Portland's Food Truck Heaven: How a New Kind of Fast Food Brings Jobs, Flavor, and Walkability

[marmar]

from YES! magazine:


Portland's Food Truck Heaven: How a New Kind of Fast Food Brings Jobs, Flavor, and Walkability
Immigrants and other restaurant workers get a way to rise in local economies. Communities get the best fast food they've ever had.

by Abby Quillen
posted Jan 17, 2014




At noon on a sunny day in Portland, Ore., in what not long ago was a vacant lot, customers roam past brightly painted food carts perusing menus for vegan barbeque, Southern food, Korean-Mexican fusion, and freshly squeezed juice.

The smell of fried food and the tent-covered seating bring to mind a carnival, but a number of Portland's food carts take a healthy approach to street food. The Big Egg, for instance, serves sandwiches and wraps made with organic farm-fresh eggs, balsamic caramelized onions, and arugula. Their to-go containers are compostable, and next to the order window is a list of local farms where they source their ingredients.

"We don't have a can opener. We make everything ourselves, so it's very time-consuming. And that's the way we want it," says Gail Buchanan, who runs The Big Egg with her partner, Emily D. Morehead.

The Big Egg usually sells out, says Buchanan as she hands a customer the last sandwich of the day, one made with savory portobello mushrooms. And on weekends, customers form a line down the block, willing to wait up to 45 minutes for their food. ...............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.yesmagazine.org/issues/how-to-eat-like-our-lives-depend-on-it/portland-s-food-truck-heaven

[grasswire]

1. but the rain makes eating outside less than comfortable. nt

[MurrayDelph]

6. Very true

the first time I ate there was about a year ago, when I had the day to kill in Portland with no transportation. I ended up eating at a pretty-good sausage place in the truck park because they had a couple of stools and an awning to sit under.

I went back a few months ago (with my own transportation) and had an excellent Cuban sandwich.

[Bluenorthwest]

2. Portland has a great food scene, probably the best in the country.

Curated, cooked and crafted with care....

[MineralMan]

3. Lots of food trucks in the Twin Cities, MN, but

not in the Winter months. Besides the downtown food trucks, we also have a number of taco trucks elsewhere. Excellent!

[KurtNYC]

4. "a way to rise in local economies" = $80,000+ for the truck

I love food trucks but the owners are gambling with big dollars. In my way of thinking, people who $70 to $120K to spend on a food truck have already "risen" in their local economy.

In addition to the truck, most must have a food prep and storage facility (eg deal with a restaurant). The trucks have less than 40 gallons of water on board and that ain't much for washing hands, utensils and anything else that needs washing. They can't wash plates and utensils so the huge diesel burning trucks are full of single-use paper products -- the article sells that as eco-friendly "walkability".

80% of the expenses of running a restaurant but no revenue from booze or delivery. It isn't as easy as they make it sound.

[1000words]

5. My only complaint is the aggressive panhandling

Seriously. Some have even taken it upon themselves to band together and demand payment from cart owners, to insure customers won't be harassed.

[flying rabbit]

7. PDX food trucks.

I used to live downtown and lived off of those things. I love this town.