It’s here, folks: Summerfest 2026! Nine (not 11) days of music, people-watching, SkyGlidering, and enjoying both music and people-watching while riding the SkyGlider. Oh, and food! Don’t forget about the food! Summerfest has oodles of new food (and drinks) for 2026. We tried 10 newbies on Day 1 of the Big Gig. (The fest runs June 18-20, June 25-27, and July 2-4.) Here’s our report. (And yeah, the Saz’s Sampler Platter is $14.50 this year.)

Supper Club Steak – Cousins Subs ($14)

This is the fourth Summerfest in a row that we’ve happily downed a new sub from Cousins. We braved a Cheetos Flamin’ Hot Cheese Steak sub in 2023, a Fried Bologna sub in 2024, and an Italian Stallion sub in 2025. Is this year’s Supper Club Steak the best yet? At the risk of offending Cheetos, bologna, and Rocky fans, we’re saying YES. You’ve got steak and sautéed mushrooms. You’ve got provolone cheese and sautéed and crispy onions. And yes, you’ve got A1 steak sauce. All that’s missing is some wood paneling, a 72-year-old server, and a cloud of cigarette smoke. 10/10, would recommend, hon. [Matt Wild]

Chili Dog Mac – Mac-A-Do’s ($16)

Not far away from the South Gate, you’ll come upon Mac-A-Do’s. Admittedly, we can’t recall ever eating anything from Mac-A-Do’s during our past Summerfest explorations. So we were going in pretty blind when we placed an order for their lone new item, the Chili Dog Mac. With a $16 pre-tax/pre-tip price tag, it’s admittedly a bit steep for some macaroni. Cost notwithstanding, you could do a lot worse than a heap of cheese-covered cavatappi noodles topped with a hearty scoop of smokey chili, massive hunks of all-beef hot dog, and a handful of crushed Fritos.

That being said, we likely wouldn’t be reaching for loaded macaroni and cheese at Summerfest if not for the sake of this assignment. But it was still pretty good and Sonic would almost certainly love it. If you’re a mac and cheese mega fan or a parent who’s looking for a meal for their picky young child, definitely consider one of the specialty macaroni preparations at Mac-A-Do’s.

Oh, and we saw a Crock Pot in the garbage when we threw our macaroni container away. That has little to do with the chili mac, but we just found it to be odd and we wanted to share our picture with you. [Tyler Maas]

Elote Dog – Wild Dog ($13)

Wild Dog’s elote-style hot dog may seem underwhelming at first glance—the dog itself seems like a straight-up Oscar Mayer wiener—but generous helpings of corn, mayonnaise, bacon bits, cotija cheese, cilantro, and chili powder take it to another level. And not only does the thing taste great, it looks great, too. If you’re looking for a proper fashion accessory to go along with your Summerfest hat, your Summerfest RSVLTS shirt, or your Summerfest fanny pack, consider the Elote Dog. [MW]

Tots On The Street Cheese Curd Tots – Saz’s Miller Lite Oasis ($10)

Over at the Saz’s stand at the Miller Lite Oasis, there’s a new collaboration that pairs two festival season heavy-hitters—Saz’s and Tots On The Street—together. The new merger takes the form of what’s being called “Cheese Curd Tots.” For $10 (plus tax, fees, and that ever-expensive “question it’s going to ask you”), you can get six so-called “curds” that look, feel, and honestly even taste more like hush puppies, along with a container of a thick Ranch-like dipping sauce. They’re extremely potato-forward, but the fried and seasoned balls of skin-on spuds also have a little bit of cheese inside. Ultimately, they’re fine, but both Saz’s and Tots On The Street do far better work alone. If you’re seeking cheese curds, we implore you to look elsewhere. But if orbs of cheesy breakfast potatoes are of interest, absolutely give these things a shot and go heavy on the admittedly pretty delicious dipping sauce. [TM]

Bang Bang Broccoli – Wokkin’ Roll ($11.50)

The Big Bang fireworks display is always a Big Gig highlight. Another highlight? Getting a shareable snack for under $37. Wokkin’ Roll’s Bang Bang Broccoli won’t feed a Summerfest party of five, but it’s a solid choice for sun-baked Summerfest couples or throuples. What makes these deep-fried broccoli bits “bang bang”? Some Thai sweet chili sauce and some sesame seeds, that’s what. We shared these spicy suckers with our group while enjoying an early-afternoon set from a Massachusetts band called Bowling Shoes. Ah, Summerfest. [MW]

Loaded Bloody Mary Burger – The Wisconsin Table ($16)

The Wisconsin Table is a brand new Summerfest food vendor. The stand, located in that row of food purveyors situated kind of between the Aurora Pavilion and Johnsonville Summerville, specializes in foods and beverages that not-so-subtly nod to Wisconsin supper club culture. In addition to fare like fish fry and mini cream puffs and libations like brand old fashioneds and grasshoppers, there’s an unusual menu item that grabbed our attention: The Loaded Bloody Mary Burger.

Not knowing quite what to expect, we forked over a pre-tax/pre-tip sum of $16. A few minutes later, we were handed a bacon cheeseburger that was impaled with a skewer stacked with traditional “Wisco” (a thing we all say!) bloody mary add-ons like an olive, a lemon wedge, a small piece of beef stick, and a couple of curds. With all the garnishes removed, we were basically left with a Wendy’s Junior Bacon Cheeseburger—from back when Wendy’s was actually good—with a tasty brioche bun and some partially-melted cheese curds inside. Believe it or not, this was arguably the best thing this reviewer ate at Summerfest yesterday. We’re as shocked as you are. [TM]

Boss Hog Burger – Jimmy Ward’s Grill ($15)

When Summerfest released its full list of new food and drink items, Milwaukee pal/treasure Evan Rytlewski had this to say on X: “They’re really not trying anymore. Big trend in festival/ballpark food* post-COVID has been the move away from novel, silly stuff and back to perfunctory, ‘here, this will fill your stomach’ cafeteria stuff. *not state fairs, obviously. Those menus get sillier.” While we certainly wouldn’t call the Boss Hog Burger at Jimmy Ward’s Grill “cafeteria stuff” (it’s good!) it definitely qualifies as a no-frills stomach-filler. It’s a quarter-pound burger topped with BBQ pork. Eat it and get on with your day. Welcome to Summerfest. [MW]

Italian Beef Eggrolls – Pizza Man ($10)

As happy as we are to have Pizza Man—a gigantic step up from Solo and their wretched Pizza Cones—serving up slices at the Summerfest grounds, we must say their new Italian Beef Egg Rolls are downright dreadful. A $10 order gets you exactly three rolls that shoot hot grease everywhere when they’re bit into. One of our egg rolls had no presence of giardiniera, another had a ton of it but very little “beef” (which seems like repurposed sausage typically used to top pizzas), and the third seemed about as well-balanced as we could’ve expected.

The wrapping was too thick to allow any other ingredient to shine, the marinara dipping sauce didn’t really seem to make sense in the context of an Italian Beef riff, and they were kind of just a letdown in general. (Insert your own The Bear reference here). [TM]

Mountain Dew Spicy Smash – DRIPS by Pepsi ($11 for 16 oz; $14 for 24 oz)

Take a stroll along the Goth Rocks and you’ll eventually come across a colorful DRIPS by Pepsi trailer. What’s DRIPS by Pepsi, you ask? According to a press release, it’s a “chef-created lineup of handcrafted beverages made with iconic PepsiCo brands and topped with colorful mix-ins, boba, cold foam, garnishes, and more.” Here’s the Summerfest lineup:

Never ones to turn down a Dew, we eagerly ordered a Mountain Dew Spicy Smash. Was it indeed spicy thanks to the chamoy and Tajín seasoning? You better believe it. Was there indeed a gummy worm swimming around in the thing? We think so, though we didn’t get down that far—a few sips were all we needed to know that this DRIP wasn’t for us. A Mountain Dew drink we didn’t like? The end is nigh, folks.

Frozen Dubai Cheesecake – Ultimate Confections ($10)

Once a trendy food or beverage reaches the Summerfest ground, it’s safe to say it’s ubiquitous and its moment has passed. Last year, the Big Gig finally brought in boba. This year, it’s all about “dirty soda” and Dubai chocolate. As decidedly mainstream and played out as it is, Dubai chocolate is still pretty damn tasty. For the 2026 festival, Ultimate Confections has devoted a noticeable portion of its menu to all things Dubai, and we were eager to bai…er, BUY a slice of the Frozen Dubai Cheesecake on a stick to serve as our final Summerfest bite on day one. We’ll keep it short and sweet: it ruled. The rich graham cracker crust-bottomed cheesecake was dipped in a thick layer of milk chocolate, liberally drizzled with a green pistachio-forward Dubai chocolate topping, and capped off with a dusting of kataifi (shredded phyllo dough) and then frozen. Honestly, who really cares about keeping up with the hottest trends when you’re at Summerfest? Get 2023’s coolest dessert, eat it while watching Spin Doctors, and live a little! [TM]