DesiPDX Will Open in the Upright Beer Station Pod in NE Portland

The seating area outside the cart that will become DesiPDX at the Upright Beer Station in Portland, Oregon. — The cart will remain but is soon to become home to DesiPDX. Photo credit: Chaat Wallah

Many of us have been wondering what has been going on with the Chaat Wallah cart at the Upright Beer Station in Cully/Roseway. Well, wonder no more—turns out Chaat Wallah is retiring, and an outpost of DesiPDX is opening in the same cart.

Back in early July, I asked Deepak Saxena, who runs Chaat Wallah, DesiPDX, and Masala Lab, what the future would be for the Chaat Wallah cart; this was right after Schmunch Burger announced their impending move to the Upright pod. I said, “Some of us are worried you are leaving this ever-changing pod. I wanted to see if Chaat Wallah will remain.”

He responded, “I really want to stay open, as I live in the neighborhood and want to see that corner popping.” And that’s exactly what is happening—the cart is staying open at Upright, but is essentially getting a rebrand as DesiPDX.

Update: 8/21/24: It looks like they are aiming to open on Thursday, August 22. On Instagram, Deepak posted this: “We’re aiming to open this Thursday with hours of Thu to Sun 12PM to 730PM. Once we get all our systems down and get more staff, we’ll be open daily.”

The Chaat Wallah—DesiPDX Transition

Deepak posted the following on social media regarding Chaat Wallah:

“We are closing for good next Saturday before we reopen at the same location in mid to late August as DesiPDX, which is my other cart. If you’ve not been to DesiPDX, we serve rice bowls with different fusion curries and also some snacky items.” Regarding those snacky items, he says, “We will be integrating some of the snacky items from Chaat Wallah into the DesiPDX menu at both locations, too.”

For those who are wondering, the DesiPDX cart on Mississippi will remain there (i.e., it is not closing).

More on the closing of Chaat Wallah from Deepak: “This decision has been in the works for a bit. We love our sandwiches but it’s a lot to run a bunch of different places with different menus. This will streamline our operations on the backend and allow us to have staff cross trained across locations and also serve something unique to the neighborhood.”

Free To Be, Gluten-Free

DesiPDX is a gluten-free cart, and from what I can tell from their fans, it is to the level that it is celiac-safe. “We’ll be doing a deep clean of the Chaat Wallah cart before we switch over,” explained Deepak. According to their website, they have paleo and vegan options, too.

Chaat Wallah: Its Final Days, and It’s Future

You still have some time to enjoy the menu at Chaat Wallah. You have three days to do so, on this coming Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

Thursday, July, 25—4pm to 8:30pm (or, sellout)
Friday, July 26—noon to 8:30pm (or, sellout)
Saturday, July, 27—noon to 8:30pm (or, sellout)

According to Deepak, Chaat Wallah as a brand won’t go away completely. “We’ll keep slinging sandwiches at events and we may come back as a cart elsewhere some day,” he says. “This was our 2nd iteration/location and as they say 3rd times a charm!”

I will miss Chaat Wallah, but am excited to eat at DesiPDX’s location at the Upright Beer Station pod.

DesiPDX [projected opening August 22, 2024]
7151 NE Prescott Street, Portland
desipdx.com | Instagram | Facebook

Updated August 21, 2024.