Curbside Grill
Location: SE 13th and Lexington
Hours: T-F, 11:30-7, S/S 11:30-5pm
The Story:
The corner lot at SE 13th and Lexington has seen a lot of change over the years. With a pioneer in the neighborhood like Garden State, it’s tough to follow in such footsteps, but Curbside Grill, a new sandwich and wings cart has taken on the challenge.
Curbside Grill was opened by Ray Koernig and Melanie Sandoval in the spring of 2010. A bright red kitchen on wheels, they hit the ground running with one of the simplest and best logos I have seen – a camping trailer, a picnic table and a fork and knife. While it defines street food for me since so many have converted older camping trailers to food carts, it also brings back fond memories of being out in the woods with an open fire. Grilled chicken is on the menu at Curbside with numerous sandwiches and even wings. I think they may be one of the first to try wings.
G-Bird Sandwich from Curbside Grill
I don’t normally order chicken sandwiches. I’ll admit it, I’m not the biggest fan of chicken no matter how it is cooked unless its wings. When we visited, we almost chose the falafel in order to get something new, but I realized the cart is all about the chicken sandwich, so took the plunge and chose the G-Bird. Take a floury ciabatta roll, slather on a little garlic mayo and add the seasoned grilled chicken thigh meat and top it with jack and Gorgonzola cheese, leaf lettuce, tomato and some red onion and you have 1) and beautiful sandwich and 2) a delicious meal. I grabbed half of it, as large as my hands could handle, and wrapped my mouth around a corner and took that first bite. The moist seasoned chicken mixed with the gooey of the mixed cheeses and the garlic aioli set my taste buds on fire. Everything about the sandwich was top notch from the soft bread to the seasoned meat to the fresh veggies. A big sandwich, it can be shared easily between two people with no one leaving hungry. Curbside Grill may have converted me.
Curbside Grill is a winner. A great sandwich for a great price from friendly food cart owners. I just wish the cart was closer so I could become a regular. Well, it will be that treat I pine after during the work week. If you are down in the Sellwood area, drop on by the pod on 13th and Lexington and visit Curbside Grill. Let them know Food Carts Portland sent ya.
Sample Menu:
- Buffalo Chicken sandwich: seasoned grilled chicken thigh meat dipped in your choice of wing sauce, topped with shredded carrots, red onion and blue cheese – $5.50
- El Guapo: seasoned grilled chicken thigh meat topped with roasted green chili, jack cheese and chipotle mayo – $5.50
- The Green Cheese sandwich: seasoned grilled chicken thigh meat topped with pesto cream cheese spread, lettuce, tomato, and red onion – $5.50
- The Plain Jane sandwich: seasoned grilled chicken thigh meat topped with jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, red onion and garlic mayo – $5.50
- G-Bird: seasoned grilled chicken thigh meat topped with jack cheese, Gorgonzola, lettuce, tomato, red onion and garlic mayo – $5.50
- Fries or Tater tots added for $1
- Grilled Chicken Salad: romaine lettuce topped with grilled chicken thigh, red onion, carrot, tomato, blue cheese crumbles, and blue cheese dressing – $6
- Chicken Wings: with your choice of sauce – medium, hot, honey bbq, sweet chile – 6 for $5.25; 9 for $7.25
Hours: Tuesday-Friday, 11:30am-7pm; Saturday, Sunday, 11:30am-5pm
Phone: 503 422 0922
Website: CurbsideGrillPDX.com
Twitter: @CrbSideGrillPDX Facebook: Curbside Grill PDX
i am a sucker for chicken wings and i really lucked out when i ordered some from curbside grill. the wings were cooked to perfection… large, super juicy and done right. i had the medium sauce and all of it tasted great with my blue cheese dressing.
plus – ray is a super cool dude.
i’ll definitely be back to satisfy my chicken wing craving!
Awesome! Those kids really know how to do chicken — well worth the trip to Sellwood,
The chicken is spiced and cooked perfectly and the bread is magnificent. Yummmmm! Fan-freaking-tastic food cart. Ray is super nice, too. I started with the basic and look forward to going back and building up with different toppings and textures.
Curbside grill needs to thank dieselboi for taking that awesome side view picture of their sandwich. It inspired me to drive on up there to sample their work. It was indeed delicious! The chicken and fillings were great, but what pleased me most was the use of GOOD bread. Totally makes the sandwich.
The pod must be on winter hours now as I drove by at 6:05PM on a Wednesday at all the carts were closed. No G-Bird for me!
Like Sam, I, too, was inspired to check out CSG because of the picture of the G-bird. And like J, I found the chicken to be excellent — best grilled chicken I’ve had in a long while. Liked the chiabatta too; think mine was whole wheat and was toasted. A very tasty ‘wich indeed.
Schwank, give ‘em another shot, but check their facebook page before making the trip (link from ad at top of foodcartportland page); it seems to give updated/daily schedule info.
And Ray is a very friendly chap. Was able to point me to a bike shop (of which I was in need of at the time) in the ‘hood, too.
The buffalo chicken sandwich is excellent. But be warned: if you order it “hot”, you may need to call the Portland Fire Department to put out the inferno in your mouth! I’m a fan of spicy food and feel I have a pretty high tolerance, but I was hallucinating from this heat! I look forward to ordering the sandwich again, but in the “medium” variety. But either way, a great sandwich. The thigh meat is an excellent proxy for the flavor and moisture of wing meat – way better than if it were a breast. There is ample bleu cheese dressing, the shredded carrots (and even the red onions) are a nice cool touch to contrast the heat, and the ciabata roll is up to the challenge of holding it all together. Nice job!
6 months after my initial post I am a CSG convert. Great folks, awesome food at fair prices, and great daily specials. The G Bird is awesome and their wings are very tasty.
Truth be told I am more than a convert. I am a regular bordering on addict!