Fried butter creator, East Dallas neighbor & State Fair mainstay Abel Gonzales reflects on his rise to fame

Abel started working in his father’s restaurant, A.J. Gonzales’ Mexican Oven, as a young boy, absorbing life in the kitchen. As an adult, he worked as a computer analyst by day and at his dad’s restaurant in the evenings. And he continued to enjoy the Fair.

Around 1999, he had just lost a game of ring toss on the midway when he had a lightbulb moment: He could run a booth at the Fair. He pursued the idea but found it impossible to break into the system since the games were run by one organization. 

Then he realized he had the know-how in the kitchen: a food booth could work. He opened his first booth at the Fair in 2003, selling giant, Texas-shaped sopapillas. 

Two years later, the State Fair began a new contest, open to concessionaires only, which would ultimately change his life: the Big Tex Choice Awards competition, an opportunity for those with Fair concession stands to showcase creativity using a deep fryer.

Because the Fair had an Elvis exhibit that year, Abel’s mind immediately went to Elvis-inspired foods. He settled on fried peanut butter, banana and jelly sandwich — and won the coveted golden statuette. Picture an Oscar with a Big Tex head, and you get the idea.

Over the years, he has gone on to win the Big Tex Choice Award four other times, for Fried Coke, Fried Cookie Dough, Fried Butter and Fried Jambalaya.

So how did it feel to win those awards?

“It feels awesome! Especially the first few times. I don’t know what it feels like to win an Oscar, but it can’t be that much different.”

Pun intended, it’s fair to say that the State Fair of Texas has changed Abel’s life, particularly his Fried Butter win, a spectacle which resulted in Oprah herself stopping by for a sample.

“The next thing you know, I’m on Oprah, The Today Show, The View and many, many, many others. I was a regular on a couple of TV shows.”

Abel appeared on the reality show Deep Fried Dynasty and was a judge on Deep Fried Masters, experiences he said he really enjoyed.

“I was in New York for what seems like half of the year. Everything changed.”