waffles, carts and the portland street

if you live in or have ever been to portland you know that there is a food cart culture here. food lovers with a vision take over little pieces of land, often vacant lots on a street with lots of foot traffic, park a trailer and start making food. i like this for a couple reasons.

1. low risk. the price of starting up a trailer restaurant has to be so so much less than starting a traditional restaurant so this allows for people to actually get into the food game without a trust fund or going into crazy debt. i imagine this brings a diversity to the ownership that you can't find in the regular restaurant business.

2. the carts are cute. having a sweet little cart, some seating and decor filling up a vacant lot on a walking street is brilliant. a neighborhood can blossom without a lot of capital rich developers coming in. it also adds a wonderful vibe to the street to have people working outside, you can wave at them when you walk by. i like that.

3. food container innovation. there are so many more ways to serve food than just on a plate. i particularly love food wrapped in a small piece of paper. little waste, including the water and soap used to clean real plates. plus there is an opportunity for artistic expression.

What do you like about street carts? What are your favorite carts?



this is a waffle from Little Blue Waffle Wagon* near my house. it is beautiful, the ladies who made it were lovely and it tasted supper yummy. there are a few reviews on yelp and they pretty much say it all so I'll pass you over there. *LBWW did have a website I could find. boo!

stay tuned for more reports from the street carts of portland.

*LBWW did have a website I could find. boo!