red River Rivalry crowd on the other hand, shows up at 7 a.m. to drink beer.
Business class participants get the opportunity to see it all for themselves during their 24-day internship shadowing a concessionaire. After their program ends, the state fair hosts a graduation ceremony and offers continued, free mentorship from industry consultants and professionals.
Many of the individuals who graduated from the program come back to mentor, Vitela said.
“They've been in the same spots, those chairs, they know the struggles. They are always willing,” she said. “This program is changing the trajectory of a person’s life, of their families lives.”
Investing in the Next Wave of State Fair Foods
Antonio Guevara and Tifany Swulius became friends 12 years ago while working at Lakewood Landing. They shared a passion for food; Guevara excels in Tex-Mex-inspired barbecue, and Swulius is a state fair ribbon-winning baker. They both cook gluten-free dishes and applied for a booth at the fair this year because it has “always been a part of their lives,” Swulius said.“There's this other level of being creative [at the state fair],” Swulius said. “You may not be able to sell an awesome fried concoction at your restaurant every day, but at the fair, you can give that a shot.”
When the duo was invited into the Big Tex Master Class they weren’t totally sure what they’d been invited into, but they were “wide-eyed” at the opportunity. They decided to attend the opening taste test panel, where they received promising feedback.
“I feel like they saw something in us they could build up,” Guevara said. “They’re investing in their own people.”
While many business class attendees finish their on-the-ground internship and go on to join the fair as official concessionaires, some realize it’s not the scene for them. But Guevara and Swulius grew up visiting the fair and think they know what to expect.
No sleep. Sore feet. Fried food. More fried food.
They’ll be mentored by Bednar, marking a full circle moment for him.
“We’re all trying to make this place more beautiful. It's a privilege,” Bednar said. "This has been a very beautiful ride”
