Location: SE 82nd and Harney, Cartlandia
Hours: daily, morning to lunch
Coffee, espresso, smoothies
The Dancing Bear Coffee Company
March 21, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The Garden Well
February 13, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The Garden Well
Location: N Lombard and Polk
Hours: Mon-Fri, 6am-6pm; Sat/Sun, 7am-7pm
The Story: When plant shopping, ever have a craving for a hot drink? Especially when you’re in an outside nursery during cooler months. At City Farm in North Portland you can peruse for plants with a hot cup of tea or coffee from The Garden Well, the on site food cart.
City Farm is a community managed farm with not only a storefront, but a full garden with ducks in the back. Mark, the owner of The Garden Well, opened in February of 2012 with coffee and loose leaf tea to capture not only the patrons coming to the farm, but also those transiting Lombard east and west. I enjoy a good cup of black tea, but am in no way an expert. Mark offers the expected teas like Earl Grey and English Breakfast, but also has herbal teas. What interested me were his special blends like the Love your Lungs Blend with elder blossom, licorice root, mullein leaf, marshmallow leaf, nettles and red clover. Crazy! Any one of those herbs offer a unique flavor, but when putting them together, you get something magical. Mark grabs individual containers with each herb and hand mixes in a single use tea bag and adds hot water. I loved it. I breathed better the rest of the day. I never knew there was a marshmallow leaf.
The Garden Well is open daily morning to night, offers up tea, coffee from St. Johns Coffee Roasters and Chai from Dragonfly Chai. Recently on their Facebook page they posted photos of fresh cherry jam scones. Drop on by, get some tea, visit the farm and let them know Food Carts Portland sent ya.
Sample Menu:
Tea any size, $2; Bring your own mug, $1.50
- Love your Heart Blend: hawthorn berry, lavendar flowers, lemon verbena, linden leaf + flower, pink roses, rose hips
- Love your Whole Body Blend: nettles, oatstraw, peppermint, red clover, red raspberry leaf
- Black Teas: Assam, Darjeeling, Orange Spice and more
- Green Teas: Gunpowder, Jasmine
- Herbs: many from above listed in blends and more.
Coffee: Drip, latte, espresso – $1.00-$3 depending on what you choose
Phone: 503 583 6598
Facebook: The Garden Well
The Sugar Shop
January 15, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The Sugar Shop
Location: NE 52nd and Sandy, Rose City Food Park
Hours: Mon-Sun, 11am-8pm
The Story: Instead of grabbing a gyro or a burger or a bowl of Pad Thai, why not go down the sweet train and get something from The Sugar Shop for lunch. I remember something as a kid about eating dessert first when I was an adult.
The Sugar Shop is one of the few mobile vendors out there serving up sweets and baked goods like cookies, cakes and cheesecakes. Autumn and Shannon attended OCI together where they both studied in the baking and pastry program. After school, in jobs they admit weren’t taking them anywhere, brainstorming over Margaritas on Cinco De Mayo, the cart plan was born. They had the chops to pull it off and the cart is darn cute. Red seems to be the color of sweets.
Peppermint Cheesecake Brownie
If I lived closer to The Sugar Shop, I would probably gain a few pounds. I’m not the one to order dessert after dinner nor grab a frozen yogurt as a snack, but cookies are my downfall. Put out a platter of well made cookies and I can’t turn away. Here you can get white chocolate stuffed snickerdoodle or oatmeal cranberry or dark chocolate and bacon, cookies mom never made. I asked Autumn and Shannon what their favorites were – cheesecake and anything with caramel. I picked up the peppermint cheesecake brownie, a thin slice of decadence. Chocolate and peppermint and swirl. Just what I needed after spicy Indian. Looking at the menu, they put together flavors that simply intrigue me – salted caramel or whiskey caramel with a pecan crust.
The Sugar Shop isn’t all sweets. They offer savory choices with chicken pot pie or spinach, mushroom and feta hand pies. Open every day from lunch past dinner, there is no reason not to stop by and pick something up to sate that craving you know you have. Drop on by and let them know Food Carts Portland sent ya.
Sample Menu:
- Cookies – multiple options – $1.50
- Cakes – $3.50 – bourbon cake w/milk chocolate buttercream; red velvet cake with cream cheese icing, lemon cake with tart lemon glaze and more
- Cheesecake – $3.50 – classic; housemade Nutella swirl; cheesecake bar with pecan crust and whiskey caramel topping
- Mousse – $3.50 – chocolate honey; triple chocolate; vanilla honey
- Brownies and Bars – $3.50 – salted caramel stuffed gooey brownies, lemon bars
Hours: Mon-Sun, 11am-8pm
Website: TheSugarShopPDX.com
Facebook: The Sugar Shop
Twitter: @TheSugarShopPDX
Smaaken Waffles
November 12, 2012 by 4 Comments
Smaaken Waffles
Location: Hillsdale Food Park
Hours: Mon-Sun, 7am-7pm
The Story:
Parked atop recycled acorn shells spread across a lot nestled among the trees is one of Portland’s newest food cart lots and Smaaken Waffles stands out with their version of the “Dutch Taco.”
On the east side, you may be familiar with waffle sandwiches as FlavorSpot has been serving up such treats for years. Now the west side is getting both food cart love and Smaaken’s version of the Dutch Taco. The owners take pride in sourcing local organic wheat flour grown and milled in the Willamette Valley by Greenwillow Farms. Along with wood-fire roasted coffee from Millars, this cart keeps it local, simple and flavorful. [Read more...]
Potter’s Kolaches & Coffee
October 3, 2012 by 4 Comments
Potter’s Kolaches & Coffee
Location: SW 3rd and Ankeny
Hours: Mon-Sat, 6am-12pm
The Story:
For awhile there, it was difficult to get some great early morning eats from the carts. Luckily, the fried egg sandwich people have helped fill that gap, but sometimes you want something simpler, yet still full of flavor. Potter’s Kolaches & Coffee will soon become your new morning destination.
Andrew Potter opened the cart this past summer and has been serving his signature Kolaches to the neighbors. Kolaches are a sweet pastry, almost biscuit like, filled with breakfast fillings. Originally from eastern European countries, mainly Poland and Czechoslovakia, this creation can be found most anywhere due to emigration and movements of people over the years. Andrew’s inspiration for his kolaches actually came from the Polish and Czech influences out of Texas. They replaced the sweet filling with bacon, ham, sausage and jalapenos. After a few years working in advertising after college, Andrew realized that the happiest times he had at a job were in the kitchen and launched his cart.
Kolaches from Potter’s
At Potter’s you can get a simple sausage kolache for 99c and that would be plenty for many of us. These little guys are, well, amazing. I opted for the Picquant with egg, sausage, cheese and jalapeno and a Robustuous with egg, cheese, tomatoes, onions and peppers. That first bite into the Picquant burst with flavor including the mild heat from the peppers. The breading surrounding the filling is a bit flaky, but sweet and savory and holds together well. For $1.96 each, these are the best bargain in town for something so flavorful. Pair with a cup of coffee from Cafe Mom and you’re set.
Potter’s Kolaches is open Monday to Saturday from 6am-noon. You can park in the lot while you grab your breakfast. The orange and red cart is hard to miss. The kolaches are made fresh daily and ready to serve when you get there. Drop on by and let Andrew know Food Carts Portland sent ya.
Sample Menu:
- Sausage – 99c
- Sausage & Cheese – $1.25
- Stawberry Jam – $1.25
- Egg & Cheese – $1.55
- Picquant – $1.96
- Robustuous – $1.96
- Hot Coffee – 12oz, $1.25; 16oz, $1.50
Hours: Mon-Sat, 6am-12pm
Website: KolachesPDX.com
Facebook: Potter’s Kolaches & Coffee
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