I went to a food festival that served elevated versions of chain restaurant menu items. Here's everything I ate.

The first menu item I tried at the festival ended up being my least favorite. The sandwich featured a miniature country-fried steak and seasoned gravy sandwiched between a plain biscuit.

This item was a spin on Cracker Barrel's biscuits and gravy and country-fried steak, which are permanent fixtures on its menu.

While the texture of the gravy was slightly off, this could have just been due to the preparation conditions — it was a hot day, there were thousands of guests to serve, and the chains were operating out of outdoor tents.

I liked the biscuit's flavor and thought the steak was perfectly crispy, but I think I would have preferred a fried chicken biscuit rather than a country-fried steak biscuit. The steak was a little too chewy and dense for my liking.

Only those holding a VIP ticket had access to this menu item, which was being passed around in the sectioned-off VIP area. However, I wasn't quite sure that this single menu item made the more expensive ticket worth it.

However, I thought the biscuit, which was inspired by Red Lobster's iconic Cheddar Bay Biscuits, was very crumbly, buttery, and flavorful. The arugula also added a touch of freshness to the dish.

The lobster, however, simply didn't wow me. I wasn't a huge fan of the texture or the flavor.

Next up was the Elote dog from Hot Dog on a Stick, a chain that specializes in gourmet corndogs.

I'm admittedly a huge fan of Elote, so I was intrigued to try this corndog drizzled with chamoy and lime crema and topped with cotija cheese, charred roasted corn, and cilantro.

The batter held its shape without being too thick and was packed with a salty, fried flavor. The beef hot dog also held its own, and the additional toppings certainly made this menu item stand out to me.

Things were looking up in terms of the food offered at ChainFest.

It wouldn't be a New York food festival without some bagels and schmear, and Pop-Up Bagels certainly impressed me with theirs.

They offered two different flavor variations: an everything bagel with pizza schmear, which was the one I got, and a salted bagel with cheesecake-flavored schmear.

The bagel was perfectly seasoned and was the perfect balance between fluffy and chewy. The cream cheese tasted like regular cream cheese with a tomato topping that gave the perfect amount of pizza flavor.

This was one of the few sweet options available at the festival. It was a perfect choice for early autumn in New York, so I was excited to try this variation on Krispy Kreme's classic glazed doughnut.

It tasted like a classic Krispy Kreme glazed doughnut with just a hint of pumpkin spice. I would definitely get this again, so I hope that it will one day be added to menus.

The only burger I tried during the day was a take on the Jalapeño Heatwave, the newest burger added to Red Robin's menu.

The burger I tried varies slightly from the one you'll find in restaurants but has the same flavor profile.

The ChainFest version came with an American wagyu beef patty seasoned with umami powder, hatch chili and avocado salsa, caramelized onions, jalapeño sofrito, pepper-jack cheese, and chicken-fried jalapeños on a potato-brioche bun. The mini burger also came with crispy onion rings.

I can't remember the last time I ate at a Red Robin restaurant, but this burger might just be worth a trip. It had the perfect amount of heat and jalapeño flavor and slightly reminded me of my favorite burger when I tried every burger at Chili's.

My third-favorite item I tried was the "Haute Dog" from Portillo's, a hot-dog chain with locations in the Midwest and on the West Coast.

Inspired by a Chicago dog, the hot dog came with mustard, onions, relish, pickles, tomato, sport peppers, celery salt, cheese sauce, and potato chips.

Texturally, this hot dog was a winner in my book. The hot dog itself was beefy and juicy, and the sesame-seed bun added a lot of flavor. I loved all of the toppings, including the salted potato chips, which added a delicious crunch to the hot dog.

This was the last menu item of the day that I ate, but that didn't stop me from enjoying it.

The Blazing Bourbon Chicken is one of the newest additions to the Panda Express menu and came with green peppers, onions, and sesame seeds.

It reminded me slightly of General Tso's chicken, which is usually what I order from American-Chinese restaurants. However, this dish had a slightly more molasses taste to it thanks to the bourbon.

A play on chicken and waffles, this was by far the festival's most popular menu item, judging by the seemingly mile-long line that stretched in front of the KFC booth all day.

The dish came with KFC's newest menu item, the original recipe tenders, which will launch nationwide on October 14, a ChainFest-exclusive potato waffle, and a choice of sauce.

This menu item had me seriously excited about the chain's new chicken tenders launching next month.

It was juicy on the inside but perfectly crispy and seasoned on the outside — the hallmark of a truly great chicken tender. The Comeback Sauce, which is also coming to KFC menus soon, was tangy and the perfect complement to the chicken and waffle.

The waffle, which I wished was coming to menus, was light and fluffy and provided the perfect vehicle for soaking up the extra sauce. If I had had more room in my stomach, I definitely would have gone back for seconds — and maybe even thirds — of this menu item.