In Portland, Oregon, food carts are revolutionizing the way the city eats. In our June/July 2012 issue, Dana Bowen dives into the world of mobile food in her story Food of the People.
Mary Casanave Sheridan at The Honey Pot, her cart serving homemade pies and other desserts at Portland’s Good Food Here pod. Todd Coleman A customer at Aladdin’s Castle Cafe, a food truck in northeast Portland that serves traditional Iraqi food like chicken shawarma and eggplant stew. Todd Coleman At Off the Griddle, vegan and vegetarian fare like the Smoky Bleu Burger (a veggie burger topped with blue cheese sauce and caramelized BBQ tempeh) is powered by a mix of solar energy and Portland’s GreenPowerOregon program. Todd Coleman NAMU Korean Barbecue serves their barbecue with rice, peanut sauce, housemade sesame spinach, and plenty of kim chee from their two Portland locations. Hungry Heart Cupcakes has been so popular that they’ve opened a stationary cupcake stand as well as their truck, serving flavors like Mint Cookies n’ Creme, Grandma’s Fresh Horchata, and a Sweet n’ Salty cupcake that is topped with Carlton Farms’ Applewood-smoked bacon. Todd Coleman Dolicious serves up Vietnamese street food like vermicelli bowls, savory pancakes, baguettes and crispy pork-belly buns. Todd Coleman Captured by Porches started out as a homebrew club in 2002 and since then has grown into a family-owned brewing company that offers beers like Invasive Species IPA, Miskatonic Dark Rye and Punctured by Corpses Undead Porter. Todd Coleman At Wolf and Bear’s, you’ll find grilled falafel made from sprouted garbanzos along with treats like Sabich–pita filled with hummus, grilled eggplant, hard boiled egg and salad greens and topped with greens, tahini and mango pickles. Todd Coleman The sweet-plus-savory menu item is taken to the extreme at Awesome Cone, where you can order a waffle cone filled with a variety of things you’d expect to see on a dinner plate: pulled pork, chicken and dumplings, and sauteed mushrooms, to name a few. Todd Coleman A customer at The Big Egg, a cart that serves up breakfast sandwiches like these with ham, egg, cheese, and tangy lemon curd. Todd Coleman Nong’s Khao Man Gai does only one thing, but she does it well. Poached chicken and rice cooked in chicken stock is served with soybean sauce and broth on the side, just like the street vendors in her native Thailand. Todd Coleman For vegetarian Indian fare like kichari, chana masala and aloo dum, visit Roshambo, a little turquoise cart at the D-Street Noshery. Todd Coleman Blues City Biscuits serves Southern soul food like buttermilk biscuit sandwiches, shrimp and grits, and smoky collard greens. Todd Coleman Customers at Pyro Pizza in Southeast Portland, which serves up Italian-style pies from a wood-fired pizza oven inside their cart. Todd Coleman A cook prepares a crepe at Perierra Creperie, part of Portland’s Cartopia pod. Todd Coleman Ghaith Sahib and his mother, Nawal Jasim, prepare Iraqi dishes in the Portland cart Aladdin’s Castle Cafe. Todd Coleman
