Here’s a question I’d never thought I’d be asking: Is CNN better at making “best of” lists than PETA? Why, yes they are!
On Monday the CNN Travel site named Portland as the Best City for Street Food… In the entire fucking world! Yeah! Take that Bangkok! Take that Beijing! We’re number one!
Okay. While I do believe we have an amazing, even world-class, street food scene, I will admit to being slightly skeptical about ours being the best in the world. Still, we’ve got our pods. We’ve got our amazing taco trucks. I’m not complaining.
Funny thing, though: I’m blogging from LA, and every time I strike up a conversation with people down here and the topic turns toward food, they’re all, “There are so many food trucks in LA. There’s like 300 or something. We’re so over it.”
Over it? Hell, we’re over 500 mobile food units in the much smaller PDX and we’re barely toeing the line on “over it.” Why do you think that is?
Because our food carts/trucks are quality, often gourmet food service establishments spawned by a down economy and fueled by intense competition, innovation and experimentation.
Theirs, like many things in LA, were a trend that became a fad and were probably never much more than a novelty.
In short: we have NFL, they have XFL.
Sunset magazine says there are over 14,000 taco trucks in Greater LA: http://www.sunset.com/food-wine/fast-fresh…
Well, technically, neither of us have the NFL. But at least we didn’t lose a team to Oakland. Oh wait, this is about food carts.
Portland’s food carts jumped the shark a long time ago. Gourmet? Puh-lease! If I want good street food I’m heading to Mumbai or el D.F.
I think we must beat most places on variety. I’m sure we beat Bangkok or Mumbai on that score. And Bangkok street food made me one sick puppy for 24 hours.
Our quality is across the spectrum. I work downtown between two large pods and eat lunch from them almost exclusively. It’s a pretty sweet amenity.
I think the success of food carts here vs. places like L.A. have a lot to do with the urban environment. It’s far too easy to drive by and miss a great taco truck tucked away in a parking lot than it is to miss our food cart pods walking, biking, or bussing/MAXing by. I’m surprised we’re holding court over NYC in that regard since so few people drive there that barely anyone has their license, so food carts and street vendors get infinitely more business.
@el cubano: Maybe the flip-side of it is that so many people walk there that there’s no damn room on the sidewalks for many food carts.
I think the real question here is: What is the steamed cheeseburger of the week at brown chicken, brown cow?
Food trucks in LA are nothing more than roach coaches. And they have way more than 300 of them. So yeah, I bet they’re totally over them.
jake, I think you’re on to something. I know the cart corral (I’m still pushing that term over “pod”) at 12th and Hawthorne benefits greatly from surrounding beer-serving establishments. Perhaps if more carts were open late at night (and still did not serve beer, as that violates, I’m sure, all sorts of open container laws) it would be a significant boost in the bar industry around town, and vice versa.
Oregometry,
Your football comparison is apt. They’re He Hate Me and we’re Billy “White Shoes” Johnson.
Martin, Thanks for asking! This week’s burger is chunky avocado salsa, local greens and jack cheese. Yummm!