Food carts - Portland, Oregon - DSC01696

Food carts at SW 10th between Washington and Alder (2013)

The city of

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, United States, has experienced a boom in the number of

food carts A food cart is a mobile kitchen set up on the street to prepare and sell street food to passers-by. Food carts are often found in cities worldwide selling food of every kind. Food carts come in two basic styles. One allows the vendor to sit o ...

due to relatively low regulation compared to other North American cities.

History

In 1965, the first food cart in Portland, which sold kosher hot dogs, was set up across from Portland City Hall. In 1976, Portland opened up all of its downtown parks to competitive bidding. A 2001 report in ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 18 ...

'' stated Portland was home to 175 carts, with fierce competition for the four cart spaces available since 1987 in the

South Park Blocks The South Park Blocks form a city park in downtown Portland, Oregon. ''The Oregonian'' has called it Portland's "extended family room", as Pioneer Courthouse Square is known as Portland's "living room". Twelve blocks in length, it is intersecte ...

. A bidding war in February 2001 led to a combined price of $192,000 for the spaces. There was also a large cluster, often referred to as a food cart pod, at Fifth and Stark street, and one food cart had been operating since 1980. In 2010 it was estimated that there are between 450 and 671 carts citywide.

Regulation

Most North American cities sought to make the street for cars in the mid twentieth century, and thus imposed strict regulations on food carts, which led to few food carts remaining. In comparison, Portland has low regulation, such as having nearly no requirement for a food cart to have a particular structure, which makes the cost of entry low, and thus leading to a proliferation of carts. Many regulations are also not enforced as long as health and safety are not impacted.

Notable pods and foods carts

Notable food cart pods in Portland include the

Cart Blocks Cart Blocks is a food cart pod in Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the ...

, Cartlandia, Cartopia, Carts on Foster, Collective Oregon Eateries, Hawthorne Asylum, Nob Hill Food Carts, Portland Mercado, and Prost Marketplace, and formerly the

Alder Street food cart pod The Alder Street food cart pod was a pod of food carts at the intersection of Southwest 10th Avenue and Alder Street in Portland, Oregon. Description and history Established during the 1990s, the popular pod hosted approximately 60 carts at its ...

(1990s–2019). Notable businesses which have operated as food carts in the city include: * Baby Blue Pizza * Bing Mi * Birrieria La Plaza * Birrieria PDX * Chicken and Guns * El Cubo de Cuba * Deadstock Coffee * Desi PDX * Dirty Lettuce * E-san Thai Cuisine * El Gallo Taqueria * Erica's Soul Food * Fifty Licks *

Flying Fish Company Flying Fish Company is a sustainable seafood company which operates a fish market, restaurant, and food cart in Portland, Oregon. Description and history Lyf Gildersleeve is the owner of Flying Fish Company, which began as a food cart on Divisi ...

* Fried Egg I'm in Love * Gracie's Apizza * The Grilled Cheese Grill * Holy Trinity Barbecue *

Jojo Jojo, JoJo or Jo Jo is a given name, surname, nickname or stage name used by several people and fictional characters, including: People with the given name, nickname or stage name Musicians *JoJo (singer) (born 1990), American R&B singer, songwri ...

Kee's Loaded Kitchen Kee's Loaded Kitchen (stylized as Kee's #Loaded Kitchen) is a soul food restaurant in Portland, Oregon. Description Kee's is a Black-owned, soul food restaurant on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in northeast Portland's King neighborhood. The ...

* Kim Jong Grillin' *

Le Bistro Montage Le Bistro Montage, or simply Montage, was a restaurant in Portland, Oregon, United States. Description and history Characterized as quirky, and long a favorite of the late night crowd, it featured communal dining and eclectic Cajun fare such as ...

* Matt's BBQ * Matta * Nacheaux * Nong's Khao Man Gai * Paladin Pie * PDX Sliders * Ruthie's *

Shanghai's Best Shanghai's Best (also known as Shanghai's Best Street Food) is a Chinese restaurant in Portland, Oregon. The business operates from the Pine Street Market, as of 2022, and has previously operated from Portland's Alder Street food cart pod and in ...

* Stretch the Noodle * Tamale Boy * Tierra del Sol * Viking Soul Food

References

External links

* {{Restaurants in Portland, Oregon