Portland has the best streetfood in the WORLD?

[EL PRESIDENTE]

I disagree. But whatever. I guess if your idea of street food is a bunch of inauthentic food carts marketed towards white hipsters with quality of food roughly equal to that at a carnival...then yeah. I guess.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/07/19/worlds.best.street.food/index.html

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Some of the cart food is pretty good. I guess the cart thing is getting so big that Taco Bell and Subway are now selling cart franchises.

I remember my first cart food was an elephant ear down at Saturday market. Mmmmmmmm, sugar & cinnamon coated deep fat fried goodness!

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

I mean, they're not bad. But you can't compare them to something authentic like street markets in Asia or any Mercado in latin america. Street carts just miss that about them.

 

[ABM]

On a side note, has anyone been to The Bite? I've seen some billboards. Not sure if it would be a good experience, or not.

Thanks in advance.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

I mean, they're not bad. But you can't compare them to something authentic like street markets in Asia or any Mercado in latin america. Street carts just miss that about them.

Yes, nothing says delicious like mystery meat sold on the streets in 3rd world countries.

Actually Willamette Week did an article a while back showing that people who start off in carts and then work their way up to their own restaurants do far better then the people who just run out and get a SBA loan to start a restaurant. Those carts are small business incubators that don't cost us tax payers a thing. As small business unfriendly as Portland is this is one of the few things that they are getting right.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

On a side note, has anyone been to The Bite? I've seen some billboards. Not sure if it would be a good experience, or not.

Thanks in advance.

It can get a little expensive but good. Lots of restaurants selling their specialties from carts and booths. It's a nice way to sample different things and possibly find a new restaurant or two to visit. But at $7-10 for something to eat at each booth it can get spendy.

 

[Eastoff]

Yes, nothing says delicious like mystery meat sold on the streets in 3rd world countries.

Actually Willamette Week did an article a while back showing that people who start off in carts and then work their way up to their own restaurants do far better then the people who just run out and get a SBA loan to start a restaurant. Those carts are small business incubators that don't cost us tax payers a thing. As small business unfriendly as Portland is this is one of the few things that they are getting right.

fwiw I don't think they pay any kind of property tax, and don't have any laws about having to move their location every 24 hours unlike some other cities.

 

[barfo]

I mean, they're not bad. But you can't compare them to something authentic like street markets in Asia or any Mercado in latin america. Street carts just miss that about them.

What is the definition of "authentic" you are using here?

barfo

 

[SlyPokerDog]

fwiw I don't think they pay any kind of property tax, and don't have any laws about having to move their location every 24 hours unlike some other cities.

The owners of the property pay property tax and the carts pay space rent to the property owners. I don't think they can afford to own the land their carts are on nor do we want lots in downtown Portland being subdivided into tiny cart sized parcels that cart owners can purchase.

 

[ehizzy3]

i must be sleeping on the food carts in portland, haven't ate at any of them..someone recommend me one to eat next time i'm in portland

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

What is the definition of "authentic" you are using here?

barfo

Webster's Dictionary.

Mainly, I like foods which are made by poor people looking to survive and provide foods they have been cooking for hundreds of years...hence the differentiation from a sit-down restaurant. A food cart/truck more often than not is either an ironic update on childhood favorites or some extension of an actual restaurant. There's very little soul and character other than something feigned.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

fwiw I don't think they pay any kind of property tax, and don't have any laws about having to move their location every 24 hours unlike some other cities.

Its kind of the same in LA....they are starting to crack down on it though. Its getting pretty rediculous...there's a street food fair this weekend.
http://lastreetfoodfest.com/

which ironically is taking place in a football stadium, has tickets for admission, media coverage and corporate sponsors..the polar opposite of "street food" IMO.

I heard last year they did this there were 2 hour lines to get into the events and you had to wait another 45-minutes to an hour to get served at some of the more "gourmet" food trucks.

 

[Rodolfo]

Portland, FTW!

 

[GriLtCheeZ]

Webster's Dictionary.

Mainly, I like foods which are made by poor people looking to survive and provide foods they have been cooking for hundreds of years...hence the differentiation from a sit-down restaurant. A food cart/truck more often than not is either an ironic update on childhood favorites or some extension of an actual restaurant. There's very little soul and character other than something feigned.

Have you even been to any of the food carts in Portland lately? There are plenty of those two types of carts to choose from.

 

[MARIS61]

I disagree. But whatever. I guess if your idea of street food is a bunch of inauthentic food carts marketed towards white hipsters with quality of food roughly equal to that at a carnival...then yeah. I guess.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/07/19/worlds.best.street.food/index.html

Portland/s street carts are nowhere near as good or authentic as carnival food.

Corn Fritters! Funnel Cakes! Caramel Apples!

Now that's good eats.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

Have you even been to any of the food carts in Portland lately? There are plenty of those two types of carts to choose from.

I went to one last christmas...some Thai one... very mediocre that was a stall. The other one was Koi Fusion....korean tacos.

What I'm seeing more and more is that the REAL taco trucks are being overrun by clean, vanilla versions of food. Its a downward trend...I liken it to mom and pop stores being taken over by mini-malls.

I go to the food trucks here in Venice pretty frequently....the food is pretty mediocre almost across the board...but they're right there....so sometimes I go. Sure there's variety, but some of the campiness of it all really rubs me the wrong way. And the lines.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

this is Street Food:

this is just a restaurant on wheels fueled by hype:

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

Portland/s street carts are nowhere near as good or authentic as carnival food.

Corn Fritters! Funnel Cakes! Caramel Apples!

Now that's good eats.

most def. Carnival food is the shit...its a lot better than much of the "street food" in fact....Corn Dogs!

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

come on....do ya got this in PDX?

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

Best tacos/street food I've had ever. Mexico City.

each taco was about 50-60cents. the bomb. all the meats stewed in that pot.....insanely good. eyeballs, brains, cactus...all in there!

I've had the Kogi Korean Tacos...they are quite good, I admit, but much of the imitators are just quick buck artists that bastardize the entire concept of street food IMO. Kind of picky, but that's how i feel......everything goes corporate sooner or later.

 

[GriLtCheeZ]

this is just a restaurant on wheels fueled by hype:

You mean like Crispy Cream?

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

I see it nothing more than a passing fad...like Dipping Dots, Krispy Kreme, Boba Shakes, gourmet cupcakes and Frozen Yogurt.......they WILL get oversaturated and once the hype dies down hopefully we have a renaissance!

I was involved in a cupcake biz a few years ago which went under, it was so crazy how unrealistic people are as to the demand. everyone tries to latch on...the appeal is the relatively low start up costs and as mentioned earlier, they ARE more successful/profitable than restaurants.

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

OK...for Portlanders...what is the best street food in town?

 

[barfo]

Mainly, I like foods which are made by poor people looking to survive and provide foods they have been cooking for hundreds of years...

Well, it's true that there aren't any poor people in portland who are hundreds of years old, so I guess you got me there.

hence the differentiation from a sit-down restaurant. A food cart/truck more often than not is either an ironic update on childhood favorites or some extension of an actual restaurant. There's very little soul and character other than something feigned.

Tradition is good, but new things are good too.

A lot of traditional food is, frankly, crap. Knawing on horse hooves because some poor fuckers in the past didn't have anything else to eat isn't any different than shitting on the ground because that's the way it was traditionally done. Or sacrificing virgins, cannibalism, or using horsecarts to transport goods to market, or what have you.

barfo

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

Well, it's true that there aren't any poor people in portland who are hundreds of years old, so I guess you got me there.

Tradition is good, but new things are good too.

A lot of traditional food is, frankly, crap. Knawing on horse hooves because some poor fuckers in the past didn't have anything else to eat isn't any different than shitting on the ground because that's the way it was traditionally done. Or sacrificing virgins, cannibalism, or using horsecarts to transport goods to market, or what have you.

barfo

New things in America are usually sanitized for the unwashed (or washed) masses of suburbanites. sure, lots of traditional food IS crap....but I appreciate the history and effort behind it. I'm just kind of anti-chain and the shit food we get in America sucks. Everything is processed crap from Sysco.

 

[Eastoff]

OK...for Portlanders...what is the best street food in town?

I dont' know about best, but there is a little cluster of carts on the east side around 12th and harthorne that is great for post bars. Crepes, fries, mexican, and po boys

 

[barfo]

New things in America are usually sanitized for the unwashed (or washed) masses of suburbanites.

True.

sure, lots of traditional food IS crap....but I appreciate the history and effort behind it. I'm just kind of anti-chain and the shit food we get in America sucks. Everything is processed crap from Sysco.

True again. But it's possible to seek out the non-chain food, and certainly not all PDX food carts are chain food/ processed crap. None of them will be slaughtering a goat on the ground behind the cart, it's true.

barfo

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

True.

True again. But it's possible to seek out the non-chain food, and certainly not all PDX food carts are chain food/ processed crap. None of them will be slaughtering a goat on the ground behind the cart, it's true.

barfo

as it gets more popular, there will be more regulations from city government, taxes, fees, surcharges, and what not....pressure from restaurants, which lead to increased costs to do businesses and the true artisans are pushed off by well funded (or well-borrowed) entrepreneurs who give less authentic versions of the products. I've totally seen this shit happen here in LA with taco trucks.....the more there are, the crappier the food is...the concepts just spring in and out overnight.

 

[Minstrel]

I used to hit up a street cart years ago for fresh crepes. Delish. They made them with various options...pesto, cheese, Nutella. There were some other choices too, I think. Good stuff.

I'm definitely heavily in favour of the concept of street carts and street food. I just don't see them much.

 

[barfo]

I used to hit up a street cart years ago for fresh crepes. Delish. They made them with various options...pesto, cheese, Nutella. There were some other choices too, I think. Good stuff.

I'm definitely heavily in favour of the concept of street carts and street food. I just don't see them much.

Just one more reason you need to move to PDX, Minstrel.

barfo