Dec 02 2009
El Brasero
El Brasero
Location: SE 12th and Hawthorne
Description:
On a sunny Sunday, post Thanksgiving, no one wants leftovers. This is the time to go out and get something far different than what you have been consuming over the previous few days. Mexican food was the choice for me and we I decided on El Brasero, a Mexican taqueria in Cartopia, that amazing late night cart pod on SE 12th and Hawthorne.
El Brasero has been at Cartopia as long as I can remember. While it isn’t getting the press and accolades its pod partners receive, El Brasero has managed to create a strong following of customers. Every time I’m at the pod, there is an equal number of customers there as there are at the other carts. My roommate has been singing their praises for weeks now, so I decided to visit.
Carnitas Burrito from El Brasero
When I try a new Mexican cart, I usually have tacos as the gauge of the cart’s food. This time, however, I needed more than a taco, so I opted for the Carnitas burrito. Braised, roasted small chunks of pork is as far from turkey I could get. The burrito came with rice, beans, onions, tomatoes and sour cream, all wrapped in a very tasty flour tortilla. And it was tasty. They have a green salsa that I swear is 100% chopped up jalapenos. Not as spicy as the red sauce, but very flavorful and perfect against the carnitas. The burrito is rather large, so could be shared amongst a group, along with items from the other carts.
El Brasero has a vast menu with what seems like 100’s of items. Tacos, burritos, sopas, tortas, etc. They also have breakfast burritos for you early risers and a good list of vegetarian burritos that include ingredients like jicama, mushrooms, veggie chorizo, or cactus. El Brasero can feed you any time of the day and should be able to cater to most anyone’s food cravings. Couple that with being in the same location with the other cart stars and you have a recipe for success. Next time you are down that way, give El Brasero a visit and tell them Food Carts Portland sent ya.
Sample Menu:
- Breakfast Burritos – egg, potato and cheese with your choice of meat – $4.50
- Chicken Burrito – grilled chicken, onions, tomatoes, chile, cilantro, lettuce, sour cream – $5.75
- Carnitas Burrito – chunks of pork braised in orange juice w/ lettuce, chile, onions, tomatoes, sour cream – $5.75
- Fish Burrito – arrez fish, pico de gallo, chipotle sauce – $7.50
- Quesadilla – flour tortilla filled with cheese and folded with pico de gallo – $5.75
- Sope – hand made tortilla fried and covered with beans, onions, fresh cheese, lettuce and sour cream – $4.75
- Nachos – $4.75
- Tacos with your choice of meat – $1.50
- Vegetarian Burritos – choice of zucchini, jicama, mushroom, cactus, veggie chorizo – $5-$7
Hours: Daily plus weekends – morning through late night
Contact: unknown
Their Veggie Chorizo Burrito is AWESOME!!
The chicken enchilada is also the bomb.
Big fav.
yeah, next time go for one of the veggie options. I’m a meat eater but I only order veggie there.
This cart charges more for their vegan (probably vegaterian also) tacos because they have to use a different tortilla. I like that they are honest about the regular tortilla’s not being veg-friendly but I hate that someone can get a taco loaded with meat and guac for less that my rice, beans and lettuce!
what are u talking about the vegan taco is at a very resinable price
especially becuase they add rice,beans,lettuce,pico de gallo,and your choice of guac. or avacado..
also the tortilla is pretty big : )
I tried a zucchini burrito the first time I went here, figuring I could try a different one every time. It was so good that it’s still the only thing I’ve ordered there. So Good.
I stopped by here on the way home one night recently. I ordered the most simple thing on the menu: Bean And Cheese Burrito. I’ve eaten B&C Burritos on just about every other food cart around Portland in the past 10 years and I can honestly say this was without a doubt the WORST, MOST DISGUSTING, SMALL, and LOW QUALITY Burrito I’ve ever received.
For starters the size was that of a taco. Usually when I order these I can split 1 between 2 people or, I end up stuffing myself, I ended up going to another food cart an hour later. Overall the quality of the food was just low par compared to other carts in Portland. Maybe I was there on a bad night.
Also the beans tasted as if they had meat grease in them, this could be a misleading thing for vegans or veggie’s who are looking for some simple beans, cheese and rice.
I doubt I’ll ever eat from here again unless I hear the owners have taken a oath to greatly improve their fare.
I work about 5 blocks from this cart, and within a mile and a half of my work there are 5 Mexican carts that I can think of off the top of my head. I stopped by today to give El Brasero a shot, and while the food is on a par with every other of the 5 carts, I take profound offense at being charged $2.00 for a 12 oz can of soda…that’s twice as much as every other cart I’ve been to. Am I cheap?.. well if I was Daddy Warbucks I probably wouldn’t be lurking around food cart pods; my point is that I know when I’m being gouged, and it’s a natural human reaction to resent it. Soooo, please spend that extra dollar wisely, maybe invest in gold or put it in your kids college fund, because it’s the last one that you will get out of me.