Our trip to Portland was full of food. Mostly street cart. Here are my faves:
PBJ’s Grilled – 23rd & Lovejoy
It was a very sad day when we found this food cart – sad for me not Ryan. I was on a strict gluten/wheat free diet that day and couldn’t enjoy these AMAZING pb&j creations. But you gotta remember, while you can get your generic pb&j (labelled for kids), they are so much more than that. With homemade nut butters and jellies and fillings like goat cheese, bacon, or curry, these guys seriously make you reconsider the average peanut butter and jelly. Ryan was so excited he bought two.
Salt & Straw – Alberta & 21st
The words “Rhubarb Float” immediately drew us in. With their local ingredients and fun flavours, there’s a reason why Oprah put it on her top ice cream list.
Pizzicato – 23rd & Glisan
After being so sad I couldn’t enjoy a delicious pbj, Pizzicato greeted me with the words “Gluten Free Pizza!”. Just what I needed. For $8.50 I created my own GF pizza slice (pesto, bacon, wild mushrooms and asparagus, YUM) paired with this gigantic pear arugula salad. Minus the food carts it was the best deal I found around town the whole trip.
Pine State Biscuits – Alberta & 22nd
The anticipation for this place was nearly unbearable. We woke up early Tuesday morning and drove down to Belmont, parked and walked up to the building that once was Pine State Biscuits in complete destruction. My stomach and heart both cried. We quickly found a cafe with wifi and got directions to the next location. Oh my goodness was our little drive getting lost through Portland every worth it. Artery clogging? Absolutely. Delicious? INCREDIBLY.
Southland Whiskey Kitchen – 23rd & Quimby
Monday was a day where everything was closed, even when the website said otherwise. Disappointed that a local distillery was closed ‘due to production’, we went to this whiskey kitchen that night instead, and let me tell ya, if you (or your man) likes whiskey then this is the place to be.
Voodoo Doughnut – SW 3rd & SW Akeny
To be honest we went here not because we’re donut fans but because how could we go to Portland and not go to Voodoo donuts? The donuts are insane looking, insane flavoured and insane filled with sugar. And the price is incredibly reasonable given how massive they are (a voodoo dozen for a bit over $1 each).
But a word of advice – Normally there’s a crazy line up out the door. Go when it’s pouring rain like we did. In and out in 2 minutes.

The lady at PBJ’s asked “Are you doing any fine dining while in Portland?”. Ryan and I both nearly scoffed and said “No we’re in Portland! Street cart food!”. That was certainly our favourite part about eating in this city ( sadly I didn’t get any photos) and we were delighted to find parking lots full of these carts all over the city. Portland knows what it’s doing.

We stayed in Slabtown so as you can tell most of the non food cart places we ate at were along 23rd st. This strip of Portland is a little gem, full of adorable shops and, as you’ve seen, places to eat.

An honourable mention goes out to Marrakesh. It was too dark to take photos inside but oh my goodness, it was the best Moroccan food we’ve had outside of Morocco, especially the Pastilla. But be warned, unless you ask you will be expected to eat Moroccan style – with your fingers.

Check back this time next week for a look at some of my fave PDX shops.