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BBQ Chronic Tempeh Ribs, close up
Obvious Confession: I'm a food cart groupie. I grew up eating knishes from hot dog trucks with my grandparents, pretzels from street vendors, and first discovered my love of falafel from the Jerusalem cart on the MIT campus in Cambridge, MA during my college years. Nothing has quite compared since.
And yeah, carts are EVERYWHERE in Portland. This includes my downtown lunch spots like The Whole Bowl, Savor Soup House and Just Thai, your classic taco trucks, an all vegan taco truck, stands at farmers markets like Toddbott's, special stops and stands at events, the cart pod on SE 12th and Hawthorne, and those on other main streets - like the new & all vegan Homegrown Smoker BBQ on NE Alberta. I went on opening day a bit ago, and again this weekend for a vegan tweetup (sorry, twitter speak)!
The obvious favorite -
BBQ Chronic Tempeh Ribs, Smoked Soy Curls, Mac & Cheeze, BBQ Beans & Molasses Corn Bread. $8
Photos by Lucas DeShazer.
The staff is sweet, there are two picnic tables, plenty of room for picnic blankets and! delicious vegan comfort food.
Some highlights: The mac and cheeze is now made with elbows and was really great - it just screamed comfort, the cornbread was sweet and moist and the smoked soy curls were just as fantastic as the first time I tried them.
Check out their operation on NE 23rd and Alberta, Thurs-Sunday, 12pm-8pm, I believe. They're just starting out so be careful about the hours.
In other food cart news, I'm going to finish and post my list of vegan friendly food carts in Portland soon - it's huge!
10 comments:
i can't believe you get all that for just 8 bucks! holy crap! that all looks so good, jess! i think homegrown smoker would be reason enough alone for me to move to portland.wowie.
You get THAT off a food cart?!?! Jeez... I can't get one decent place in Long Beach. Take pity on me. Hmpf!
I hate that I only come to Portland once a year-ish!
Hey--it's not a cart, but I saw yesterday....maybe you've addressed this, and I was only skimming while busy with school. I rode down Williams street yesterday and saw Nutshell, looking open again! Maybe a slightly different location? I couldn't quite tell, I was just so incredulous. I'm not a vegan....but it had excellent food!
is it called the 'cart pod' now?
i liked 'cart village' and 'cart mini mall' more!
and i still can't get over how it's called "chronic".gawd.
sounds awesome. i would love to see that list. and then i will promptly MOVE TO PORTLAND.
I went! I went! And it was awesome....
Thanks all for the nice comments, lovely review and wonderful photos. We are open at 23rd & Alberta in NE Portland. Beginning nest week we will be open Wednesday - Sunday Noon-ish - 8-ish. We thought being open on weekends would be a nice idea.
Many thanks to getsconed, Willamette Week, raven and all the twitter folks who have been great supporters!
See you at the Smoker!
Jeff,Alex, Marrisa, Jared & Clara!
Homegrown Smoker Natural Barbecue is now located on NE 27th & Alberta.
Homegrown Smoker Natural Barbecue is now located at 2700 NE Alberta. Heated, Tented Seating. Drive Thru coming soon.
Winter Hours:
Wed - Saturday 12-7 Sunday 12 - 5
www.homegrownsmoker.wordpress.com
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