Ala Carts

Was terrible will never come back! Food taste like it came from old freezer! Then had 3 punks sitting at table cursing and smoking right by food carts! Then a homeless man found a baggy and lit up a pipe all while we were eating with our kids! YUCK NEVER WILL GO BACK!

Great Mexican, Salvadoran, Thai, and Korean food carts. I recommend the pupusas at the Salvadoran cart, the tacos de chicarron at the Mexican cart, and the bulgogi at the Korean cart.

Nice little food cart area, just happens to be close to where I work so I go there on my way home sometimes. My favorite is the Thai garden food cart. They have maybe 4 or 5 other ones, one of the Mexican carts is very good as well.

Went to the Authentic Philippine dish. I asked the cook, if everything they have contains soy sauce, she said yes. What’s in soy sauce that you can’t eat? It’s made of soy beans, and I have low thyroid. Anyway, I ordered the pancit special $ 11.00. Contains pancit noodles (two kinds of noodle, the rice see-​through noodles and Japanese style noodles of some sort, 2 lumpia and vegetables (same vegetables used in every menu), and two shisk-​kaboob style chicken pieces. Looks good!
She cooked everything fresh, and put them in a take-​out container, even though we’re eating inside. It was FULL of soy sauce! She could at least asked me if I wanted no soy then, I could add them myself and if I wanted some. It was as dark as the photograph. Husband ordered pork adobo (with the same vegetables) and rice on top of that. The servings are packed, just like mine. It didn’t taste like adobo, the pieces of pork were cut up so you don’t need a knife, bite-​size pieces, which I like, LESS SOY SAUCE, but the meat was tough.
The lumpia were skinny, it was OK, and they were long, but they’ve shrink like the Safeway egg rolls!
They have Halo-​Halo, perfect for summer! This is winter, and we were inside the gazebo with propane heat. When someone comes in the door, they leave the door open, and let the cool air in. Dead lucky bamboos graced one corner cozy table, staring @ us while we eat.
I don’t think we’ll be going back! Those guys give you a lot, they just don’t know how to cook authentic Philippine dish! More like Japanese/​Filipino dish!
I really shouldn’t say something negative about Filipino foods, but I can’t help it! Next time, try to do better!

2 of my favorite carts in all of pdx plus several others that i like. the only cart i wasn’t fond of was the indian cart and thai garden has really slipped since early last year when they were at the top of their game. La cocina De Chepe is the best food cart in this pod and one of the best i’ve been to anywhere and the panuchos at Yucatecos are awesome. Great coffee at the coffee pod and now my next to try and one i’ve never seen anywhere an Ethiopian food cart with tibs for 7or 8 bucks.

Decent selection of food carts. They have Thai Garden (my favorite cart there), two Mexican carts, a Filipino cart (shame their food all have meat, so I can’t try them), an Indian, a new wing place, El Salvadorian (they have awesome pupusas), a coffee cart, burger cart, and cupcake cart. They have lots of outdoor seating and I believe a few of them accept cards. If you don’t have cash, there are three banks nearby. Shame that I’m moving, since this is right across the street from me, and I’m really gonna miss the good food here. You definitely should consider this cart pod if you happen to be in 103^rd and Stark.

I love this food cart pod! Parking is so easy. I have eaten at the indian and thai food carts and the food is great and usually $ 5, which can feed me dinner and lunch the next day! The Thai food place has lots of yummy options including tofu, and fried bananas with honey! love that this pod is never super busy, but that also makes me sad because I want them to stay in business! There are about 5 other carts that look good that I haven’t tried yet, only because I love the Thai and Indian food ones so much!

The reason I give this cart pod only 3 stars is because there are only two carts I really enjoy here, but those two carts I think are FREAKING amazing. Those would be Thai Garden and Taqueria Los Arcos!
Thai Garden, I love because its the best Thai that is close to my work. But it is actually really good, cheap, and they accept debit/​credit, which is awesome for a cart to do. The service is always friendly and fast. I usually order the Pineapple fried rice and ask for it to be a little over cooked. Yumm.
And Taqueria Los Arcos… This place is amazing, probably one of the best Mexican carts I have had in Portland, and I LOVE Mexican food. First of all guacamole, pico, and sour cream are standard on everything. My usual is the bean and cheese burrito w/​o rice. This is fantastic, its whole pinto beans, a giant-​load of cheese, and on your discretion pico, guacamole and sour cream and wrapped in a delicious tortilla. To me that is heaven, and its only $ 3!
In addition to these wondrous carts there are many others, a coffee cart; a Philippine cart, another mexican food cart (Taqueria Yucatecos Antojitos), a noodle cart (The Hungry Dragon) and an indian cart. Which for all likelihood are prolly pretty good food, but I can just never justify not eating at one of the two I mentioned.
Don’t let the fact that these carts are on 102^nd and Washington fool you, they have what you want for lunch!

This little food cart pod is slowly but surely coming up. With a lot of transient carts, and way out on the fringe, it may take some time to solidify. But with a few solid tenants such as Shalimar, Thai Garden, Taqueria Yucatecos Antojitos, Los Arcos and similar, it’s sure to only get better from here.