30 Carts in 30 Days - A Recap

July 1, 2009

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!
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