Tribute to closing carts

Tears Shed For Closing Carts

“Sorry we’re closing, because we want to move on to bigger adventures.” A phrase no carter wants to hear. When the sad day comes when a food cart closes it doors, windows, and delicious food, a tear may cross my face. With over two hundred food carts gracing the streets of Portland, closing carts are bound to happen. It is all a carter can do to hold it together, and make their way over to the closing cart to enjoy the last tastes of delicious food.

No More Waffles From A Waffle Cart

This was the case when my mom and I attempted to visit Parker’s Waffles and Coffee. We were in the mood for some waffles that were either sweet or savory. Online, the location I found was on Alberta. As we made our way there, we were met with a hole in the wall serving waffles. Parker’s Waffles and Coffee on Alberta is a window that is still open and serving. The cart that use to be on 4^th and Hall closed down in August. This was unknown to me, and we were greatly disappointed. However, being the cartaneers we are, we were able to find another cart to visit for our morning breakfast.

*For my whole year with Portland’s food carts, I am only wanting to visit food carts, so while Parker’s looked delicious and offered various kinds of delicious waffles, the window serving waffles does not fit the guidelines of a cart.

No Breakfast For You

            On the beginning of the extreme carting day, my mom and I were on our way downtown to 2^nd and Oak, to enjoy our first meal from The Lovin’ Spoonful. As we arrived, we were met with a sign proclaiming that The Lovin’ Spoonful was closed, and the owners were on their way to bigger things at the coast. I was looking forward to a home-style breakfast, but when the carts close down, what are you going to do. Again, being knowledgable about Portland’s food cart scene comes in handy, for we were able to find a different breakfast in a matter of minutes.

The Best Sinister Waffle Around

            Sitting amongst other carts at North Station, on the corner of Killingsworth and Greeley, is Wicked Waffles. An adorable food cart of green and white, with matching over hang, serving waffles of different varieties. While there, my mom and I enjoyed an original vanilla bean waffle with cinnamon and a berry with whipped cream waffle. The base for the waffles were a corn waffle. I actually was able to eat a corn kernal, and might I say it was good. While the day was rainy and cold, the atmosphere of North Station was friendly and warm. For rainy or sunny days, North Station offers indoor seating, but enjoying waffles in the rain with your mom could not be more fun.
            As many carts do, their time comes and it is time to shut its doors. We were lucky enough to visit Wicked Waffles. Had we not, I would have missed out. I can only hope to find another vanilla bean corn waffle as good as the one I had.


Parker's Waffles

Location:

1805 NE Alberta, Portland, OR 97015 · Get Directions

Hours:

Fri:	8:00 pm	-	2:00 am
Sat:	8:00 am	-	2:00 pm
	8:00 pm	-	2:00 am
Sun:	8:00 am	-	2:00 pm

Closed for the winter as of October 17, 2011


For more information:
http://www.parkerswaffles.com
facebook.com/parkerswafflesandcoffee

Far but friendly

A Friendly Evening on the Town

A new place popping up with carts is on the far east side of Portland. At SE 102^nd and Stark, near the Mall 205 shopping mall, and not too far away from Ya Hala, The Academy Theatre, and The Bipartisan Café, is a pod of carts featuring so many different types of food, my mind was all over the place. Philippine, Pacific Islander, Indian, Thai, and Mexican food were all featured in the pod of carts, that is sitting on the outskirts of an empty parking lot.

As we walked up to the pod of carts, a women standing within her Philippine food cart instantly welcomed us. Offering up her daily special, and variations for us vegetarians, before we had even made it to the window, the feeling she gave us, would soon be copied as we walked through and studied all of the various menus. As we walked by a cart offering Pacific Islander food, we studied the menu that happened to be written on the side of the shiny silver cart. We were saddened by the fact that every dish being served happened to be meat. Nonetheless, we were welcomed by a women who waved hello.

When we had finally decided which carts we were going to dine at, Shalimar Café and Thai Garden, we had to decide what dish out of the plethora of foods. We went up to Shalimar Café, and were again welcomed, by the owner, who began spouting off the meal of the day. Dal, Lentils, freshly made naan, and basmati rice. Delicious, and without another minute of consultation, we had ordered, and watched. It is not very often that you see your bread come to life, but tonight I witnessed dough to bread, as the naan we would later eat was being made. I saw the dough rolled out, and placed into the baker. Extremely fresh bread, that was quite delicious.

When we stepped off the deck of Shalimar Café, we immeditely headed over to Thai Garden. While the well-known Pad Thai is always a good choice, tonight we decided to go for something else, Pra Ram. A combination of broccoli, rice, other vegetables, tofu, and of course, my personal favorites, peanut sauce.  When the dish came to the window, we opened it up, and unfortunately what we saw was chicken. A mistake about type of protein, but unfortunately we had to ask for the food to be remade. Hopefully that dish would have been able to eaten by someone else. It did not take long before our dish had been remade with tofu. As we opened up the container, a burst of steam came out, and the smells of spices and delicious Thai food burst out.

Instantly we dug in, I first with the Thai food, and my mom with the Indian food. It happened to be that the meals we were eating, either due to the small sizes of the food, or the fact that the food was so delicious that we were shoveling such food into our mouths, ended up all over the table. This is when we began using the lids of the containers as our nets for catching food, so that we would not leave the table covered with food.  

 As we came to the point in the meal where we were able to no longer place food into mouth, we decided it was time to head out, and take what was rest, home. Easily making tomorrow's lunch. We said goodbye, and headed onto our next destination. Over on Hawthorne, to a place visited once before, for a variation of an old favorite. 

When we arrived to Hawthorne, we took the first spot we could find, a bit far from the initial destination, but walking on Hawthorne is always nice on a nice Portland evening. We began walking. Walking past, Cha Cha Cha, Swirl, American Apparel, and while passing Road To Tibet, my mom stopped, and bent over to look at some very fine wool products. The sign posted above read 50% off. When she found some wool socks that were absolutely the best things, we had to go inside to ask the price. We brought two pairs in, and at a final price of $15, the purchase was made, and we were on our way back to Chili Pie Palace. 

Chili Pie Palace happens to be right next door to House of Vintage, the best place to find sweaters, but we were on a mission. When we arrived to the yellow and white cart, we were in line waiting, behind another customer, but when it came to be our turn, we were able to order a: Chocolate cookie with homemade cookies and creme ice cream. All completely vegan. When we had visited Chili Pie Palace before, we had ordered another vegan treat, a gingersnap cookie, with mango curry ice cream. For both of these treats, the cookies have both been soft and pleasant. Separated by a tasty blob of ice cream. It was the perfect way to end both of those nights out and dining.  

We made our way back to the car, wool socks in hand, and not stopping by Road To Tibet again, and headed home, one of us was going to bed, the other, going to listen to music and play tetris. 

Vegetarians Unite!!

November 11, 2010

50^th and Ivon, a bit farther than normal when going on a carting adventure, but for both my mom and I, that is the name of the game. As we pulled up to the sidewalk, we welcomed the opportunity of having another guest with us when carting.  My sister was coming along, not that we weren’t happy to have her, but because her boyfriend happened to be out of town for a couple of weeks.

A la Carts, the pod on 50^th and Ivon has a plethora of foods to choose from and enjoy. The destination in mind, Off The Griddle, a vegetarian and vegan food cart making DELICIOUS homemade garden burgers. It was not until I actually devoured the burger that I would come to the realization of the delicious tastes that were created by Ashley and Dan.

The absolutely great thing about Off The Griddle, is the fact that while many meatatarians have many options of burgers around town like BrunchBox on 5^th and Oak, and Rollin’ Etta on 43^rd and Belmont., vegetarians and vegans have less of an opportunity at eating delicious burgers that are equally teeth sinkable, and devoured in less than 15 minutes. Thus the creation of Off The Griddle is all but hailed by me and many others, vegetarians and meatatarians alike, who have already been able to experience the cart.

As I looked at the menu, the tough choice of choosing what to get hit me, much like always, but when my eyes settled on the list of ingredients for the Messy Bessy, I knew it was the one. An O.T.G. patty piled high with organic cage-free egg, Tillamook cheddar, organic avocado, grilled onion, lettuce, tomato, spicy tofu-avocado sauce and finally a layer of house-made potato chips. Seasoned and served with a fork. The fork and many napkins to go along with the very adeptly named burger are very much recommended.

As we waited for the burgers to be made, we happened to notice the cart sitting right next to Off The Griddle. Coffee Can Café. A very nice, wooden food cart café, that serves up all your espresso needs. While normally I would go for my usual LOVE, a mocha, when the holiday menu, written on a piece of cardboard, and tacked to the side was noticed, I knew that a Pumpkin Steamer would be heading my way. The pumpkin steamer was great for the chilly weather of Portland, and possibly the best holiday drink I have had. Even more than peppermint mochas some cafes offer. Also, while so many flavors combining might often times seem daunting and too much, the steamer and burger went together fabulously. 

Since the weather in Portland has quickly been changing, it was after careful consideration, and a quick check to see if the heat lamps were on in the heated and covered seating area, that all three of us decided to hit the road and eat at home. Disappointing I know, and not very much like a true carter should be like, but non-adequate dressing seemed to negatively impact the experience.

When I was buckled in, and a napkin placed to my side, I opened up the box, keep in mind the fact that other burgers are served wrapped in tin foil, picked up the burger, and sank my teeth in. Absolutely delicious! As I sit here writing, and about five times a week do I think about this burger, and anxiously await the next visit to Off The Griddle. The Messy Bessy is a true genius of combination. All the grilled vegetables, fried egg, tofu, and sauce created a delicious dinner, that I cannot stress how delicious this burger was.

             Since November 10th, I have had the luxury of visiting Off The Griddle once more before venturing off to Eugene. Again, as has happened with many of my carting experiences times two, I went for the old favorite. Another Messy Bessy and just as good as the first time. As I re-read the story, as the last paragraph states, I think about that burger all the time. Perhaps, as the true scarf bundling, warm drink to heat the hands season bears down upon us, I will make my way back to 50th and Ivon for a anniversary dinner with family and friends.

Location:

4926 SE Division St (Entrance on SE 50th at Ivon St), Portland, OR 97206

Hours:

Wed - Thu: 12:00 pm - 8:00 pm Fri - Sat: 12:00 pm - 10:00 pm Sun: 12:00 pm - 8:00 pm

For more information:

http://www.offthegriddle.com

facebook.com/offthegriddle

email:  offthegriddle@gmail.com

or call:  503-989-3908

Long hiatus due to life

Hello,

After being quite some time, an unintentional hiatus should soon hopefully come to an end.

Due to the end of senior year, a summer of fun working residential camp and a move to the bustling metropolis of Eugene to start a new chapter (no sorority affiliation) of my life, I ended up all but forgetting Year of the Carts. Now after a almost a year, I hope to continue. With stories that have been sitting on pages of my all too trusty recycled paper notebook the pages of this blog will all come together.

One upside to starting again, is that anyone still having any amount of hope in me will get the pleasure of hearing about what Eugene has to offer food cart wise. All I can say is that I have only been able to spot a few carts here, hopefully things will get brighter and Eugene will follow in Seattle and Portland's ways.

So, heres to a new life of reinitiating Year of the Carts and exploring new carting worlds.