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.
The Roll Up, where the action happens. Photo credit: Colours PDX
While I was over at Colours PDX, an art gallery participating in the Portland Winter Light Festival, I learned that Honey Latte Cafe is opening a new location in the shared space also hosting the gallery, The Roll Up. One of the things that will set them apart from many others is that they want to offer coffee later into the evening—something that is not as common in Portland (we have a thriving daytime cafe scene).
A while back I wrote about the arrival of the Midtown Beer Garden in the “midtown” section of downtown Portland. I also wrote about Tokyo Sando closing, with the uncertainty of a return to Portland. And Bing Mi has gone through some changes, opening a brick & mortar spot in NW Portland, with the future of the original cart in unknown territory, too. Well, the good news is that they are returning to downtown Portland!
I heard about this food cart pod about six months ago but hadn’t tracked down much information readers would find interesting. Now I’m happy to say that I have a number of details to share with you on it. First, the pod will be located on the northeast corner of NE Halsey and 106th Avenue, extending north to NE Weidler.
We are comfortably into January 2024 and it’s time to take a look back at 2023’s most-read posts on Bridgetown Bites. They mostly involved openings and closings of restaurants and bars, but there was one article on an Asian market opening in SE Portland that made the list.
I’m happy to say that from an analytics POV, traffic almost doubled between 2022 and 2023 here on the blog. Regarding 2022 I said, “Over 55,000 visits were recorded, and almost 35,000 of those visits were new to the site.” In 2023 we had 106,000 unique visits, with 86,000 new to the site; these visitors generated almost 142,000 page views, too. Not too bad for this little independent blog.
I also read somewhere online that this blog skews toward NE Portland. That is a true statement. I also read in the same source that some readers would love to see more coverage of the west side of Portland. This is good feedback. will see what I can do about that, and diversifying geographically in general.
Thanks to all who have read, commented, sent tips (keep ’em coming!), and shared these articles/posts on social media and with friends. Here’s to another great year of delving into the Portland food world!
When I was at dinner the other night, my friends who live in St. Johns said “a Korean restaurant has finally opened in our neighborhood.” Of course, my interest was piqued so I asked more questions. The restaurant is Yuginong (or Yu Gi Nong), located in the space that was previously home to Sol Bowl and a Starbucks. They opened this past weekend.
Update: I hear only good things about Yuginong, with modifiers like “fresh,” “tasty,” and “very good.” I’m happy to know they are still going strong.
Sketch of the new food cart pod coming to NE Fremont and 44th Avenue. Image credit: BWNA and Woodblock architecture.
This morning I read an email from a Bridgetown Bites reader about a new food cart pod coming to NE Fremont Street. It will be in the old Barrett Automotive space there on the northeast corner of 44th Avenue.
