FUN FOOD
By Brett Burmeister, FoodCartsPortland.com
The BABS –
with bacon,
apples, bleu
and Swiss
cheeses – is
just one of the
sophisticated
sandwich options you’ll
find at the
Grilled Cheese
Grill. (More
traditional
items also are
available.)
At the Grilled Cheese Grill on
NE Alberta (pictured), you can eat at the
outdoor picnic tables or inside a converted school bus. The SE 28th location
features seating in a double decker bus.
PHOTOS BY BRETT BURMEISTER, FOODCARTSPORTLAND.COM
W
Cart City!
hen I was a kid, going out to
eat usually meant Dairy Queen or
a nice meal at the local German restaurant. In the ‘80s, we were excited
when Subway opened. The mall food
court at Clackamas Town Center
blew our minds.
Looking back, I realize I wasn’t exposed to new and interesting foods. It was all the same, just packaged differently. I ate well and my parents fed us from the garden,
but it wasn’t until I was in college that I discovered street
food. I wish I’d had the options available today when I
was a kid.
In Portland, over 500 different food carts are open
on any given day. You can take a leisurely walk downtown and stroll past almost 200 different vendors – 200
different restaurants serving dishes from pulled pork
sandwiches to Thai soups to smoked salmon sliders and
everything in between. The options are endless and, for
some, a bit daunting. Factor in a picky eater, as many
children are, and the choices become even more challenging.
If you’d like to introduce your kids to Portland’s rich
diversity of street food, I suggest starting with the lot at
SW 10th and Alder. With over 60 vendors in a single city
block, there’s something for everyone. Some favorites for
kids and teens include:
• he Gaufre Gourmet (gaufregourmet.com): Belgian
T
liege-style waffles with your choice of topping. These
waffles are made from dough, not batter, with pearl
sugar throughout. You can get the original as a snack or
top it off with goodies for a full meal.
• he Grilled Cheese Grill (grilledcheesegrill.com): Come
T
by for a taste of your childhood, or – if your childhood
was less than stellar – get a taste of theirs. (This local
family favorite has locations in northeast and southeast,
too, both with seating inside refurbished buses.)
• he Dump Truck (dumptruckpdx.com): Chinese
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steamed dumplings. They even have a bacon cheeseburger dumpling!
While the downtown vendors
are mainly grab-and-go lunch
spots, the food cart lots on the
east side of the Willa