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

Location: SE 13th and Lexington [updated August, 2010]

The Story:

Last week I made the mistake by proclaiming that another cart was the first sushi cart. I screwed up. While that cart is the first to serve Chinese, Zenbu should have received the kudos for being first on the scene with fish sushi as they opened in early May. Along with sushi, Zenbu serves up plenty of other Asian inspired dishes for you to enjoy.

Tucked away in the corner of a burgeoning new pod on N Albina, just south of Blandena street, this vintage airstream is what I always picture as the quintessential food cart. Airstreams remind me of the 70′s when my parents would pack us in the giant station wagon and trek off for 2-3 weeks during the summer to camp across America. During those long drives on America’s byways, the Airstreams would pass and we would marvel at the shiny chrome skin and invent crazy stories about the people who lived inside. Now, I see them being reborn as food carts, my adult love and it makes me smile.

Tofu Balls

Zenbu has a great mix of items on the menu. I needed some lunch to satisfy a couple of hungry vegetarians and Finn and Wes, the owners and chefs, were there to help. The menu is a mix of Japanese and Asian inspired dishes including sushi rolls. We ordered some California rolls and the tofu balls. I just couldn’t pass up something called tofu balls. Before I could leave with my winnings, Wes ran out with a plate of Szechuan Green Beans for us to “try.” Seriously, when people are giving you free food, you know they are proud of it. All of the dishes we ate from Zenbu were wonderful. The green beans still had that fresh picked crunch when you took that first bite and a super tasty Szechuan garlic sauce that I actually mixed with everything else on my plate. The tofu balls were about one inch in size and deep fried – a perfect little morsel to go along with the lime soy dipping sauce they provided.

Szechuan Green Beans

Zenbu is now open in north Portland along with a few other carts in that pod. Finn and Wes were welcoming and even offered up their own recommendations. Along with the free green beans Wes gave me, they were handing out large chocolate dipped strawberries to all of their customers that day. These are guys on a campaign to win your hearts and minds and I love that. The pod does have a nice seating area tucked in the back with picnic tables, so you don’t have to order and run. Check out this new cart and let them know Food Carts Portland sent ya.

Sample Menu:

• Crispy Spring Roll: shrimp and veggies in a crispy fried roll with fresh mint, cilantro, red leaf lettuce and nuoc cham dipping sauce – $5
• Tofu Balls: fried tofu with beans, carrots and onion served with rice, salad and a lime soy dipping sauce – $5
• St. Paul Sandwich: egg foo young sandwich with lettuce, tomato and pickle – $5
• Szechuan Green Beans: fresh green beans woked with Szechuan garlic sauce served with rice – $5
• Ginger Chicken: garlic/ginger marinated chicken, panko fried with a sweet teriyaki glaze, served with rice and salad – $6

Sushi Rolls:

• Cucumber or Avocado Maki – $3
• California Roll – krab, avocado and cucumber – $4
• Hand Roll – unagi, tuna, salmon, smoked salmon or hamachi – $4
• Tempura Shrimp Roll – tempura shrimp, scallion and siracha – $4
• and others

Hours: Open daily, including weekend, 11am-6pm (or 7) – closed Wednesdays
Contact: unknown

Location: SE 13th and Lexington, Sellwood

The Story:

The small block of food carts in Sellwood have seen some turnover during the past couple of years, some carts have shuttered while others have moved to different locations, which is completely natural – we’re talking mobile eateries here. Recently moving next door to Garden State [who are opening a new cart on Mississippi soon] is a welcome newcomer, Bruce Lee’s Kitchen.

The owner is upbeat and stoked to be in business. Her enthusiasm is awesome as were the tattered copies of “The Millionaire Next Door” and “Your Money or Your Life” next to the register. She’s ready, man.

The food? Hearty and huge portions. You can get it mild or spicy as you’d like it. I sampled the tofu stir fry which was served in hearty portions with bell peppers, carrots, onions, tofu and a side of white rice. How can one go wrong with a simple stir fry? It’s happened. Not so here, though. It was satisfying for a complete meal but I still managed to cram in a spring roll. Fresh, delicious and simple.

Future food carters: There’s enough foot traffic to keep the Sellwood food cart block in business. A couple more would make it more vibrant.

Sample Menu:

• Pad Thai, chicken or tofu $5.50
• Stir Fry, chicken or tofu $5.50
• Red Curry, chicken or tofu, $5.50
• Teriyaki chicken, $5.50
• Fried Rice, $5.50
• Various appetizers, including spring rolls, salad rolls, vegetable pot stickers, ranging in price from $1.25 to $2.50.

Hours: Daily, Monday through Sunday
Phone: 503-320-8269

Garden State has quickly become everyone’s favorite cart. Most recently showcased on Good Morning America as one of the nation’s best food carts, Garden State is now the feature of our friends VendrTV.

Watch for Garden State news over the next couple of months as they move their Sellwood cart to a new location and open a brand new cart in North Portland at Mississippi Marketplace. Yay, Meatballs!

Location: SE 13th and Lexington, Sellwood

Description: If you’ve ever been 16, hanging out in Tijuana on Avenida Revolucion on a school night chugging beer, cheap tequila and Cokes and brandy and needed something to eat to soak it up before waiting in the always slow border line to get back to your suburban San Diego home before your parents noticed you were gone – you always went to one of the many taco carts dotted along Revolucion.

That first taste of taco I still remember vividly: a simple corn tortilla, some carne, maybe some cilantro and a squeeze of lemon – pure heaven. And pure simplicity.

Unfortunately, many Mexican restaurants in Portland – especially those offering tacos – drench soppy, sloppy red salsa on their food that dominates what should be a simple affair.

Enter Kiko’s Taqueria Uruapan – a cart/coach in the budding Sellwood food cart mecca. The menu is simple – and is small enough to display in hand-painted writing on the side of the cart: tacos, burritos, quesadillas and tortas.

You don’t have to be loaded on booze or cash or 16 to enjoy the food here either. Not only is the food fresh and delicious, it’s cheap- one dollar for a taco. One dollar.

Theoretically one could get lunch for, say, three bucks.

In my opinion, a Mexican restaurant lives or dies by the quality of its carne asada. If you have to disguise it with non-essential items it’s not very good asada. That’s why green or red hot sauce is handed out separately – let your customers do the pouring.

So, is Kiko’s asada good? Oh yes. It’s moist, flavorful and fresh. And at a dollar a pop, it’s even better.

The quesadillas are a bit more expensive at a whopping three dollars. I tried the plain cheese-only version with some hot sauce on the side and enjoyed it – not very greasy but with a good toasty flavor.

On another visit I tried the carne asada quesadilla and it didn’t disappoint. It was a bit greasy – c’mon it’s cheese and meat – but it definitely satisfied my craving.

Portions of food at Kiko’s aren’t huge. But that’s cool – the fantastic flavors make up for it. It’s also a simple affair – the way it should be.

Sample Menu:

(prices in the $1.00-$6.00 range. A bargain!)

Tacos – carne, pork, chicken
Quesadillas
Tortas
Burritos
Look for the daily specials on the chalk board

Cash only!

Hours:
Monday -Officially Monday – Friday 11:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. / Unofficially open Saturdays -though they never take down the closed sign.

Phone: 503-960-9756

E-mail: Unknown

Website: None