Food Carts Portland

Our good friend JohntheKiwi emailed me the following about his experience in Portland’s FoodCart scene during the month of June.

Well, it’s over folks. 30 food carts in 30 days. To be honest I thought I could do 30 in less than 30 days, and I set a pretty good pace at the beginning. But the thing about Portland’s food cart scene is that there are just so many good ones, and I found myself returning to a handful of them more than once. I’m a purist, and I didn’t count return trips, nor did I count the crappy fry carts down at the “Fun Center” on the waterfront. I didn’t even count Saturday or farmers market carts in my final tally of 30 unique carts in 30 days.

All in all, I visited food carts 39 times in 30 days. Here is the final list of the 30 unique carts (alphabetical, with general area noted):

#1 Bento Korean BBQ (SW 9th and Alder)
Brunch Box (SW 5th and Oak)
Bubba Bernies (SE 12th and Hawthorne)
Choza’s Taste of Peru (SW 9th and Alder)
Eurodish (Polish) (SW 9th and Alder)
Francisco’s (SW 3rd and Stark)
Garden State (sellwood)
Grilled Cheese Grill (NE 10th and Alberta)
Huongs Vietnamese (SW 9th and Alder)
Jean’s Hot Dog/Square (Pioneer Square)
Just Thai (SE 3rd and Stark)
Kiko’s Taqueria (Sellwood)
La Jarochita (SW 5th and Oak)
Lady Thai (SE 3rd and Stark)
No Fish Go Fish (SW 5th and Yamhill)
Original Chopollos (SW 4th and Hall)
Perierra creperie (SE 12th and Hawthorne)
Phillies (SW 5th and Oak)
Po’ Town Vittles (SW Moody and Abernathy)
Potato Champion (SE 12th and Hawthorne)
Rick’s Wild Seafood (SE 3rd and Ash)
Rip City Grill (SW Moody and Abernathy)
Savor Soup House (SW 9th and Alder)
Shelly’s Garden/Honkin Huge Burritos (Pioneer Square)
Smokin’ Pig (SW 5th and Oak)
Spoons on 5th (SW 5th and Oak)
Spud Locker (NE 27th and Alberta)
Tito’s Burritos (SE 3rd and Washington)
Vietnamese Banh Mi (SW 4th and Hall)
Whiffies (SE 12th and Hawthorne)

I hit Whiffies, BrunchBox and Savor Soup House multiple times, and, had Rick’s Wild Seafood opened earlier than this week I would have been there more than once too. So I guess you could consider those my favorites. Notable mention goes to the Spud Locker, the best Baked Potato I’ve ever had;  Shelly’s Garden, an old school favorite; and No Fish Go Fish, cuz John is awesome!

Not counted in the 30 are Nut Love, frequently at Saturday market, and Zuppa, which was at the organic brewfest and frequent at various Farmers markets.

I spent $185.75 in 39 visits, an average of $4.76, although this is thrown a little out of whack by including $25 spent in one visit at Whiffies, in my unsuccessful attempt at a pie eating record The average of the actual 30 is a budget-friendly $4.05 per day.

Stay tuned for August, in which I attempt 30 breweries in 30 days!

Thanks John for your report. See you at the carts!

When I started Food Carts Portland in September of 2007, I had no idea what it might become. I had no idea how many carts there were in Portland. I had no idea how popular and outstanding many of them are. I had no idea there would be a fierce, fun and rapidly growing community of incredible cart owners and food cart fans; not just in PDX but on a national level as well. I had no idea how many wonderful people I would meet, and how many new and fantastic opportunities running this site would bring me. I had no idea how much work this site would be, but I also had no idea how much fun I would have running the site. Fast forward to June 2009.

It is with some sadness, but a whole bunch of excitement, that I am announcing some big changes coming to Food Carts Portland. Due to work duties and other priorities, and a mostly full-time relocation to somewhere far away from the Northwest, I am now handing over the site to Dieselboi. He’s been doing a swell job helping me the past few months anyway, and has already stepped in to take over a lot of the day to day operations. I know he’ll do a great job.

So here’s the deal: I’ll still be involved for at least the next six months. I’ll still be writing for the site when I’m back in Portland (if Dieselboi will let me), and I will still be just as committed to supporting Portland’s wonderful food cart scene. Dieselboi is now in charge of the site including moderating comments, editorial content, media relations and all other communications.

I want to thank everyone here who’s helped us make Food Carts Portland what it is. There are too many to list all of you by name, so my apologies in advance. Thanks to our readers and commentors; all those writers who have graciously provided the site with your voices; Guilty Carnivore for creating the banner; and the Portland and national media and bloggers who have been terrific about mentioning and linking to the site.

Of course a GIANT WET KISS and BEAR HUG to all of the hard-working, creative and talented cart folks. You all are the real heroes here, and I know how hard you all work and how intense and grueling your jobs can be at times. Thank you, thank you, thank you for providing Portland with such terrific food at such terrific prices.

I’m even going to thank some of the good people at the City of Portland and Multnomah County who, unlike most other municipalities in other places, are actually quite supportive of Portland’s food carts and work hard to keep advocating for the carts within the city “machine”. I know it ain’t easy sometimes.

We have something very special here in Portland with our food carts, and it’s because of all of you.

I do need to give extra special thanks to Food Dude from Portland Food and Drink. He’s the invisible hand and guiding force behind Food Carts Portland. He’s the one who built the site, let’s me hog up his server bandwidth, responds to my 2AM panicked emails when I need something fixed, and has always been nothing but encouraging, helpful and inspirational. In fact, you all can really thank Food Dude for this site in the first place. He’s the one that got me back into food writing after an absence of many years, and was the one that suggested I start a special site just for food carts. Thanks Food Dude. Your absolute patience, mentoring and friendship means more to me than you’ll ever know. And if you want to thank him yourself, please go leave a donation over at Portland Food and Drink.

That said, please feel free to stay in touch. I can be reached at Cuisinebonne at that gmail dot com address, or Dieselboi can get you in touch with me here. I travel a lot, all over the world in fact, and love meeting up with old friends and new faces. But if you ever find yourself in my newly adopted home city, give me a holler. We’ll grab a Lucky Dog or a Snowball together.

So Dieselboi, take it away…

Happy Cart Eating,

Cuisine Bonne Femme

*** New Cart ***

Rick's Wild Seafood

Location: SW 3rd and Ash St

Description:

One of those days.  You wander and you wander by 10, then 20, then 30 different food carts and nothing strikes your fancy.  You just about to grab something you know will be good, but it isn’t what you’re craving when you decided to walk another two blocks. Those two blocks will be the best decision of the day. What I discovered at the end of those two blocks was Rick’s Wild Seafood, a brand new cart serving up fish and chips. Exactly what the doctor ordered.

As I walked up to this shiny new cart, wondering what they were serving, I spied the giant fish on the top and chuckled. Not many carts have mascots or signage that depicts their food. Immediately, I saw Ben, the part owner and head chef. I met Ben in the past year through friends, so was immediately excited to see what he was cooking up. The menu spelled it out simply – Fish. This is the type of cart I will love. They offer one item and they put all their energy into making that one item perfect. Funny thing – when I was chatting with John about his 30 carts in 30 days, we discussed the need for some more good fish and chips in this town. Well, now we have it. Rick’s fish and chips come in either red snapper, cod or halibut. I believe cod is the tradition, yet when I asked for a recommendation, Ben suggested the red snapper and I’m glad he did. It was excellent. Ben batters both the fish and the fries with a coating of spices. I would lean towards lightly breaded.  It wasn’t one of those heavy on the coating type of scenarios. The fish and chips are served with a little chunky slaw and your choice of sauce.

Red Snapper Fish and Chips

I was there only a few minutes to enjoy my meal and catch up with Ben when suddenly he was busy. People were coming from every direction and soon he had a line. First day and he was busy. How’s that for Portland. Way to go. I really enjoyed the fish and chips I had at Ricks. A good portion for the price and a notch above a traditional style of the meal. I’m intrigued to try some of the other items on the menu to see Ben’s take on them. I will definitely be back. Congratulations on opening Rick’s, welcome to foodcartland.

Sample Menu:

• Fish and Chips – Red Snapper, $5.50;  Cod, $5.50;  Halibut, $8
• Fish Tacos – 2 for $4
• Fish Sandwich – Red Snapper, $5.50; Cod, $5.50; Halibut, $8
• Shrimp Burger and Fries – $5.50
• Shrimp Cocktail – small, $2.50; large $4

Hours: Every day (including weekends) 11am to 4pm

Contact: Twitter: @Wild_Seafood

*** New Cart ***

Location: SW 9th and Alder (on Alder)

Description:

Sometimes, even during spring and summer, I want a nice warm soup. It has something to do with that feeling of your whole body warming up from the inside out. Add spice to the soup and I’m in heaven. In downtown, I have made an attempt to seek out all of the great Phở locales. Early on, one had to venture to NW to get it, now we have it offered in numerous carts. Phở Sam is the latest to join the ranks.

Phở is a traditional Vietnamese beef noodle soup. Phở originated in Northern Vietnam more than a century ago and was first served by street vendors. It wasn’t until the 1920’s that the first Phở restaurants opened in Hanoi. The dish isn’t just Vietnamese, but has French and Chinese influences. The vendors set up shop in an area of Hanoi that catered to textile manufacturing and attracted both French and Chinese workers. The chefs drew from all three cultures to make what we now enjoy as this amazing soup. Phở is strong beef broth with thinly sliced beef, cilantro, thinly sliced onions and rice noodles. Phở Sam serves the dish how I have usually enjoyed it – with bean spouts, jalapeno pepper slices, basil, and a lime wedge on the side. You can then choose how you want to build your soup. Hot sauce and hoisen sauce are always included. Adding that sweet plum flavor to spicy noodle soup is a taste I cannot do justice in describing. You just have to try it.

Phở Sam also offers Banh Mi sandwiches and numerous other rice and noodle dishes. They even have Phở with chicken if you are not a fan of beef. I have been back for a Banh Mi sandwich and for $3.50, it is a great deal and a very good sandwich. While summer is indeed here, there will be cool days. If you are out and about on one of those days, check out Phở Sam for some great soup.

Sample Menu:

• Phò – beef noodle soup – $5.95
• Lemongrass chicken with rice – $5.75
• Grilled pork or  lemongrass chicken over rice noodles – $5.95
• Banh Mi grilled pork sandwich – $3.50

Hours: Lunchtime, Monday through Friday
Contact: 971 563 5460

*** NEW CART ***

Location: SW Stark, just south of 5th ave.

Description: I wander down to the 5th avenue pod almost daily for lunch and when I saw that a certain gyros cart had moved, I began to wonder what would go in its place. For a couple of weeks, the spot was unused without indication of whom would join the food cart scene. Then, suddenly, The Swamp Shack arrived. Do you like Cajun food? Southern flavors? You will enjoy The Swamp Shack.

I’m a big fan of rice and beans. Honestly, I could eat it daily and one of my goals in life is to master really good and spicy (but not overly hot) rice and beans. When I visited The Swamp Shack, I saw they offered Jambalaya, which is a traditional creole dish of Spanish and French influence similar to paella. Served with rice, chicken, sausage, tomatoes, celery and spices, you just can’t go wrong. The Swamp Shack’s version of Jambalaya was spot on for me. Just the right amount of sausage, chicken and flavorful spice. I walked down to the fountain and ate it up. The right amount of everything – even spiciness.

The service at The Swamp Shack was fast and cordial, what one would expect from a southern restaurant. I’m glad they have joined us in foodcartland as I’m a huge fan of this style of cooking. They do some specials with duck, so I’m intrigued to go back and see what that’s all about. I call it comfort food, but know it may not completely fall into that category. The Swamp Shack does offer vegetarian and vegan options of their dishes.

Sample Menu:

• Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya – rice with chicken, andouille sausage, onions, peppers, garlic, spices, tomatoes – $6
• Duck and Andouille gumbo – $7.50
• Crawfish Pies – pie filled with crawfish, creole cream cheese, onions, peppers, rice and cream – $3
• Vegan Jambalaya – all the fixin’s except the meat, made with veggie stock, eggplant and caramelized onions – $6
• Specials most every day

Hours: Lunchtime Monday through Friday
Contact: 225 281 475

Over the past month, I have had the pleasure of meeting a new friend, JohntheKiwi. Interestingly enough, he’s been friends with another buddy of mine for years and I am now just meeting him. Small world. John is also an avid food cart lover and at the beginning of June, he set out on a quest to try 30 unique foodcarts in 30 days.  As of Saturday, he’s been to 23, so I foresee success. I met up with John over beers and a meatball sub from Garden State to chat about his adventure.

JohntheKiwi (his Twitter handle) has some favorites that he has returned to a few times-  Whiffies and BrunchBox. He even attempted to break the Whiffies PieChamp record, but only got 6 pies plus some bites of a seventh down in that 1 hour. The first cart of the quest was No Fish Go Fish, a cart in downtown that serves up soup and little sandwiches shaped like fish. John’s strategy isn’t necessarily to grab whole meals everywhere and No Fish Go Fish offered up the ability to get just the little fish sandwich for $1.50. Eating at carts daily can get expensive. John uses Twitter as a resource for finding new carts, so if you know of one he should try, tweet him. One feat I haven’t even done is eating all of a day’s meals at carts. John did that. The farthest John has travelled for a cart was to Grilled Cheese Grill and Po’ Town Vittles during the lunch hour. From downtown on public transportation, those are quite a distance.

John’s most recent meal as of our conversation was a fresh taco from Kiko’s Taqueria in Sellwood. I can only assume he’s been somewhere else since.  Way to go John. Yet another example of how foodcarts can change your life.

Location: SW Moody and Abernathy in South Waterfront

Po'Town Vittles

Description:

Vittles. Love that word. Vittles. I think I actually use it more in casual conversation than I am aware of. When I heard there was a cart named Po’ Town Vittles, I knew I had to check it out. It was worth it.

Po’ Town Vittles had a great menu of sandwiches and salads. I was drawn there by the lure of fish and chips. I’m a huge fan of good fish and I haven’t discovered a cart yet that offered it. The fish is creole seasoned tilapia and the chips are double fried for extra tastiness. When we arrived and eyed the menu and specials, I almost changed my mind. Wow, some of the best sounding sandwiches I have seen offered. They even offer a muffuletta which makes my mouth water just thinking about it. The special of the day when we were down there was a Carolina Sand Lapper pulled pork sandwich. My buddy who foodcarts with me daily ordered that and in his words – it was one of the best he’d tasted.

My other foodcart friend ordered a Spring Chicken Dijon salad with cherry tomatoes, currants, blue cheese and tender fried chicken pieces on a bed of fresh salad greens. We were all pretty jealous of his meal. I almost abandoned my tilapia to go order the salad. Wow, what generous portions.

Po’ Town Vittles is located in South Waterfront, the area down south of the Marquam bridge where the new condo towers are going up. You can get down there by car, but it is challenging. I would suggest taking the streetcar or riding your bike. An added bonus would be riding the tram up to OHSU on a sunny day.

Sample Menu:

• Fish and Chips – $5
• Seafood basket – seasoned tilapia, shrimp and oysters – $6
• Spring Chicken dijon salad – $6
• Muffuletta – salami, mortodella, olive spread – $5
• Fried Chicken – spicy chicken breast with comeback sauce – $5.50
• Fries – old school twice cooked fries – $1.50 and $2.50

Hours: Lunchtime weekdays
Contact: Unknown
Website: Unknown

***New Cart***

Location: NE Alberta and 27th

Description: Remember the “baked potato bar” craze of the 1970s and 1980s? Shopping malls, all-you-can-eat buffets, and school cafeterias all seemed to bust out with some version or other. One could buy a pre-baked spud, then load up on toppings such as your standard butter and sour cream, goopey melted American Cheese, steamed broccoli, and “ethnic” offerings such as “Fiesta Mexica” (some seasoned beef taco filling and mild canned salsa) or “Pizza Italiano” (marinara sauce, pepperoni and mozzarella). Although the craze didn’t seem to quite become the Starbucks of its era, the baked potato remains a brilliant fast food idea and is perfect cart food since they are easy to prepare, infinitely customizable, quick to serve and fill the gullet on just a couple of bucks each.

The Spud Locker on the site of a former service station on Alberta St. The owners have put a lot of effort and thought into the overall concept and design; a nice hand painted mural advertises the cart on the side of the building, the cart itself is a quirky tall one-and-a-half story affair, there are painted picnic tables under the covered awning, and everything is done up in shades of gray, orange and green. It’s a cute little cart compound, and a great addition to that section of Alberta St.

As stating the obvious, the menu features baked potatoes. But these are no mere middle America spuds with processed food toppings. The Spud Locker takes the baked tuber into new territory with menu items such as the Aircraft Carrier ($5.50); a big burrito sized tater stuffed with peanut curry, mixed vegetables, cilantro, sour cream, peanuts and a slice of lime. Or there’s the dairy lover’s Cruiser; described as “Tex-Mex style cheese and broccoli sauce topped with more cheese, tomatoes and Fritos ($5.50).

Those with creative palates can simply choose their own toppings added to a basic baked potato ($3.00). The Float Your Boat section of the menu includes things like chicken or veggie sausage ($1.25 add on); pesto, guacamole, pico de gallo, or cheese (vegan or Tillamook cheddar) for $0.50 each; or other condiments such as avocado, tahini, sauer kraut, baco-bits, corn, onion, chives, etc. ($0.25 each). There are even a couple of sweet dessert varieties, including a sweet potato version with a cinnamon roll like topping.

Drinks are simply sodas or bottled water, but The Spud Locker does serve frozen pink lemonade (16 oz for $2.50) or rotating frozen fruit granitas (16 oz for $3.50).

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