Location:

The Story:

Memories of childhood – the first thought I had when I saw PBJ’s Grilled at Willamette Week’s Eat Mobile! event a couple of months ago. What they offered though was much different than the PB&J I remember as a child. My parents never thought to put bacon or jalapenos in the mix. This duo has thought of most any combination.

PBJ’s Grilled is the creation of Shane and Keena who moved to Portland 18 months ago from Vegas with the mission of serving something unique and local. Shane tells us the idea for the grilled pb&j came from outside the gates of the Oregon Country Fair. One summer, a gentleman who didn’t have a ticket was outside serving up tasty treats and voila, a food cart was born. Since that first introduction, they have been busy in their kitchen putting together different ingredients in order to create the many options they have on their menu. They chose to go local for most of their ingredients with bread from Gabriel’s Bakery, cheese from Rogue Creamery, and homemade jams from Misty Meadow. Part of me wishes I was the fly on the wall the nights they had to do their taste tests.

The sandwiches offered come on fresh Challah bread that is smeared with the peanut, almond or hazelnut butter, jam or ingredient which could include bacon, jalapenos, Nutella, bananas, honey, sea salt, chocolate chips and so much more. The shear amount of jams lined up like liquor bottles on the edge of the cart is mind boggling. I was in the mood for something truly unique and even then, there were multiple choices. The Spicy Thai came with peanut butter, orange marmalade, sriracha, curry and fresh chopped basil. Upon first bite, while the peanut butter was a dominant flavor, the siracha and basil came through nicely, balancing out the myriad of flavors. The bread’s buttery crust fit nicely on the tongue at the start with the spicy sriracha leaving a little heat after every bite. Quite enjoyable. Next time I’ll get The Betty. I’m a sucker for sea salt and fresh ground pepper in anything.

PBJ’s Grilled has been open for 2 months now and is doing brisk business on NW 23rd. Seems the shoppers there love the sandwiches. Shane and Keena a great to talk to and even live just down the street from their cart. Like I said, keepin’ it local is their goal. Next time you are up in NW, or if you need an excuse to go shopping on 23rd, check out PBJ’s Grilled and let them know Food Carts Portland sent ya.

Sample Menu:

• Betty: Challah bread, Gruyere, bread and butter pickles, white pepper, sea salt, PBJ’s peanut butter – $5.50
• Sweet Tart: Challah bread, unsweetened cranberry jam, white chocolate chips, PBJ’s peanut butter – $4.50
• Good Morning: Challah bread french toast, blueberry jam, apple wood smoked bacon, 100% maple syrup, PBJ’s peanut butter – $6
• The Joy: Challah bread, PBJ’s dark chocolate spread, PBJ’s coconut filling, PBJ’s almond butter – $5.50
• Spicy Thai: Challah bread, orange marmalade, sriracha, fresh basil, curry, PBJ’s peanut butter – $5.50
• Pumpkin Pie: Challah bread, pumpkin butter, Two Tarts caramel sauce, pie crust, PBJ’s peanut butter – $5.50
• Full menu at pbjsgrilled.com

Hours: Wednesday-Sunday, 11am-6pm
Phone: 702 300 7734
Website: PBJsGrilled.com
Twitter: @pbjsgrilledcom

Location: NW 10th and Hoyt

Description:

Beyond buying local, what can a person actually do on the food security issue? Well, how about start a food cart? That’s what Lickity-Split, which appeared July 20th on the corner of NW 10th and Hoyt St. in the Pearl, did. Once profits start rolling in, their LLC will donate everything beyond cost and two livable wages to improving the area’s supply of locally grown food. What specifically that will be is up in the air while they go through the early stages of the venture, which for now focus on feeding customers well and breaking even, but moving the idea from “local, seasonal and fresh” to “local, canned/preserved and year round” is one goal. One benefit of stopping at Lickity Split is that you can multitask while you wait to place your order by engaging the owners in lively conversation on food security.

I stumbled upon the cart on its third day of operation along with a few other curious onlookers, and from the aroma was instantly disappointed that I’d already eaten my lunch of leftovers. I wasted no time getting there the day after. Shelly O’ Grady, who some of you may know from her days at Whole Bowl in the Pearl, and Daniel Drumright hook up their serving cart to a tiny all-electric GEM ES series shiny black car and under a ladybug-motif umbrella serve two kinds of meatballs daily, one vegan and one pork, with a choice of peppery marinara or spicy green chili sauce and either Tillamook Cheddar or vegan cheese topping. You can get all this in a panino for $3.95 or on heirloom, sundried tomato polenta for $4.50. I tried the moist, light pork meatballs in the peppery marinara on the creamy polenta with the Tillamook. This meal tastes of home-kitchen freshness! And why wouldn’t it? All the produce is from their garden, and the pork from Sweet Briar Farms in Eugene.

Yes the choices are limited, but I’ll bet there will be little waste and lots of satisfied bellies with this model. Whole Bowl has done well with a one-dish approach, as has Nong’s Khao Man Gai as two cases in point.

During the summer Lickity Split will also be serving a cucumber-basil lemonade for $2.50. A cool weather drink will be offered after September, most likely a hot chai. Hot Lips soda for $2.50 is always a fall back. Kettle Chips are $1.25.

Shelly and Daniel’s venture is a welcome addition to the Pearl, where food carts are known by their scarcity. I hope their arrival augers well for the “cartrepreneurs” in this neighborhood where a good, inexpensive lunch can be a difficult at worst or repetitive at best experience.

Sample Menu: See above description…

Hours: Monday through Friday, 11am to 2pm.

Phone: 503-449-6862

Email: newalb@hotmail.com

Twitter and website coming soon…