Ever wanted to be on TV? Do you religiously watch all those Food Network or Cooking Channel shows and wonder how those people just happened to be at the cart when they were filming? Well, now’s your chance. Eat Street, a show on The Cooking Channel that showcased some fabulous carts for season 1, is back in Portland this coming week to check out some more of Portland’s best street food. Here’s the schedule:

• Monday, Aug 1 – Euro Trash at SE 43rd and Belmont. Filming lunch, 12-2
• Tuesday, Aug 2-  The Dog House PDX at NE 21st and Alberta. Filming lunch, 12-2
• Wednesday, Aug 3 – The Swamp Shack at SW 5th and Stark. Filming lunch, 12-2

Come on out, enjoy what each of these carts does best and even get a chance to be on TV telling everyone how awesome Portland’s food carts are. Maybe we’ll see you there.

Follow @eatsttweet on Twitter for more details.

A couple of events to let you in on:

The Oregon History Museum and the Portland Art Museum have partnered to bring Portland the summer of automobiles. At OHS, they have an exhibit named Pedal to the Metal showcasing Oregon’s history with horsepower. At PAM, they have the Allure of the Automobile exhibit which will bring unique and awesome cars to the park blocks every Saturday for us to view – for free. As part of the Saturday festivities, OHS is putting together a mini foodcart pod with The Fried Onion, Tavola, Spice of Africa and Superdog.

The Oregon History Museum is located at 1200 SW Park. The pod will be there every Saturday through Sept. 10.

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Oregon Ice Works will be at Finnegan’s Toys in downtown Portland on Monday giving away free scoops of their organic flavored ice. With school being out, this is a great activity to bring the kids to – tell them you’re going to the toy store and free ice and then visit the library for summer books. On Tuesday, Kevin will have $2 scoops at his cart at D-Street Noshery with all proceeds going to the Children’s Cancer Association. Love this guy!

Oregon Ice Works free scoops at Finnegan’s – Monday, June 20. SW 10th and Yamhill.

A wrap-up of some news:

Looks like Olympia may try and compete with Portland and Seattle for food carts. The city council there is considering modifying the rules to cut fees and allow vendors to stay longer at their locations. The proposal would put the fees at $540/year and not force them to move every 180 days. Here in Multnomah County, the fee is $340/yr with no requirement to move. We got it good. Good luck Olympia!

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A new cart just landed at A la Carts in SE Portland – Taste of a Gyro. As I understand it, they have been showcased on the Food Network’s show Outrageous Food for their “sorry sauce.” I guess Portland is attracting carts from outside the city now. Cool. SE 50^th and Ivon.

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Something interesting is happening up on N Interstate by New Seasons. A long decrepit eyesore of a building by Ockley Green school is being remodeled and according to the city permits, they are pulling electrical permits for “Food carts and building.” Anyone know the scoop on this project? [Thanks Jon V for the heads up.]

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The Alder lot at SW 10^th and Alder keeps growing having added 10 new carts in the last month. They are up to 55 now I guess:

• Noodle House
• Domo Dogs (not a new cart, but now permanently located there)
• Red Guava
• Tacqueria El Rodeo
• Sheish Kabob
• PicNic
• Touchdown BBQ
• Bangkok Duck and Chicken
• Primi Panini
• Roll Plus Sushi

Other carts that have joined us in the recent past:

• Sa Leng – SW 5^th and Oak
• Ploy Thai – SW 5^th and Oak
• Hot Boxx – NE 20^th and Everett
• Healthy Corner – SW 2^nd and Stark
• Kokomo Beach Smoothies – SW 3^rd and Stark
• Dino Bites – North Station
• Istanbul Delight – North Station

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Cartlandia is now open at SE 82^nd and Harney along the Springwater Trail. From the developers who brought you Mississippi Marketplace, this location is meant to attract up to 30 carts and provide covered seating, parking, bike parking and all the amenities you need to enjoy some excellent street food. They even have TVs and plan on showing the Timbers games this summer. So far, the carts that are open there include:

• Cameron’s Smoke Shack – BBQ
• Cheesesteak Nirvana
• El Jeffe’s Fresco Grill
• London Pasty Company
• Sakura Bento
• Salt and Straw Ice Cream – NE 18th and Alberta

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Many of you already know this, but we do have a Facebook Page where a lot of conversation goes on and tidbits of Food Cart news and information is posted that doesn’t land here on the site. Come on over and join us. We’d love to have you. Facebook.com/FoodCartsPortland

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Lastly, summer is just around the corner so that means big crowds and festivals. Please remember that most of the carts do all their prep and cooking in the cart and don’t have large commissary kitchens or fridges to leverage when they get super busy. This could result in a slightly longer wait or being sold out early of specific items. There are plenty of carts to try, so if your favorite closes early on a sunny day, give their neighbor some love, you might just discover a new treat. Also, before getting frustrated that you can’t get your burger or taco or fried pie fix because they sold out, remember, the cart owners are human too and sometimes need to take a break. Thank you from Food Carts Portland.

On Saturday, May 7, at Portland Meadows, they will be showing the Kentucky Derby and are having a food cart fest for everyone. Carts participating include Shut Up and Eat, Twisted Sista, Robb’s Really Good Food, and Slice Brick Oven Pizza. The doors open at 7am, but I understand the main race is in the afternoon. If you’re into horse racing and food carts, this event is for you. PortlandMeadows.com

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The Portland Timbers have taken this city by storm becoming the biggest thing since the USFL back in the 80′s. With sold out games throughout the season, it may be difficult to get some tickets, but Mobster Meatballs on SW 4th and Hall have you covered. Throughout the season, they will be giving away a pair of tickets to select games. All you have to do is visit them and enjoy some of their signature meatballs to get an entry. The first game they have tickets for is May 29 – Timbers vs DC United.

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The VOZ Worker’s Rights Education Project, a worker-led organization that empowers immigrants and day laborers to gain control over their working conditions has a job opening. They are opening a food truck this spring and are looking or a manager. Here’s the info:

Position: Food Truck Manager

In June 2011 VOZ will open a food truck as an autonomous, cooperative business which will generate funds for the operation of our MLK Worker Center, provide training and employment for day laborers, and provide affordable, quality, nutritious food for the community.

We are seeking a Manager for our food truck. The Manager will collaborate with day laborers and other VOZ staff to open and run the food truck as a worker’s cooperative, as well as train and manage day-to-day operations. The ideal candidate will have experience managing a food service cooperative or collective. Responsibilities will include: training and supervising day laborers, promotion, keeping the books, procuring food ingredients, and general coordination of the food truck.

Requirements:

-Bilingual (Spanish/English)

-Management experience

-Experience in the food industry

-Valid driver’s license

Preferred skills:

-Food cart/ food truck experience

-Cooperative experience

-Organizing experience

-Business experience

Commitment:

-Part-time: up to 24 hrs/week at first, tapering off over time

-Temporary: position is for around 3 months

-Start date: mid-to late May 2011

-Pay: $13-15 depending on experience

Please email resumes to Paul Riek at paul@portlandvoz.org by noon on Monday, May 9, 2011.

So if you are an aspiring food cart owner or someone who wants to see what happens behind the scenes, drop Paul a line. This is a great way to bring the community and street food together.

Keep on Cartin’

This is a sponsored post by Groupon Portland

Everyone loves a good deal right? Well, now is your chance to get a good deal at some food carts who are partnering with Groupon to save you some cash. If you don’t know, Groupon is service that uses crowd purchasing power to create a deal – usually 50% off an item or a two-for-one deal. The goal is to get the business some new customers along with introducing many to something they may not have tried before. I know Groupon has taken me to some new restaurants in my neighborhood I wouldn’t have known about if it hadn’t been for the deal.

Welcome to Food Cart day with Groupon. Today, you’ll be able to get some excellent Groupons from the following street vendors:

Oregon Ice Works: Located at SE 32nd and Division, this cart owned and operated by Kevin Bell is serving up traditional Italian Ice like he grew up on in Philadelphia as a kid. With flavors like Meyer Lemon, Mango, Sour Cherry and many more, how can you go wrong on a warm spring/summer afternoon.

Wolf and Bear’s: Located at the corner of SE 20th and Morrison, this cart offers up some of the best falafel sandwiches in town. Drawing from their Israeli and Iraqi influences, this cart has created a following that supports them even after a winter break. A great vegetarian and gluten-free alternative to the food cart scene in Portland.

Cool Harry’s Yogurt: Located at SW 10th and Alder right at the epicenter of the Alder cart pod, Cool Harry’s is the only cart among 35 that sells dessert treats. Every day, Cool Harry’s tweets a secret word to get free toppings on frozen yogurt with signature flavors like lime, pomegranate or hibiscus.

PBJ’s Grilled: Every kid in the city wants to go to this cart located at NW 23rd and Kearney. Who wouldn’t want a peanut butter and jelly sandwich grilled up with a banana or maybe some bacon and blue cheese. The options are endless and tasty for kids of any age.

Rip City Grill: South Waterfront has some great towers, but few restaurants and only one food cart located at SW Moody and Abernathy. Clint, master of the grill, services up amazing and rather large tri-tip steak sandwiches to any and all comers. Get one el caliente with grilled onions and jalapenos if you dare.

Robb’s Really Good Food: A new cart located at SE 52nd and Foster, Robb’s specializes in chili’s and meats cooked with local microbrew. His beer chili with cornbread is a favorite and was featured at the recent Spring Beer and Wine Festival. Also check out his pulled pork sandwiches.

Portland Soup Company: One of the most beautifully crafted carts in the city, the food matches look of the cart – professional and stunning. Located at SW 4th and Hall, Jeremy, the man behind the counter, creates some extra special treats like the pork butt sandwich or his signature applewood smoked trout chowder. Have you enjoyed a pork butt today?

Off the Griddle: Located at SE 50th and Ivon, just south of Division, this cart is in the A la Carts food pod which sports about 10 carts, covered and heated seating and live music on occasion. Off the Griddle focuses their talents on vegetarian and vegan burgers made fresh daily from scratch. Most of their items are also gluten free. If you go, be sure to order a side of Yukon fries, they are to die for.

Chili Inside/Chili Outside: One of a few carts in NW Portland, this cart at NW 19th and Quimby make traditional Texas chili with plenty of meat. One of only a few carts in town where you can pick up traditional Frito Pie – and they serve it in the Frito bag to keep it real. Cornbread also – ain’t nothin’ wrong with that!

If any of these carts sound good to you, check out Groupon today for your Portland deal. Thanks for your continued support of Portland’s food carts and remember to keep on eatin’ street food.

This is a sponsored post by Groupon Portland, but the writing and opinions are those of Food Carts Portland.

A new book came out this month focusing on the nations food truck scene. Food Trucks: Dispatches and Recipes from the Best Kitchens on Wheels by Heather Shouse is now on shelves and Heather is coming to Portland to discuss the book on Thursday. I had the opportunity to sit down with Heather last year when she visited Portland to get a feel of how we do things here. We sampled almost everything at Mississippi Marketplace and that wasn’t the first pod she had visited or would visit on two different trips to our fine city. A wonderful woman, she actually ate from all the carts she wrote about. Heather took her time to understand the carts and trucks not just in Portland, but across this nation. She even included recipes like Potato Champion’s poutine.

Heather is coming to Portland on Thursday to discuss her book with a panel of food carters including Karel Vitek from Tabor, and Nong Poonsukwattana of Nong’s Khao Man Gai. I will also be there to answer questions regarding what’s going on in Portland’s street food scene.

If you’re interested in joining us for some conversation about food trucks, the food served and chat with some owners, come on down to Powell’s Hawthorne on Thursday.

Food Trucks: Dispatches and Recipes from the Best Kitchens on Wheels
Powell’s Books
3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd.
7:30pm; Free

The 24th annual Taste of the Nation takes place on May 2nd at Luxe Autohaus and features 50 of Portland’s best restaurants including a couple of food trucks. Fresh off their win and rave reviews from Eat Mobile, Fifty Licks will bring their signature ice cream along side Violetta’s Rollin’ Etta and chefs from Genoa, Metrovino, Irving Street Kitchen, Bunk Bar, Beast, Castagna, Laurelhurst Market and many others. There will be local wines from Cooper Mountain, Johan and Sineann along with beers from Captured by Porches, Deschutes and Widmer. Representatives from our very own distillery row will be making their first appearance this year. All of these chefs and restaurants, vintners and brewers and a distiller or two are coming together to to fight childhood hunger.

Oregon is known for our abundant farms and fresh local produce and many of us are able to enjoy eating at the carts on a daily basis, but 1 in 5 kids in this state experience food insecurity. 100% of ticket sales and the silent auction will go to support ending childhood hunger. This year’s beneficiaries include Oregon Food Bank, Partners For a Hunger-Free Oregon, St. Vincent de Paul Food Program and Klamath-Lake Counties Food Bank.

Taste of the Nation is May 2nd at Luxe Authohaus in NE Portland. You can find all the information about the event, the organization Share Our Strength, the wonderful sponsors and buy tickets at PortlandTaste.org. Enjoy some of the best food and drink that Portland has to offer while fighting hunger.

[We have 2 GA tickets to give away. Leave a comment naming one of Fifty Licks' signature ice creams and we'll pick a winner from the correct answers on Thursday.]

Updated 4/29/2011 – The winner of the two tickets is IfellDownOnce – he enjoys Maple Bacon Ice Cream. Enjoy the night.

On the same night that Kim Jong Grillin’ won the judges award at Eat Mobile, the owners were notified that the cart was on fire. Details are sketchy at the moment as to the cause, but this is truly a sad event for both the owners and those of us who love the carts. Han Li Hwang sent out the following regarding both Eat Mobile and the fire:

“To loyal patrons of Kim Jong Grillin’, we would like to once again thank you for your business over the past 10 months.  As many of you know, KJG was fortunate enough to participate in Willamette Weeks Eat Mobile event this past weekend.  We really enjoyed the experience, seeing many familiar faces and meeting many knew ones as well.  And, to top things off, we were extremely honored and humbled to win the judges choice award for best food.

Portland is such a great food city, and to be recognized by our peers for doing what we love to do has made all the long days and nights of hard work seem so worth it.  Thank you once again.

Unfortunately our celebration was cut short.  Just a few hours after finishing up the Eat Mobile event, we received a call informing us that our cart was on fire.  As you can imagine, this was heartbreaking news, and it really put a damper on what was probably our best day as a business yet. While we are collecting details, fire inspector reports and dealing with insurance, we will unfortunately not be able to open. There is substantial damage to the cart, and we are not currently sure if it is repairable. We do know this: Kim Jong Grillin’ will rise like a phoenix from these ashes and bring you even more of the food our loyal patrons have come to love, and our new found friends are so curious to try. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for updates as we hope to expedite this grueling process as quickly as possible.

Once again, thank you to all who have made this past year so worth it, and we look forward to serving you again as soon as possible.

Sincerely,
Han Ly Hwang
Dana Fairweather
and the staff at Kim Jong Grillin’

Sad news. We know they will return and as we have done when other carts have challenges, I know the Portland food cart community will come together some how to help them out. We’ll keep you posted if we hear more.

Hat tip to Willamette Week for breaking this story.

Even 24 hour later, I think I’m still full. 40 of Portland’s best carts came together under the Morrison bridge and served up some excellent food till the sun went down. There were pork treats and ice cream along with fresh made chips and dumplings. One of my favorite memories wasn’t even food related – looking west to the stage while the last band did their set, a train rumbled south right by behind them. Awesome! Thank you Willamette Week and all of the wonderful sponsors for putting on such a memorable event. Thank you eaters for supporting Portland’s street food.

The awards for the night went to the following:

• Judges Choice – Kim Jong Grillin’
• Style Award – Fifty Licks
• People’s Choice – Whiffies Fried Pies

In my opinion, everyone won. Here are some of the photos I took of the event.

The winner of the Eat Mobile tickets is CO. A long time reader and commentor, #30 of the 187 comments left. Thanks everyone who participated.

CO wants a “Cocktail Cart.”

Cheers and Eat well!