Portland Street Food recommendations

[betterbeheaven]

Hello -- For my upcoming trip to Portland I've done extensive research on this board and I'm excited by the options. I'm intrigued by the food stands and so many of them sound tempting, so I'm thinking I'd like to try a few. Is there a specific stretch of street or neighborhood where there's a particularly dense concentration of them? I'm probably going on Friday or Saturday for lunch. Any specific recommendations? Thanks!

[alexa52]

Any good trucks serving pupusas?

[ZDtodd]

I love pupusas. I think Saturday market has a food stand. Can anyone confirm?

[betterbeheaven]

Thanks everyone for the continued replies. I actually came back from my trip a couple weeks ago. I did not realize that the carts/stands were all clumped together in parking lots, as in San Francisco, the few carts we have are mostly "roving". On my first day, we went to 5th/Oak and I had the Youcanhascheeseburger, which I really appreciated. I thought it was delicious, not just fatty for the sake of being fatty (shock value). My boyfriend got a sandwich from Tabor, which he also enjoyed. We roamed around more and stumbled upon more food carts after our lunch, when a woman poked her head out of a Thai stand and asked if we wanted to sample. We thought she meant sample a freebie so we said yes, but we ended up getting charged for a combination plate. That was a little unpleasant, but oh well. Food was only mediocre too.

I wanted to try more carts, but unfortunately most of the ones in downtown were closed on Saturday (our last day) and we weren't in the mood to trek across the river (esp w/o a car).

Thanks for your help and advice!

[tybeean]

Track down KoiFusion http://koifusionpdx.com/ - i love the pork tacos from them.

also give the fish tacos from Ricks Seafood a whirl (on 3rd and Ankeny I think? - someone will correct me). and while you are there, try the big ass sandwich right behind them.

I've yet to try the Pork Store (across from Mother's Bistro) but its on my to-do list.

[JillO]

Pork Store?

[libravore]

It's actually called The People's Pig - and it's AWESOME. Get the Porchetta with cabbage and apples.

[hye]

I tried a variety of tacos from KoiFusion (pork, bulgogi, and spicy tofu) and found everything to be good but on the bland side. I would recommend trying it out if one hasn't gotten Korean Tacos before, but it won't be something that I ever crave

[MichaelG]

A lot of it depends on what you want. Do you want korean short rib tacos? Koi
Do you want pizza? Falafel? Straight up Mexican? Pork schnitzel? The carts on 5th.
Amazing chicken and rice? 9th and Alder
Veggie Indian? New Taste by PSU
etc.

[davismichelle]

If you want a inexpensive food in downtown, opt for a real plate and try Cafe Voila. They are also only open during the week. You can sign up for thier weekly menu at www.cafevoilaportland.com

[JillO]

Not open on Sat, though. Great place for a $5-10 lunch, awesome salads.

[jpc8015]

youcanhascheeseburger

Google it.

[cheeseisheaven]

*5th btw SWStark and SWOak has both Tabor fried muenster cheese and spaetzle....it's my fav! and Caraquena...arepas cart..yum!
9th and SW Alder has Spella coffee and Euro Dish, and a bunch of new carts
12 and SE Hawthorne has the late nite carts..potato champion has the best fries ( I would capitalize that, they are soo good) they open around 6pm till 4am ish
NE Alberta st has the Grilled Cheese grill and a new tapas cart and some more..but not in one place
N Mississippi has the Proust cart pod, you can order your food and stit insidr with a beer.
PSU also has a stretch of carts on 4th...
I second foodcartsportland.com and portlandfood.org

[JillO]

The rule of thumb is that downtown, most carts are NOT open on the weekends. Carts in other places around town are often open on the weekends and late night.

Lots of great info here (including listings by cuisine, hours, and locations): http://www.foodcartsportland.com/