CLOSED
Location: NW 19th and Quimby
Hours: M-F 11am-2pm
The Story:
In Portland’s ever changing cart scene, we have yet a new member – Chili Inside/Chili Outside, a cart specializing in Texas brand homemade chili.
Chili is like BBQ, there are as many ways to prep it as there are colors of a Benetton ad. I grew up on flavorless chili with beans and ground beef, but recently learned that there is something called Cincinnati chili which is spaghetti covered with a chili sauce which could include cinnamon, cloves, or chocolate and usually doesn’t include peppers. That’s chili? Texas style chili is with meat and in the case of Chili Inside/Chili Outside, you can get yours either with chunks of beef or lean turkey. Pretty simple dish which allows for the chef to customize it by adding peppers or other secret ingredients to embolden it.
At Chili Inside/Chili Outside, they offer up beef or turkey chili which comes with a slice of jalapeno cheddar cornbread. Take that chili and pour it over some Fritos with some chopped green onion and grated cheddar cheese and you have their other delicacy – the Frito pie. Picture a guy walking down the street eating out of the bottom half of a Frito bag and that was me today. They serve the Frito pie in the bag with plenty of the chili atop the chips. A great idea to use the bag as the plate. The chili itself was spicy good with sizable pieces of well seasoned and melt in your mouth beef. I initially didn’t think it was that spicy, but the peppers snuck up on me towards the end. Such a great little treat.
Chili Inside/Chili Outside is that bright red cart on SW 9th between Alder and Washington with the iron TEXAS motif. The brainchild of former Texan Stacey, she recruited her family to make it a success. Drop on by the cart and say hi to Stacey, Dave, Chelsea and Alex, try some of the tasty cornbread and let them know Food Carts Portland sent ya.
Sample Menu:
- Beef Chili: Texas style all beef bold and spicy chili, topped with green onions and sharp cheddar cheese and served with jalapeno cheddar cornbread – cup $5; bowl $6.75
- Turkey Chili: Texas style lean turkey bold and spicy chili, topped with green onions, sharp cheddar cheese and served with jalapeno cheddar cornbread- cup $5; bowl $6.75
- Frito Chili Pie: beef or turkey chili served with Fritos and topped with green onions and sharp cheddar cheese – $5.75
- Southwestern Caesar Salad: romaine lettuce tossed with cilantro pepita dressing, garnished with crispy tortilla strips, crumbled Cotija cheese, roasted red pepper strips and pepitas (roased pumpkin seeds) – sm $3; lg $5
Hours: Monday-Friday, 11am-2pm
Website: ChiliInside.com
Twitter: @ChiliInside
On behalf of Portland, may I say HELL YEAH!
Stopped by today and it was great! Will definitely be a weekly tradition
Another firto pie cart? Getting to be like Thai Food….
I had the chili yesterday and it was fabulous. Perfect Texas chili–no beans, not too hot, not too mild. Plus the cornbread was great. Glad you are a few steps away from my office.
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Good stuff, super hearty beef chili with tasty cornbread.
It’s hard for me to give an wholly objective review of the chili at this cart. I make an all-beef, no-beans chili that I like, and which stores and reheats fairly well, so I tend to use that as a reference point
The flavor of the beef chili here was dominated by salt on the two successive days I tried it. If I’d opted for the walking taco, I think my mouth would’ve been permanently shriveled. There was a slight chili flavor, but almost no heat on the front or back. This did not seem consistent with the BOLD & SPICY declaration on their online menu. The beef was the size of pre-cut stew beef from chuck trim, leading to a consistency akin to goulash for the dish, i.e. large-ish chunks of beef with a thin gravy. However, I could easily shred the beef with a plastic spoon, which speaks well to the cooking process. I ended up using the small piece of cornbread to thicken the chili, which worked pretty well.
If you’re a chili fan and make your own, you’re probably better off making a large batch and freezing a few servings to bring in for lunch. It’ll cost you $1.50-$2 for a 12 oz. portion — including some corn tortillas — as compared to $5 for this cart. On the other hand, if you’re craving chili and don’t want to mess about with making it, this cart is a fine choice. I look forward to trying the turkey chili some day.
its not called Frito Pie, its called a Traveling Taco. sshhesh
I’m originally from Texas so I was skeptical-it was delicious!
Lunch is served sooo fast and sooo well. No standing in line while wannabe chefs make each order separately. The chili is superb, meets every flavor expectation and exceeds most. The cornbread is such a great accompaniment!
Thanks for being there. I hope you will create some take home for those wet, cold Portland nights!
I took an unusually long walk to find myself at the pod where this cart is set up, and they were the sights and smells that stood out for the day… I’m VERY glad I stopped in, the chili was delicious, the cornbread was fantastic – and there were some cool ‘standing height’ tables available to eat my meal… the food was served to me before I could blink.
Some of the best chili I’ve ever had, I’ll certainly be returning….
cornbread was EXCELLENT — so often it’s too dry, this was a great texture. I had the combo, chili + salad + cornbread, and it was a great value for some yummy grub! I didn’t find it to be overly salty, and, no, it wasn’t “hot” either. While I could have enjoyed some more heat, I know a ton of people who would be intimidated by the possibility of it being TOO hot, so I respect the audience they are cooking for. I would eat here again
Hmm. What is Chili without beans? Yuck. And look at that pic.
Only open for three hours? I don’t think so. Not interested.
This cart is now at NW 19th and Quimby, which I am happy to report is a block from my office. I had lunch there yesterday; not the best chili I ever had, but good and quick and cheap and filling. I look forward to working through the rest of the menu. They also take cards for a 50-cent fee.
More carts at this pod, please!
This cart closed (for good) on 1/27/12.