La Casita Mexican Food owner Marcial Mejia has won three Best New Entrée titles at the Eastern Idaho State Fair. Check out three of his top-selling meals in the video above.

BLACKFOOT — The “Feeding Frenzy” is kicking off at the Eastern Idaho State Fair, and this year, we’re back with a visit to an all-time fan favorite: La Casita Mexican Food. Owner Marcial Mejia has delighted fair-goers with his delicious, authentic Mexican food for 21 years.

The three-time Best New Entrée award winner boasts an extensive menu guaranteed to satisfy your keenest Mexican food cravings. La Casita owners promise to deliver maximum flavor and incredible portions at affordable prices every time.

Mejia presented three of his top dishes to EastIdahoNews.com at the fair on Friday.

Carne Asada Tacono

For a portable Mexican meal in an American waffle cone, try the Carne Asada Tacono. This yummy twist on a classic ice cream cone comes packed with carne asada, pico de gallo, sour cream and fresh lime.

Spicy Pork Paradise

Second, Mejia shared his favorite, the Spicy Pork Paradise – corn tortillas packed with piping hot spicy pork served with rice, consommé, onions, cilantro and lime. The tortillas dipped in the consommé sauce are exquisite!

Gourmet Stuffed Nacho Bites

Finally, Mejia recommends this year’s newest entrée, the Gourmet Stuffed Nacho Bites – corn tortillas cut in half, folded and filled with carne asada, shredded Monterey cheese and jalapeños. The nachos are covered in sour cream, guacamole and sauce with a side of beans.

“It kind of explodes in your mouth,” Mejia said.

Located at the back of the food court across from Pick Me Up, La Casita’s is one stop at the fair you won’t want to miss. Check out their other delicious offerings – including cheesecake, strawberry or banana chocolate kabobs for dessert!

Check out past Feeding Frenzy at the Eastern Idaho State Fair articles here.

Super Chili Tri-tip Nachos at Santa Maria Style Grilling | Jordan Wood, EastIdahoNews.com

IDAHO FALLS – A mother-son duo is bringing authentic California barbecue to Idaho Falls.

Gabriel Huitron and his mother, Nancy Santos, are co-owners of Santa Maria Style Grilling. The Santa Maria, California, natives began their barbecue business in Idaho as a food truck.

The duo opened the brick-and-mortar location in April. Their dedication to crafting authentic Santa Maria barbecue has drawn customers from around the country to get a taste.

EastIdahoNews.com tried the Peanut Butter Bacon Burger, the Famous Tri-tip Sandwich, and the Super Chili Tri-tip Nachos during our visit.

The Peanut Butter Bacon Burger is complete with a gourmet bun, peanut butter, havarti cheese, bacon, and caramel.

The Famous Tri-tip Sandwich is a must-have for Santa Maria barbecue. The tri-tip is slow-cooked for an hour and a half over red oak wood to bring the authentic smokey flavor.

If you are extra hungry, the Super Chili Tri-tip Nachos will fill you up. The homemade chili beans recipe goes back three generations, with chorizo and ground beef. For meat, customers have a choice of tri-tip or chicken. To top it off, the nachos have a light drizzle of sour cream.

Santa Maria-style barbecue dates back to the 1850s when the Spanish began settling on the central coast. They encountered Chumash natives, who cooked their food in a large open hole in the ground. The Spanish introduced metal rods to the cooking style, which eventually evolved into the barbecue pit Santa Maria locals swear by.

Santa Maria Style Grilling is at 7953 25th East in Idaho Falls. Visit its website and see a menu here.

With all the excitement over joining the Big Ten this season, it’s important for the third-ranked Oregon Ducks to be ready for their non-conference opponents, too.

“You can’t come out sleepwalking. I think that happens from year to year, people just come out sleepwalking and if you fall into that you just dig yourself in a hole,” new Oregon quarterback Dillon Gabriel said. “So, it’s all about starting fast, dominating the middle eight, and then finishing strong.”

The Ducks open the season Saturday against Idaho as one of the newest members of the Big Ten. There are lofty expectations for Oregon with Gabriel under center.

The sixth-year senior joins the Ducks after two seasons at Oklahoma. Last year, he threw for 3,660 yards and 30 touchdowns, with just six interceptions. He also ran for 12 touchdowns, second most nationally among QBs.

Idaho also has a new quarterback in Jack Layne — an Oregon native — after last year’s starter Gevani McCoy transferred to Oregon State. Layne, a redshirt sophomore, started in one game last season, throwing for 275 yards and six touchdowns.

The Vandals were picked to finish third in the conference in both the Big Sky coaches and medial polls. They’ll certainly be challenged by the Ducks, who are 44 1/2-point favorites, according to BetMGM Sportsbook.

Oregon coach Dan Lanning said it doesn’t matter the opponent, the Ducks’ focus is always on improving in all facets of the game.

“We know that we want to set the bar for us: What’s our bar? What’s our standard? What do we want it to look like? And being self-aware enough that you can go attack the things that you have to improve,” Lanning said. “And regardless of who you’re playing, when you’re playing, we always talk about our biggest opponent is Oregon, right? We have to go play or do the best to be the best version of Oregon that we can be.”

TV trouble

An apparent carriage dispute between Comcast and the FOX/Big Ten Network may mean that the games involving Big Ten’s four new West Coast teams won’t be available to Comcast viewers — at least for now.

According to a statement from a league spokesperson: “As the one distribution partner that declined to expand along with us, Comcast Xfinity viewers in many areas will not have access to live broadcasts of the highly anticipated inaugural B1G season games for Oregon, UCLA, USC and Washington.”

Comcast said in a statement that it is sensitive to the impact on Xfinity customers and hopes for a fair agreement with Fox and the Big Ten Network.

Starting center

Lanning wasn’t going to reveal Oregon’s starting center against Idaho. Among those in contention for the job during fall camp were Iapani Laloulu and Charlie Pickard.

The Ducks need to replace Jackson Powers-Johnson, last season’s Rimington Trophy winner who was selected by the Las Vegas Raiders in the second round of the NFL draft.

Laloulu started for the Ducks in the Fiesta Bowl while Pickard is a former walk-on whose dad went to Oregon.

“We’ll send out the group that we think has done the best in fall camp to start the game. But I think for us to think long-term we have to be able to prepare and have multiple guys play at multiple positions,” Lanning said.

A look back

Oregon finished last season 12-2, with a loss to rival Washington in the final Pac-12 championship game before capping the season with a 45-6 drubbing of Liberty in the Fiesta Bowl. Oregon’s offense averaged 531.4 yards and 44.2 points per game, second nationally in both categories.

Idaho, which plays in the Big Sky, went 9-4 last season and advanced to the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs before losing to Albany, 30-22.

In addition to losing McCoy to the Beavers, wide receivers Hayden Hatten and Jermaine Jackson both went to the NFL. Six other starters for the Vandals went to the transfer portal.