Well, the weather outside was frightful. Which is why you haven’t seen that much activity on Food Carts Portland lately. There hasn’t been much going on really due to Portland’s Snowpocalypse ’08 which shut down many of the carts and the city as a whole. Along with the holidays and my own travel and work commitments, I’ve also been a twee busy. I apologize for the lack of recent posts.
However, now that we’ve recovered from the Great Storm of oh-aught, I do have quite a bit of cart news to report:
New Food Cart “Pod” Downtown?
I was driving down SW Naito near Skidmore Fountain (you know, where Saturday Market is located) and noticed a sprinkling of new carts in one location, including a FISH AND CHIPS cart. (Yes, Matt Davis, this one’s for you). This might be part of the Mercy Corps sponsored immigrant run food cart program or something else, but I’ll try to walk down there next week and check it out.
Do Svidaniya* to Julia’s Russian Cart
I don’t have the whole story, but sadly it looks like Julia’s Russian Food on SW Alder near 10th has shuttered its window and door and is now closed. The cart remains, but the sign is gone. I’ll miss Julia’s warm smile along with her rib sticking and warming Borscht and tender Pelmini dumplings. If anyone knows the 411 on what happened or where she went, please let me know.
*means, “see you later” in Russian
Sugar Cube is on Vacation until April
Where is Kir, the proprietress of our favorite sugar shack, the Sugar Cube? One rumor reports she fell in love with a strapping Australian surfer and is living in a lanai on a remote beach in Hawaii. Another says she’s cloistered away in a Michelin starred country inn outside of Lyon, France studying with a world famous pastry chef. However, an investigation reveals Kir is simply taking a break from the daily food cart grind until the Portland weather is a bit more stable and warm. However, she is still taking special orders (ahem, Valentines Day cupcakes anyone?) and can be reached through her website.
Don’t Panic! Korean Number #1 Bento Did Not Get Kidnapped by Aliens
Number #1 Bento will be reopening for business Monday January 12th. I’ve received more panicked, OMG emails over the supposed disappearance of this cart than any other cart news. Ever. It appears this new comer to the cart scene, and Portland’s only Korean cart, located on SW 10th and Alder is very popular. After a short vacation, they seemingly removed their distinctive yellow cart with the mural of the dancing corn people on the side and were replaced by a generic silver cart with zero signage.
However, the owner reports they are merely upgrading to allow better offerings and service and will once again be open for business. I’ll admit a big fondness for their killer vegetable over rice Bi-Bim-Bap, and their lovable Korean grandmothers behind the counter. I’m glad they will soon be back in action!
You Don’t Need to Eat Cart Food Outside, Duh.
I posted about this last year, but I think now is a good reminder. Sure, nothing is better than sharing a garlicky gyro or big box of Thai drunken noodles with your sweetheart in the park on a sunny day. And despite popular opinion, you don’t need an office cubicle to enjoy the daily Indian mixed plate special or a 4 pound burrito. Because seriously, there are lots of dry, warm and comfortable places to enjoy food cart food during the winter. Several carts, like the carts on SE 12th and Hawthorne have covered seating (some with heaters!). The Galleria on SW Alder/Washington and SW 10th/9th has a ground floor atrium with tables and chairs. The carts on the park blocks at Portland State University have the wonderful Smith Center Student center just steps away, while the 4th ave. cart pod near College and Hall streets has the PSU Engineering Building right across the street. My favorite cart pod retreat however is the US Bank Tower on SW 5th and Oak. There’s a whole bunch of tables upstairs and the people watching is, well, priceless. It’s like being in an episode of ‘The Office’ without, well, actually having to work with those wingnuts.
Office of Misc. Bric-A-Brac
Winter can be a difficult time for many food cart owners. Lack of pedestrian traffic, things like frozen pipes and now the current economic slump can equal financial disaster for many of these small entrepreneurs. So, SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL FOOD CARTS! Eh-em, outside of that and sadly, this means we are probably going to see a few more temporary and permanent food cart closures in the next couple of months. However, sunny spring will no doubt bring a whole blossoming of new carts. So stay tuned!
As always, if you have any news, tips, or ideas please drop me a line here. I can’t always be out scouting the food cart scene 24-7 (and I do travel quite a bit for work), so I’m especially reliant on my wonderful & astute readers like yourselves to be my eyes and ears on the street.
In addition, thanks for all your support last year and for reading Food Carts Portland. This site is truly a labor of love for me, I make zero money on it (in fact I lose money), but it really remains a joy to write. And seeing how excited others get about the food carts in Portland and your feedback here keeps me going.
Food Carts Portland is also starting to receive a lot of national and international media attention, as is Portland’s one of a kind thriving food cart scene. Look for us in a couple of magazine articles soon, as well as a potential presentation or two at an international food conference.
Happy Eating and Bona Fortuna in 2009!
Hi CBF – Thanks for a new post. I was wondering what kind of effect the weather was having on PDX’s food carts.
Hi Kirk, Nice to hear from you!
Winter is always a tough time for the carts in Portland, but the recent arctic weather here has really caused havoc. Many of the carts experienced frozen pipes and inaccessible sidewalks.
However, its a nice balmy dry 49 F. here today. Downright tropical.
And time for lunch. I’m thinking the spicy eggplant stirfry at I love Thai on SW 10th…
Hi there Cuisine Bonne Femme, Thank you very much for all the news on the food carts. I may be moving to Portland within months. I was thinking about getting into to the food cart business. But there are a lot of them. What type of food is missing? Will keep in touch. Thank You!
One unfortunate bit of additional news–’I Love Thai Food’ cart has been sold by its lovely original proprietors Anne & Jay, and while the new owners seem friendly at first–they’re considerably less veg-friendly, less fresh-friendly, much less friendly to suggestions, and less wallet-friendly. The change in commitment to quality is probably summed up best by the name change they’ve come up with: “I Like Thai Food”.
While originally responding that they could do any dish vegetarian, further questioning reveals (though not promptly) that in fact only the noodle-based dishes can be. Unlike ‘Love,’ they only have chicken stock for their soups and curries–and so far don’t seem to understand that this makes them non-vegetarian; nor do they seem interested in procuring a veg. alternative, despite being told that doing so would behoove them financially here in Portland (perhaps they’re just hoping most people will take them at their initial word, “yes, we can do vegetarian”). They also raised the prices of the dishes to $6, decreased portion sizes, reduced the number of ingredients in the dishes (no more winter squash, no more string beans, no more mushrooms).
A real bummer, because ‘I Love Thai Food’ was serving some of the freshest, most vegan friendly, and most affordable Thai in town for a few months, cart-based or otherwise. Hopefully the new owners will continue to get friendly suggestions to do a little work to become vegetarian-suitable, whilst losing customers over ‘I Love,’ until they realise it’s a worthwhile investment.
It’s further possible that not even the noodle-based dishes are veg*n, because they definitely don’t have the mushroom-based fish-sauce replacer. Asked to cut the fish oil, any shrimp pastes, any animal-based stocks and eggs for a Pad Kee Mao, I was confident from the taste that they had done so–but it pretty much just tasted like oil and noodles, unlike the complex flavors of ‘I Love Thai Food’s rendition.
Damn. I loved I love Thai and was planning on writing about them this week. I really really loved their spicy eggplant.
Soon to be cart owner guy, thanks for reading and writing in! There are a lot of carts, but if you are good, dedicated and in a proper location you should have no problem doing well. You also need to decide if you want to try to locate downtown or in one of the other emerging cart areas like Hawthorne, Sellwood or N. Mississippi neighborhood. Your hours, offerings and demand for what you sell will all be affected by these contingencies.
I can’t really answer what is needed. A really good East coast style sandwich (like what Bunk is doing in SE) would probably do great business, and I’ve heard lots of screams for a proper British chips wagon.
My advice would be to come to Portland and spend some time scouting the cart scene. Also, it’s very important that you cook and serve what you know best and what you love to cook and eat yourself.
Perhaps some readers can chime in on what they’d like to see and eat?
Hi there Cuisine Bonne Femme, Thank you very much for all the news on the food carts. I may be moving to Portland within months. I was thinking about getting into to the food cart business. But there are a lot of them. What type of food is missing? Will keep in touch. Thank You! PS: keep up the good work!
My other half and I are getting married July 4 with a turn of the century, street carnival themed reception. (Party between 6:00-9:00 in NE) We are trying to find a food cart that would like to “cater” the outside party. Small menu offerings and we pay the bill. Interested? It will be a fun time.
Find us at: maquette7 at yahoo.com
I just wanted to thank you for the great information you have provided, I have only lived in the area for about a year so I am constantly trying to find good places to eat, I’m very familiar with the taco trucks from down south but we didn’t have any carts in my town. I spend a good deal of time in the downtown area since I work in the industrial area and getting good food fairly quickly is a must for me so I will definitely be making my visit to one of the local carts very soon thanks to you, the Japanese food sounded very tempting, possibly today, thanks again, take care
Thanks for reading Wade. Welcome to Portland and happy cart eating…
I really enjoy reading your blog, thank you for providing all of these information, they’re really good for people who just moved here
Oh, I read from Ian’s comment that ’I Love Thai Food’ cart has been sold, so today I decided to try out the new cart. The food wasn’t as good and I was sort of disappointed in them
‘I love Thai Food was one of the best Thai food cart so it’s sad to see that they sold it.
The formerly-known-as-the-Russian cart at 10th & Alder has been bought by a Thai vendor and is now a Thai place with an emphasis towards the Pho.
I had the chicken dumpling soup last week and it was fabulous. I recommend the new place, and the proprietor was very friendly.
Thank you for the tips about where to take your cart food inside–I’d never thought/known about those options. Now I won’t have to smell up the whole Max car carrying it home.