Grilling Greg about ‘Miller’s World Famous Corn Dogs’ 

By Stephen Baldwin, RealWV

When I think of the State Fair of West Virginia, I picture Hacksaw Jim Duggan eatin’ a corn dog on the midway in his right hand, wearin’ jean shorts and a cutoff Budweiser t-shirt, holdin’ an American flag in his left hand. 

And if you don’t know who Hacksaw Jim Duggan is, then it’s time for a heapin’ helpin’ of patriotism to flow through your veins. Might I suggest…eatin’ a corn dog! 

One of the staples of American fairs and festivals, corn dogs beckon connoisseurs at the State Fair of West Virginia each year looking for the perfect blend of a salty dog and a sweet batter. Greg Miller’s family has been serving them up for 33 years now using a family recipe. 

‘Love & sugar’

“We’re known for our corn dogs,” Greg says. “At State Fairs from Florida to Ohio to North Carolina, but especially in West Virginia because our family is from Greenbrier County.” 

It’s their #1 selling item each year. What sets their corn dogs apart? 

“Love and sugar,” Greg says with a hearty laugh. “We make everything from scratch. There’s no additives or anything. Just fresh ingredients made on-site every day.” 

This year, a regular “World Famous Miller’s Corn Dog” will cost customers $7 (or $10 for a footlong.”

Miller says they’ve worked hard to keep that price down the last couple of years, despite rising costs. 

“A box of hot dogs costs me almost double what it did five years ago,” he says. “So we’ve cut into our profits to keep prices as low as we can.” 

Which raises an interesting question we at RealWV sought to answer: How much does a corn dog cost?

How much does a corn dog cost?

In other words, if you go to the State Fair and buy a “Miller’s World Famous Corn Dog” for $7, what costs comprise the $7 charge? 

Greg Miller helped us understand that there’s more to it than you might imagine. Here are all the costs food vendors regularly have: 

• State Fair fees: 17%. Miller says, “There are auditors at the State Fair that visit us every day. There’s no more honor system. They audit us daily for our sales and we pay 17% back to them.” 
• State taxes: 6%. The food prices are all-inclusive, so the vendors like Miller’s must pay 6% of all sales to the state. 
• Insurance: thousands annually to hold multi-million policies for liability and property such as trailers, trucks, etc. 
• State fees: Miller says every time he turns around, it seems the state has found a new way to charge “$1,000 for this or that.” 
• Labor: “We pay prevailing wage to our workers,” which includes a local crew and a crew of H-2B visa holders.
• Housing for workers: RVs provide housing for workers as they travel to fairs and festivals all up and down the east coast working for Miller’s. 
• Transportation: Ditto. 
• Food costs: Again, Miller says they have spiked since the pandemic and keep rising. A case of hot dogs used to cost $21. Now it costs $40. But he refuses to skimp on the base food products. “I buy premium,” he says. “We’re really proud to offer the best products we possibly can to our customers.” 
• Food trailers: “It’s not unusual for the rigs you see parked at the fair to cost $300,000 each,” Miller explains. “So if a vendor has a few trailers and a few trucks, along with their equipment inside, it’s easy to be over $1 million in just that equipment.” 

Where does Greg like to eat at the WVSF? 

As someone who’s been at the State Fair of West Virginia every single day it’s been open since the 1960s, who runs food stands himself, where does Greg Miller like to eat? 

“The Cattleman’s Association steak sandwiches,” he begins. “Pizza, I like both Gillette’s and Belt’s. I love the Mountaineer Diner’s burger. And anywhere that serves fresh green lettuce and a red tomato, I’ll be there. We’re fortunate in Greenbrier County to get so many good food vendors for the State Fair.” 

Greg has served as President of the National Independent Concessionaires Association and is proud of the work he and other food vendors do to feed the public interesting, quality food at festivals. “We’re one big concession family, and we’re very fortunate to have such a good group who come to Fairlea each year.”

The State Fair of West Virginia is August 7-16, 2025. 

This story is part of a series on the 100th State Fair of West Virginia funded in part by the Peyton Foundation.