Category: Food Carts

Food carts are part of the culture of Portland and an important element of the eating and drinking that goes on in the city. They are found throughout the city both as individual carts and grouped together in pods.

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Four Things I Learned This Week (August 2)

Good chance: New food cart coming to My-O-My. I was by earlier this week and the bartender told me that they do have a new cart in mind, but could not reveal its name. Apparently the contract hadn’t been signed at that point. I’ve been keeping an eye on things on their Instagram to see if they have a name they can share. I’ll keep you updated. 8627 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland

Fremont Fest Marketplace is tomorrow. I usually just call it the Fremont Fest, but yeah—it’s happening tomorrow, Saturday, August 3 from 10am to 4pm. This year they have an 80s theme going on to celebrate the founding year of the Beaumont Business Association in 1984 (BBA produces the festival). “Wear those neon colors, get your shoulder pads out, and break out those leg warmers…” I’ll pass on the leg warmers in the middle of summer, but YMMV. Check out the vendors and more on the BBA website. NE Fremont Street from NE 42nd to NE 51st Avenues

Xin Ding Dumpling House on WW. Aaron Mesh at the Willamette Week wrote about Xin Ding Dumping House in downtown Portland. I loved reading about this place on the corner of SW Ash and 2nd with its Sichuan menu featuring dishes like XLB, fish in hot gravy, and dan dan noodles. Also enticing: “On Fridays and Saturdays, Xin Ding serves bao and bowls until 2am.” Love hearing about popular tasty late night spots in Portland. Definitely check out the article. 71 SW 2nd Avenue, Portland

Xiao Ye launches Summer Friday lunch service today. Today is the first day of “Summer Fridays” lunch service at Xiao Ye. They’ll offer their amazing eats from noon to 2:30pm for the last months of summer. “What to expect: a condensed menu with some of our dinner favorites AND a few special, lunch-only menu items & carafes of wine.” No reservations, walk-ins only and you put in your order at the counter. Xiao Ye made one of my favorite meals last year—highly recommended! 3832 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland

Stories you may have missed this week on Bridgetown Bites:

Capitol Is Closed + Historic Buildings on Broadway
The Wooden Chicken Pub Returns
Flour Bloom Has Closed, but Just for a Month
Lei Brilla Will Open in NW Portland

Also, the Chinese Festival is at Pioneer Courthouse Square is this weekend!

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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.

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Top 5 Posts on Bridgetown Bites, June 2024

Data Analytics Chart

This month I have better news than last month’s: we almost doubled our traffic in June. Over 17,000 unique visitors made it over to Bridgetown Bites, and they generated over 21,000 page views (vs 8,800 and 11,000, respectively). The strategies I put into place made a difference.

Top posts in June are mostly about restaurants (and a future food cart pod), but strawberry shortcake certainly grabbed attention. And why not? It’s delicious and wholesome.

A always, thanks to all who visited, read, and shared stories on Bridgetown Bites!

5. Ole Frijole Has Closed

Ole Frijole's exterior in the Concordia neighborhood in Portland, OR. It closed as of May 4, 2024.

Earlier this week a Bridgetown Bites tipster emailed me news that Ole Frijole, located on the northwest corner of Killingsworth and NE 42nd Ave, has closed. They wrote, “My neighbor mentioned that she just read a sweet message to customers posted on their door saying that they closed and the property has been sold.” Looks like the closure was one month ago on May 4.

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Small Bites: Wonderlove Is Open, Portland Taco Ride, Top Portland Pizzas, and More

The space that is Wonderlove.
Behold, Wonderlove. Photo credit: Wonderlove

Wonderlove is open (partially). This is good news—the SE Portland food cart/bar/entertainment venue Wonderlove is open! A post on Instagram about a week ago goes like this:

“So excited to partially open! 11am-7pm. The first stage of our amazing journey starts now with opening (a few )of our fantastic food carts! And that’s not all—we’re also serving adult beverages out of the Wondercat Pizza Cart! Stay tuned because the Wonderlove Bar is the second act, and it’s coming soon!” 262 SE Main Street, Portland

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Food Cart Pod Opening on NE Fremont Street: Update

The lot that will be home to the food cart pod on NE Fremont Street, as of June 24, 2024

Formerly the location of Barrett Automotive, and soon to be a food cart pod, this property on NE Fremont Street in Beaumont-Wilshire is now a mostly empty lot. I often drive or walk by the property and always gawk at it. The first major phase of demolition has happened already, and I wanted to know what’s next. I chatted with Daniel Silvey of DBS Group, the firm that is developing the pod, to get some updates, and I’m sharing them here.

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