Location:

The Story:

On Friday or Saturday night, I am a sucker for fries or a pizza or a pie – all the wonderful things available at Cartopia down on SE 12th and Hawthorne. Yet, sometimes, you have a craving for something a little different – maybe a po’boy or some BBQ or even some jambalaya. Well, Bubba Bernie’s is there to sate that craving.

Bubba Bernie’s serves up a great mix of southern comfort food. The evening we visited, a cold dark Saturday night, we were able to sit comfortably at their tables under their awning warmed by their gas space heater. It was one of those nights when the only thing that could warm you was direct heat, and Bernie’s had it. We ordered a BBQ beef brisket sandwich and the vegan jambalaya with kale and veggie sausage.

The BBQ beef brisket sandwich came on a nicely toasted french roll and the beef had been slow roasted well enough that when you took a bite, it melted in your mouth. A great sandwich for that cold night. The vegan jambalaya was really the showcase of the night. I had never thought of adding kale to jambalaya. For some, that kale, and the veggie sausage may be sacrilegious, but we enjoyed it. It was pretty spicy too, something I love in a southern dish.

Bubba Bernie’s has been in Cartopia for well over a year and has established itself as a solid cart. They are open as early as 6pm, so you could easily visit for dinner or come late night for a snack. As stated, they have covered seating with a nice heater for cool evenings, so you don’t have to order and go. Next time you visit, enjoy a po’boy and tell them Food Carts Portland sent ya.

Sample Menu:

• Black bean + brisket chili w/cheese:  8oz – $4; 16oz bowl – $7.50
• Beef brisket on french roll – $8
• Pulled pork on french roll – $8
• Dinners – either sandwich with garlic roll and choice of sides for $9.50 or more.
• Philly Cheese Steak – $8
• Po’Boys served on french roll with lettuce, tomato, roumalad and green onion – your choice of catfish, shrimp, clam strips or oyster – $6.75
• Chicken or shrimp Jambalaya – $8.50
• Vegan Jambalaya with kale and vegan sausage – $7.50

Hours: Wed through Sat, 6pm-3am
Contact: unknown

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

Pyro Pizza

Location: SE 12th and Hawthorne at Cartopia

Description:

Friday night on the town. Happy hour at a fancy restaurant in the Pearl with cocktails made from fancy gin and vodka. Where does one go for dinner after such an event? Cartopia! Yes, indeed. We cruised down to SE 12th and Hawthorne to get some food and specifically, try the new Pyro Pizza.

Pyro Pizza is the latest from pizza guru John Eads. You may know him from his other pizza adventure – Give Pizza a Chance – which has graced a downtown spot now for a couple of years and is always busy. John wanted to try something different – wood oven pizza. And by try, I mean build a few by hand and work out the bugs. The oven in the cart at SE 12th and Hawthorne is the 6th iteration and by the taste of the pizza, I think he worked out the kinks.

The night we arrived, it was cool and wet, but not raining. The cart sits high, so they have a small deck to step up to in order to be face to face with them while ordering. You can smell the alder and pine burning away in the oven and feel the warmth while you peruse the menu and order. Just reading the menu makes your mouth water, offering up 12″ pies of all sorts, made right there when you order. While I love a good meat bonanza, I decided upon the traditional margarita so our whole group could enjoy some if they wanted. While we chatted about the new cart and I took some photos, John quickly made my pizza and before I knew it, they were handing to me. Less than 5 minutes, maybe even shorter. Now that is a hot oven.

Margarita from Pyro Pizza

The margarita was a great blend of marinara sauce, mozzarella and fresh basil all on a whole wheat crust. The crust was thin and tasty and even the edges kept me intrigued. Ask anyone, I’m not a crust end eater and that evening, I ate every last bit. It was hard to offer up pieces to my friends. The pie is pretty large for $8 and could easily feed two people.

Pyro Pizza is now open at SE 12th and Hawthorne. The glory of that pod is that you can go down there, get a pie and also have a pick at some of the other carts to round out a meal. Take a group and have a potluck. John admits they are “working out the kinks.” Not sure what that means because my pie was excellent. Stop on by and enjoy some wood oven pizza and tell them Food Carts Portland sent ya.

Sample Menu:

• Antipasts – sliced fresh mozzarella layered with plum tomatoes, fresh basil and balsamic vinigar – $5
• Traditional Margarita pizza – fresh marinara sauce, mozzarella di buffalo, fresh basil, and a dash of olive oil – $8
• Pepperoni – fresh marinara sauce, mozzarella cheese and locally produced peperoni – $7
• Caramelized onion – caramelized torpedo onions, gorgonzola and parmigiano-reggiano cheese with pistachios – $8
• Cuattro formaggi – a blend of fresh mozzarella, sheep’s cheese, gorgonzola and parmigiano-reggiano – $8
• Homemade sodas also available

Hours: Tuesday through Thursday, 6pm-12am; Friday and Saturday, 6pm-3am
Phone: 503 929 1404
Website: Pyro Pizza
Twitter: Pyro Pizza
Facebook: Pyro Pizza

Location: SE 12th and Hawthorne

Description:

I had the pleasure to meet Greg, the owner of Whiffies, a month or so ago when he first announced he was opening his pie cart. We linked up on Twitter and then enjoyed a food cart lunch downtown chatting about his cart. I was intrigued by fried pies as I wasn’t sure really what he was going for. When he described them as similar to empanadas, I could envision it better. After a few weeks of final preparations, Whiffies is celebrating its opening weekend with some tasty pies.

Upon arriving this evening, the corner of SE 12th and Hawthorne was abuzz with food cart goodness. After greeting Greg, we ventured to the window and ordered up our pies. Whiffies offers both sweet and savory pies, the sweet ones being completely vegan. Tonight the options were bbq beef brisket, salmon with chipotle mayo and veggie for savory pies. Sweet pies included apple, lemon and cherry. The bbq beef I had was excellent. It had the tangyness of the bbq sauce along with some thick mozzarella cheese layering over. The salmon pie, well that was just plain tasty. The actual pie texture was the best part of each pie. It was flaky and crunchy and delicious. We finished the night out with an apple pie. Trust me, there are leftovers.

If you’re out and about in the evening, and you have a craving, check out Whiffies. They will continue to change out the menu options and may expand to breakfast and lunch. Welcome to the club Greg.

Sample Menu:

• BBQ beef brisket with mozzarella – $4
• Salmon with chipotle mayo – $4
• Vegan pot pie – $4
• Sweet pies (all vegan) – apple, cherry, lemon – $3
• Drinks – $1

Hours: Evenings 8pm-4am
Contact: @whiffies on Twitter

Location: SE 12th and Hawthorne

Description:

11:47pm on a Saturday night and you have the munchies.  You’ve had too many tacos and pizza in your life and you’re looking for something new.  I suggest you head down to SE 12th and Hawthorne and grab a Crepe.

Perierra Creperie makes both sweet and savory crepes with all kinds of ingredients.  Want something with smoked salmon?  They got it.  What about asparagus?  Yup.  How about lemon or nutella or pear or strawberry?  If you can think of it, they probably have it and can make it into a yummy crepe.  I was indeed there around 12:15am one Friday evening and the carts were as my friend puts it “popping off.”  Potato Champion next door was pretty crowded, but I wanted something more substantial, so I opted for the mozarella, soprasetta, basil and red pepper.  mmmmm, soprasetta.  Look at that yummy goodness:

It seemed like it only took a couple of seconds for the crepe pancake to brown enough for her to flip it and then add the ingredients and then a few seconds more and it was in my hands then in my belly.   Such a great replacement for the late night nosh.  The New York Times even took in some crepes on a recent visit.

Sample Menu:

• Lemon and sugar – $3.50
• Nutella and banana – $5
• Chocolate and prosciutto -  $5
• Walnut + honey + cardamom + corriander – $5
• add frangelico or grand marnier to any of the sweet for $1
• Gogonzola, pear, walnut, honey – $7
• Ham and Gruyere – $6
• Mozarella, soprasetta, basil, red pepper – $8
• Smoke salmon, cream cheese, arugula, lemon – $8
• Shakes and smoothies available also

Hours: Tues – Sat: 8am-3am; Sunday: 9am – 3pm
Email: perierra@gmail.com
Website: Perierra on Facebook

Location:

Economic meltdown be damned! Yarp! proves the power of the Portland food carts: Good Food, Big Portions, Incredibly Low Prices.

Yarp?! spells their name with both a question mark (?) and an exclamation point (!) and it seems to fit. It’s a juxtaposition kind of cart and something you’ll only find in “keep Portland weird” Portland. For this bold cart calls themselves “Anarchist Gearhead Cooks” and the paint job on their old school black and white camping trailer perfectly matches the vintage 70’s muscle car parked next to it. Gearhead Gourmets Unite!

So what do gourmet Anarchist Gearheads cook? Pretty tasty food, it turns out with an emphasis on wonderfully prepared noodle dishes. There are classics like homemade Bolognase meat sauce over different kinds of pasta ($6) or a textbook Italian-American Spaghetti and Meatballs ($6.5). Then there is the rib sticking comfort of the Beef Stroganoff ($6) or the fancy pants smoked salmon fettuccine with lemon dill cream sauce ($6.5). Oh, and did I mention that the portions are BIG? They are.

I forgot, they also have a garlic, sausage and cream pasta. Whoa.

Yarp knows the Portland market and their “gateway to Hawthorne” location well, and the menu includes lots of vegetarian offerings. While most contain dairy, the menu simply states, “talk to the kook if yer a vegan.” I take that to mean, yes, there are vegan options available. The roasted tomato and red pepper spaghetti ($4) can also include “as many veggies as will fit in the pan” for a mere 50 cents extra. Like I said, A BARGAIN. One of my favorite Yarp pastas though has to be the Oglio Olio, that is described on the menu as, “it’s an Olive oil, white wine, Ouzo, Feta and Butter Sauce, also with as many veggies fit.” ($4.5). Damn.

Yarp Marinara. Vegan? Just ask for no cheese!

There are also a couple of different types of decently prepared burgers, veggie burgers and cheeseburgers available ($4-5.5). The wilted spinach salad on the opposite of the food spectrum brings high praise, ($4) with top quality greens and a choice of meat (cow, fowl or swine) or vegetables ($2.5) and includes roasted peppers, roasted garlic and raisins with a Parisian Dressing or an Apricot Balsamic. I have no idea what a “Parisian Dressing” is, but the whole thing overall sounds quite good.

The menu changes frequently, and hours are limited from dinner to late night “closing down the bar” hours, but Yarp is providing exactly what many of us need right now: comfort food, well prepared, at terrific prices. As Yarp states on their menu,

~Anything you’re good at contributes to happiness.
-Bertrand Russell

Rock On Dudes!

Sample Menu:

Menu v. 3.2
Carnivore

• Spaghetti Bolognese (that’d be a meat sauce) 6
• Spaghetti & Meat Balls 6.5
• Smoked Salmon fettuccini with lemon dill cream sauce 6.5
• Chicken Breast garlic cream sauce over fettucinni 6
• Sausage (changes all the time) garlic cream sauce over fettuccini 6
• Beef Stroganoff 6
• Hamburger 4
• Hamburger with cheese +.5
• Dragon Burger “…enough garlic to kill the west nile virus…” 5
• Cold Pasta Salad with an emulsified *(eggs) Paris
• dressing. 4
• Wilted Spinach Salad with choice of meat (cow, fowl or swine) roasted peppers, roasted garlic, raisins and Paris dressing. 4

Vegetarian (most dishes have dairy; talk to the kook if yer a vegan)

• Roasted Tomato and Red pepper Spaghetti 4
• Same sauce with as many veggies (changes all the time) as fit in the pan 4.5
• Oglio Olio; it’s an Olive oil, white wine, Ouzo, Feta and Butter Sauce, also with as many veggies fit 4.5
• Wilted Spinach Salad with Veggies (whatever Yarp?! Buys that day), roasted peppers, roasted garlic, raisins and the apricot balsamic dressing 2.5
• Garden (c0rp0r473 cr4p) Burger 3 add cheese +0.5

Hours: Nighttime generally 8pm to after bar closing times, a few night a weeks

Phone: Unkown

Website: pdxyarp.blogspot.com
On Twitter @pdxyarp
On Facebook Yarp?!

Email: PDXYarp@live.com

Description: Ahh, 2am and you’ve had a couple of beers. Now what? You could stop on by any one of the late night 24hr fast food joints for “4th meal” and pay for it in the morning, or you could head on down to SE 12th and Hawthorne and get some Frites. Yep, I’m calling them Frites instead of fries because they are that good.

Potato Champion is Portland’s only late night fry cart and from my experience, the only cart in town specializing in Belgian style frites. Belgian style frites are potatoes that are peeled, cut, washed and then blanched with a first fry before frying them again. This makes them crispy on the outside while staying fluffy on the inside. I don’t know about all that techno mumbo jumbo, I just know that they are just what the doctor ordered after a few beers at the local microbrew.

When I visited, it was pretty quiet on the corner, so I walked right up. The owners are very friendly and kind as I assume they get a few of their share of drunkards rolling by. I ordered a large cone with the Rosemary Truffle ketchup. Plenty for one person and I barely got to the ketchup as I was devouring the hot yummy fries without really thinking to pair them with anything. Next time I will try the tarragon anchovy mayo or maybe Poutine.

Yep, they have traditional Poutine, and even a vegan version. Cuisine Bonne Femme loves Poutine so much she writes,

Ah, how can I explain my love of Poutine? It’s simply trashy, French Canadian comfort food. Je t’aime la Poutine! See, Poutine is considered the national dish of Quebec, Canada. Much to the chagrin of the “real French” who consider the French Canadians a bunch of backwoods redneck idiots when it comes to cuisine. Sacre Bleu! Still, I dare you to not love anything with crispy fries covered in a rich brown chicken gravy and cheese curds, especially after a night of imbibing. I fell in love with Poutine while an exchange student in Quebec one summer, and I still crave it. It’s nice to see a place in Portland serving it.

Sample Menu:
Small cone: $3.50
Large cone: $4.50
Choice of sauces: Horseradish Ketchup; Rosemary Truffle Ketchup; Mayonnaise; Pesto Mayo; Tarragon Anchovy Mayo; Remoulade; Dijon Mustard; “Harder” Hot Mustard, etc.

Poutine: Small: $4; Large: $5 (Vegan and Vegetarian available)

Hours: Wednesday-Saturday: 8pm – 3am; closed Sunday-Tuesday

Phone: Unknown

Email: Unknown

Website:www.potatochampion.com