Location: 8438 SE Woodstock Blvd
elnutritacopdx.com

El Nutri Taco is just off the 205 freeway, so I have to believe many hungry travelers have passed it by without a second thought before eating at Taco Time or Taco Hell down the street. And guess what, they blew it. Only in Portland would a sketchy looking Mexican cart in someone’s front yard have an extensive Vegan Menu. And then actually be good, too. That is the story with El Nutri Taco.

It took me years to try this place – Taco carts aren’t hard to come by and like I said, it looks sketchy, but we kept hearing they had great vegan food. And since the psudeo-vegan in my life cares about that sort of thing, eventually we went, and guess what, the rumors were true.

Potato Burrito. Not shown actual size.

Even knowing what I know, it still feels strange to pull up to someone’s house and order food in their front yard, but inevitably you will not be the only one. This place is fairly busy and once you get your food, you’ll see why. Not only are the portions ridiculous, but the burritos are interesting and unique. This isn’t just a beans, rice and cheese place, they put all sorts of goodies in them — cactus, peppers, mushrooms, potatoes, basically whatever you could think of. They also have multiple kinds of veggie meat, and for me, real meat as well.

There’s a little covered seating area behind it, although if you’re scared of giant old german shepards, that might be an issue (there’s one that lives there, but he seems nice.) If you’re really opposed to carts, there’s also a brick and mortar location in Northeast, but to get the true experience, well, you gotta go to this one. It’s good, I promise.

Location: Woodstock Cart Pod
Price range: $2.50-$8
Cuisine: American Mexican
CASH ONLY

Today I set out on a mission to  get a Danang Pork sandwich from Graffiti, but alas:

Vacation!? How dare you take a vacation!

Once I finished feigning outrage, I walked the two feet to the right, opting for a burrito from El Gallo. Mexican carts aren’t hard to come by in Portland, and as they go, this one isn’t my favorite. But, it’s also not really Mexican. As evidenced by the white guys working there, this place is Ameri-mex at best, despite the actual Spanish in its name.

So, as you can probably assume, this isn’t my favorite burrito in Portland, but it is somewhat unique. Inside is meat, cheese, cabbage and pinto beans, as well as some cilantro and presumably salsa. Then the whole package is grilled up all crispy and there’s more sauce to be had on the side. Their salsas are good, but nothing to write home about. I think the big selling point here is that all the ingredient are local, natural, blah blah blah. It’s cool to eat food at Monsanto in theory hasn’t fucked with.

Really, my favorite thing about this cart is that they have free water. I hate buying bottles of water, not just cause it’s terrible for the environment, but because I’m cheap. The cups and jug are a huge plus. Jared likes it because they have Mexican coke, which is exciting because as he wanted me to point out — not all coke in Mexico is Mexican coke.

Location: Corner of SE 52nd and Foster
Number of carts: 11
Covered: Yes
Obligatory Score: 3

https://www.facebook.com/CartsOnFoster

The parking lot that houses Carts on Foster has come along way since it was All Pets Playhouse – a decrepit-looking animal boarding house that I never saw open. Now it’s a bustling cart pod, with a lot more carts than the one other time I awkwardly walked through and then decided to go somewhere else a few months ago.

Pretty flowersss!

I use the term bustling loosely, it’s not that crowded which is a good thing if you hate waiting in line for food like I do. (That’s one issue with food carts over all I have, is the amount to time it takes to get your food can vary widely if you decide to go to different carts.) The inside is filled with plants, there’s both a tent and a covered porch for seating when it rains. (I heard it does that here.) There’s enough variety in the carts that you have choices but not too many, and the drone of Foster Road is drowned out by the way it’s set up. Basically, it’s nicer than I thought it would be, but ya know, still eating outside in a parking lot. Kinda what you’re signing up for.

The falafel from El Sultan

As far as food choices go, there’s a couple sandwich carts, a Mexican/Mediterranean cart, a coffee cart, a pastry cart, a breakfast cart and a Hawaiian cart (which actually used to be at Cartlandia.) Again, this changes so don’t trust me on this one, check the facebook or at least, don’t get your hopes up for Mexi/Medi before you go there.  There’s also a bar, which is partially inside and offers an indoor-outdoor seating experience. It actually would be a kinda sweet place if you’re looking for a patio to drink on some sunny summer day.

A sub from Pressed.

On our visit Jared and I got falafels from El Sultan, which has been there as long as I can remember. Now going to a cart boasting cuisine from two non-adjecent parts of the world may be risky, but for $5 I was satisfied with my purchase. It came with chips and the pita was super soft and yummy. The fillings we’re kinda bland and there was way too much iceberg lettuce. Plus pickles. Who puts pickles on a falafel? Stan got an Italian sub from “Pressed” and was thoroughly disappointed. For $9 at least it came with deep fried french fries, but the bread was an even bigger buzz kill than the sandwich. Sorry Stan.

Over all, Carts on Foster is not the worst pod I’ve been to. Considering the location, it’s decent. That said, it’s not a must-visit cart pod by any means. According to Stan, if he had people in town, he wouldn’t bring them there and I’d have to agree.

Location: 45th and Woodstock Ave
Number of Carts: 3
Covered Section: No
Obligatory score: 5

Note:  This was supposed to be my introductory post, but I spazzily posted about Cartlandia first.

I may start writing about every cart individually and inserting Jared’s “spicy but not too spicy” input in each one, or more likely just highlight the ones I like, but I really want to start with the pods themselves. After all, part of dining is the experience and I don’t care how good the food is if you feel icky eating there.

So let’s start with the neighborhood I claim to live in (even though my house is technically in Brentwood/Darlington), Woodstock. This pod popped up a few years back and has gone through a few carts, but the line up as of August 14th, 2013 is Graffiti Sandwiches, El Gallo Taco and a breakfast cart, Yolk, which I’ve heard is run by the same people that own Toast.

I really like this pod. One of the best things is there’s not actually too much choice to be made. Three genres, breakfast, Mexican and Sandwiches. I can handle that no matter how my day is going. Plus all three are actually good. I’ve never gotten anything at these cart I’ve been bummed out. Oh yeah, cause not all Food Carts in Portland are the stuff of Food Network legend. There are a lot of them that were opened by people who have no idea what they’re doing.

As far as ambiance, this place is great. There’s no flapping tarps or major thorough-fares, just the cute, Reed College influenced Neighborhood. The tables are wood picnic tables, but not like the crappy kind. They’re heavy duty and feel handcrafted and all Portland-y, and the Mexican cart even has an a house plant.

Basically, this is the perfect cart pod. Not too big, not to small, good choices and a nice place to sit. Of course, if it’s raining you’re grab and go only, but I guess, who goes to Food Carts when it’s raining?

This cart gets a 5 out of whatever number I decide to give the best cart pod I’ve been to. I guess I’m setting the bench mark here. EXCITING.

PS. I’m gonna stick to Southeast Food Carts. That way I don’t have to leave my quadrant.

PPS. Anyone know of any Food Cart blogs I should be reading for inspiration?

PPPS. I don’t remember the log in info for the FTP of this site, so the rebrand may take awhile.

12th and Hawthorne

Date of visit: November 4, 2009

Price for 1: $9

I don’t particularly like to eat outside. I hate eating outside. I don’t care about the autumn breeze. In fact, that’s part of why I hate it. My ungroomed, overly long hair ends up in my face, and there’s no telling what’s going to land in your food next. I tend to leave picnics to the birds, but that’s just me.

Now that we’ve gotten that part out of the way, today was likely one of the last “nice” days of the fall/winter season, and we figured hitting up Hawthorne’s cart pods was best done in the sun.  There is some cover at the carts, but I can imagine a rainy day being rather moist beneath the canopies. For more on the overall “what’s offered at the carts” check out Brooke’s previous post, on what she ate. We each went to different carts, so I’ll focus my saltiness on my choice, El Brasero, or “the Mexican one.”

The nice thing about food carts is they’re typically cheap, for (in Portland at least) the amazing food you get. Some of them send you off with two meals worth of eats for around $5 (India Chaat House downtown comes to mind). But the carts on Hawthorne aren’t quite as cheap. This pod caters mostly to the late night bar crowd (some, like the popular Whiffies, don’t even open ’til the evening hours), and under those conditions your judgement can be, well, clouded. That’s not to say the food wasn’t good. The vegetarian burrito I got at El Brasero was actually really good for what it was (rice, beans, cheese, lettuce, tomato). But at $7 for the burrito alone, I felt like I could have had a roof over my head. A canopy seems more like a $4-$5 burrito covering.

El Brasero did have a nice variety of vegetarian options, and it was a good burrito. The tortilla was particularly good. But $9 for the burrito and Jarritos soda was a bit too Manhattan in price.

Would I go back? I wouldn’t go out of my way like I would say, Los Gorditos, but the burrito was good, so I wouldn’t run for the hills.

Speed: Quick

Veggie options: Solid vegetarian menu.

3433 SE Hawthorne Blvd

Date of Visit: October 30, 2009

Price for 2: $16

Cha Cha Cha is the best local baja-style Mexican chain around. Specific enough for you? Ok, so it’s the only place that fits all those criteria. But it is pretty good; sort of like a local Baja Fresh with better, more sustainable ingredients and an ever-changing menu.

Obviously there is no shortage of Mexican restaurants on Hawthorne, but there are a few reasons to hit up Cha Cha Cha instead of the others. The menu is quite extensive, it’s fairly reasonably priced, and as I’ve already mentioned, the ingredients change with the season. There is also a sizable, covered outdoor patio, great in the summer months.

On this visit, as usual, we started with chips and salsa. The chips are house made and the salsa is super fresh pico de gallo (in fact, I’ve seen them dicing it up in the open kitchens.) Unfortunately, an order does run ya a couple bucks, but what can you do.

For entrees, I went with the enchiladas verde plate, which comes with rice and beans. I am not typically a big fan of enchiladas, mostly because the sauce tastes like burnt chili to me, but the green sauce used on these is awesome. And they come with a heaping portion of guacamole. My only real complaint is that the enchiladas themselves are tiny, basically just one taco-sized corn tortilla filled with chicken for each, and I usually feel like I could easily put down two more.

The always-adventurous Jared broke out of his bean, cheese and rice burrito box and went with a special, the chipotle tofu burrito. I asked him what it tasted like and he answered, “Chipotle tofu.” Helpful, right? Eventually I got out of him that he liked that it included spinach and was better than his usual order.

Cha Cha Cha has a couple locations around Portland and while it’s by no means authentic Mexican, it’s definitely good if you are in the mood for baja-style food. I should note however, that I’ve heard a few people complain it is “hit or miss” (I’ve always been happy) so if you have a bad experience, you shouldn’t write it off completely!

Speed: This is one of those places where it says right on the menu “we make your food fresh so it may take longer” but it’s still relatively quick

Veggie Options: Several tofu burrito varieties, etc.

chips and salsa

chicken enchiladas verde plate

Chipotle tofu burrito

4635 SE Hawthorne

http://www.porquenotacos.com/

Price for 2 (with tip): $21.50

¿Por Qué No? is one of those places that the hipsters in Portland will tell you is the most amazing place around. And why wouldn’t they, “why not” is the name of the restaurant after all. With two locations in the hip areas of Hawthorne and Mississippi, happy hour drinks, and seemingly cheap food, all served up in a casually-busy decor, Por Que No is a total hipster dream come true. Unfortunately, it’s not actually very good.

The food at ¿Por Qué No? is definitely not trying to be authentic Mexican (despite the over use of Spanish) but is more tex-mex style. Honestly, on previous visits I remember the food being a high point of my experience, (compared to the wait, the ambiance, the price, etc) but today I was not impressed with a single thing I ate. I ordered a horchata, which is “house made.” By definition horchata is a bit of a gritty beverage (basically cinnamon rice milk) but this was hands down the worst horchata I have ever had. It left me feeling like I attempted to swallow a glass of sand, but it was nicely garnished with fresh cinnamon! Oh yeah, and one glass costs $3, and there’s no booze in that ($3 more gets you rum.)

On to the food. We ordered chips and salsa (not free) which took a solid 5 minutes to make it to our table. The chips are thick-cut homemade tortilla chips and are probably the best thing to come out of the kitchen. That said, the cooking of them is fairly inconsistent and one bite will be too hard to bite through and the next totally chewy. I got two tacos, a pescado (cornmeal-crusted snapper, sour cream, cabbage, salsa, onion, cilantro and pineapple) and a basic carne asada. Now I am all for creative takes on basic food, which is why I ordered the pescado. And it while was the better of the two tacos, didn’t actually include any pineapple (maybe they they were out?), and just tasted like spicy cornmeal. The carne asada taco was just a bummer. Not tender, not flavorful, just a tortilla filled with chewy beef that left my hands covered in red salsa.

The vegetarian got a bean and rice bowl: beans, rice, sour cream, guacamole, “salsa fresca” and three tortillas. I asked him how it compared to other times he’s had the same thing to make sure I wasn’t just having an off day. “I’ve never thought that place was very good,” he replied.

As if sub par food was reason enough never to go to ¿Por Qué No? again, there is constantly a line stretching out the door, and even though they will take your drink order before you reach the counter to make you feel like you’re not waiting as long, it doesn’t actually speed things up any. And during prime lunch hours, you are forced to sit uncomfortably close to yuppies, as either the hipsters have figured out that paying $3 for a tiny taco you could get at Pepino’s for $.99 isn’t a good deal, or they only frequent this place at Happy Hour. But no matter when you go, it doesn’t change the fact that it just isn’t good.

Veggie options: as mediocre as the meat options

Speed: Hurry up and wait

horchata

chips and salsa

Bean and rice bowl

carne asada taco/pescado taco

3832 SE Hawthorne Blvd

http://www.pepinos.org/

Date of visit: Oct 7, 2009

Price for 2: $11.50

After a few days out off town, we opted against somewhere new and headed to Pepino’s, by far one of my favorite lunch spots. The taqueria is quick, cheap, and one of the few places on Hawthorne with an actual parking lot. (If you’ve been to Hawthorne you know parking can be a real pain.) Unlike the nearby, over-hyped Por Que No, Pepino’s is seriously cheap. I almost always go for the taqeria taco combo: two tacos, chips and a drink for $4.50. The tacos themselves are super basic. Two corn tortillas, meat (I get chicken), cilantro, onions and hot sauce, and that’s it. Delicious.

Jared always gets the Sweet tequila tofu burrito, which has an almost teriyaki-style sauce as well as rice, beans and tofu inside a flour tortilla. It comes with chips for $5.25.

Now based on the prices you’d think Pepino’s would be a grimy hole in the wall, but it’s actually bright and nice with an outdoor patio. There’s an extensive salsa bar, the employees are friendly, and they are always playing festive music. The only real negative I can think of about this place is that every table seems to be uneven and wobbly, but if you can get past that, and want a quick, delicious Mexican meal, Pepino’s is the spot.

Veggie Options: A section on the menu and tofu can be added to any menu item for a small charge.

Speed: I already said it was fast dammit!

Taqeria taco combo

Sweet tequilla tofu burrito

4612 SE Hawthorne
http://www.dingosonline.com/

Date visited: September 22,2009

Price for 2: $25.50

If there’s one thing you’ll learn about me from this blog, it’s that I really like Mexican food. It’s cheap, quick and most importantly, comes with chips and salsa. That said, I am not a big fan or trulty authentico Mexican food, dripping in grease and containing questionable meats. For this reason Dingo’s has been on the go-to list for awhile. The real prize point of the menu at Dingo’s is the sour cream lime stuff that you can get in or on tacos, burritos and enchiladas. Recently I discovered the lime chicken tacos are the closest thing to Wahoo’s chicken tacos I’ve found and as far as I’m concerned, that’s a good thing.

Now the bad news. The lunch menu at Dingo’s is just a shortened version of the dinner menu, and I didn’t notice any different in price. Two tacos, rice and beans ran $10. The chips and salsa cost money (though she did bring us more than we could eat.)

Veggie options: Plenty

Speed: Respectable lunch speed

Lime Chicken Tacos

Smothered Tofu Burrito