Zibas Pitas

In a word — amazing. This was a number of firsts for me: —
1. Food from a Portland cart (and there are a lot to choose from!!)
2. Bosnian food
Truly a wonderful experience and if you get the chance, try it. I am only disappointed that she only opens Monday to Friday until 3.30pm so I will not have a chance to go back before I leave this great city!

We tried Zibas today as our first drop into the Portland Food Cart world. Got a couple different thing to try. Meatballs, Cheese Pita, Meat Pita and more. It was all delicious and you’ll find no friendlier place to have a lunch. Didn’t leave bursting at the seams but pleasantly full.
A wonderful find on our first food cart experience. It has enticed us to try again!

From what I can recall, Ziba’s was my first foray into Bosnian cuisine, & I wasn’t blown away with the introduction.
I tried the four pita combination, composed of several different stuffed «pitas» (similar to Turkish Borek), one with meat, & the others with vegetables and/​or cheese. The pita weren’t bad, but they didn’t do much to excite, either.
What is worth taking away? The sour cream & cucumber salad, a simple side dish with a proper touch of salt, as good as most Raita or the like that your friend’s mother might make.
Perhaps if I were sitting in a friend’s dining room — his mother Ziba placing hot-​from-​the-​oven pita before me – I would have enjoyed my first Bosnian food experience more.

Sometimes I contemplate moving to Portland — the city is great, sure, but the main reason I’d go? Ziba’s.
This place is amazing. I don’t understand how anyone was able to give it four stars, much less three. I realize everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but THOSE OPINIONS ARE WRONG. This place is wonderful — full of flaky, buttery pastry wrapped around succulent fillings, and with a smattering of unctuous side that help create a symphony of flavors.
Yes, a symphony. IN YOUR MOUTH. Go here. Leave happy. No need to thank me.

Made a trip down from the hills today to try Ziba’s after reading lots of good reviews.
I must say that I enjoyed every mouthful of the cheese pita (before I got home) and the meat pita (dinner with a salad later).
They were everything that I’d hoped for — large, tasty discs of comfort food.
Thanks Ziba — I’ll be back!

When I saw Pita in the name, I was expecting a pita… but pita means pie in Bosnian. And their specialty, the burek is nothing like a pita (the bread). It’s actually like a Chinese pan-​fried pancake stuffed with various fillings.
* Beef burek: the Bosnian version is a thick coil of ground beef, potato, onions and spices inside a thin flour/​dough shell. The burek is coiled around a couple of times and pan fried till the golden and a bit crunchy on both sides. It’s really good but (1) could do with a small container of dipping yogurt sauce and or ajvar (if you get it a la carte for $ 5.50, you don’t get the yogurt sauce, if you get the full plate, you get ajvar & a cucumber salad) even with the a la carte version and (2) isn’t as juicy as the Chinese meat pancake and the shell isn’t as good as the Chinese pancake either. Maybe in Bosnia, burek is eaten plain?
The burek menu includes different fillings: cheese, spinach or zucchini. They also had meatballs (cufte). They were out of the cheese version.
Ziba’s is located in a block plus of food stands in downtown Portland. With so many choices, I decided to try something hard to find, Bosnian cuisine. They have two tables on the sidewalk for customers.
Cash only.

My meat pita here was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten.
One of the reasons it tasted so good was that it was totally different from what I expected. When I saw the word «pita,» I expected the usual little bread pocket with ground meat inside. This was quite different; this pita is much more like a meat pie, with flaky dough, crispy but soft, and all the little tunnels inside are filled with delicious perfectly-​flavored ground meat, almost like really tender sausage.
I was ravenous, and it was cold outside, and this totally hit the spot. Next time I’d try some of the vegetarian ones as well.

I wish I could say that I unsuspectingly «bumped» into Ziba’s one afternoon, famished after getting worked like a farm animal in Bar Method class. Nope. I had been scoping them out… for a long time. Before I had even moved to Portland I heard a mention of the Bosnian pita place on NPR, immediately bookmarking their URL.
Pitas, otherwise known as pies, are my most favorite thing in the world to eat and make. I’ve had Bosnian food at one other place (but multiple times) — on the island of Skiathos — where I’ve spent many a summer. There is a Balkan restaurant inside the old school Skiathos Tennis and Leisure Club (not to be confused with a place were old people are ditched) that pumps out some tasty Bosnian pitas and sausages. The food was almost Greek, but more intense in flavor. The majority of Eastern European countries make a form of pita with their national twist to it so it’s always exciting for a pita lover like myself to conduct some investigations.
Ziba’s Pitas is run by the same lovely lady who owns the cart and makes the dough. She makes four versions of pita: two vegetarian, one vegan and one carnivorous. I asked her if she makes pumpkin pitas like they do in Greece during pumpkin season.
«That would be too much extra work!» She responded back with a smile.
I can imagine — making the phyllo dough by hand would be a daily glutton for punishment in itself. But I had to ask. All in all, Ziba’s Pitas are the best pitas I’ve ever had outside of a Greek village. The fact that Ziba is making her own phyllo dough warrants this joint a gem in itself.
I sampled the spinach pita first. Delicious! I was immediately brought back to a small village outside of Delphi where I first ate spanakopita made with handmade phyllo dough, ’cause that’s how they do in the village. Ziba’s pastry is rustic yet delicate with a slight flakiness. The spinach innards were fresh with a balanced amount of salty tang from the accompanying cheeses. I got a weird serial killer look on my face and decided this were I must come at least once a week for the rest of my life.
I also tried the vegan zucchini pita which proved to be even more delicate than it’s spinach sister. I was shocked at the zucchini flavor that came through, since it’s a mild vegetable and usually paired with stronger flavors. It was great to taste zucchini for once! This pita was definitely moister than the spinach which is probably due to the water content of the zucchini. A very delicious pita and I’ll be consuming many of these during my Greek Orthodox fasting days, no doubt!

I’d really like to give this place 4 stars, but I’m going to have to settle for 3. Ziba is a very nice person, and I’m sure that this is just like eating something from a food cart in Bosnia.
The meat pita that I had was so-​so. I think it was made very well, but I just wasn’t a huge fan of the genre (especially considering the many options in that pod there a 9^th and alder). But, you should try it for yourself, because Ziba is very friendly and will help you choose something from her menu that will be authentic and fun.

I’d heard any good things about this cart. I decided it was time for some Bosnian food.
The pitas here are more like pies with flaky crust. I got a meat pita and it had good flavor. It came with some sauce that accompanied the pita well, though it was a little bitter. There was also a cucumber salad that I didn’t care much for, but at least I got some veggies in me.
The pita came out fairly quickly and Ziba herself is nice. I’d get a pita from her again.

This is some seriously hearty and delicious food. It’s a bit heavy and filling — not a bad thing at all, I just wouldn’t plan to run around too much afterwards! My favorite pita is the meat pita. The vegan zucchini option is definitely less rich, flavorful, and fatty than the other options, and I think the cheese and spinach one is a bit bland. I’m no ajvar expert but hers is delicious. The plate combos are a great way to taste a lot of things. My favorite overall dish is the cufte meatballs, with either sauce — although the white one is ridiculously garlicky. If you do get that, make sure to get an order of ustipak and make an amazing mini-​sandwich — so delicious!

This is a 3.5 star review.
I usually don’t think much of a pita place, but the amazing smell coming from this little cart stopped me in my tracks! The scent of the place really is divine. As I was sharing and swapping foods with my friends, I got a meat pita and a spinach pita. Both were exceptionally flaky, had a wonderful texture, and good flavor. Nothing was over or under seasoned, and the price was reasonable. I question that anything could have lived up to the scent of the food, but it held up well enough. When you’re craving a Mediterranean snack, this is definitely a good place to stop.

I’m a huge fan of the food carts — especially the 9^th and Alder ones as they’re a relatively close walk from my Goose Hollow residence. Went this time expecting to get a falafel as I usually do, but opted to give Ziba’s a try as I’ve never had Bosnian food and the pictures looked good.
Phenomenal. Don’t let the «pitas» fool you, it’s not the pita you’re used to from falafels and gyros, this is more like baklava casing: flaky phyllo dough with various fillings.
I don’t eat beef, and they have no chicken options, so I opted for the vegetarian ones: the sirnica (eggs, feta, sour cream, cottage cheese) and the zeljanica (eggs, spinach, cottage cheese, sour cream). You can get the full plate, which comes with a cucumber-​sour cream salad and ajvar (sort of a pureed vegetable sauce flavored like hot sauce, great for dipping the pita), with two different pitas rather than just one for an extra quarter, might as well if you’re trying this cuisine for the first time.
Anyway, the sirnica was great, and the zeljanica even better. Like spanikopita, but much more filling, and the spinach is more of a supporting cast member, rather than the star. The «cottage cheese» didn’t seem like typical cottage cheese from American culture, kind of how paneer is regularly called «cottage cheese» but really isn’t. Quite delicious though.
The ajvar was great as well, sort of a hot sauce flavor — although not spicy — but really thick and substantial for a dipping sauce. The cucumber salad, just diced cukes with a yogurt/​sour cream kind of sauce on the top, was a perfect accompaniment to the rich pitas.
At south of $ 6 for the whole thing, comes with a high recommendation. I’ll definitely return in the near future.

YAY BOSNIAN FOOD
I’ve been eying this food stand to open up since the first day I arrived in the city, but its fickle hours has always left me disgruntled and hungry. Finally on the day I was leaving Portland, I managed to catch its window open during the busy weekday lunch hour.
$ 5 spinach pita
This makes for a great snack! The melted cheese melds really great together with the cooked spinach and scrambled egg. The pita was soft and flakey.
my gripe: too much yogurt sauce on everything else
There are 2 small tables and 4 chairs for seating. Otherwise, take your food to Pioneer Square.

When I read «pita» in the name of this place, I never thought I’d get the version served to me today. The pitas come in a flaky homemade bread with a choice of various fillings. I got the meat (I think sausage) and zucchini combination (pick any two pitas and get half of each) plate. The plate adds on a cucumber and yogurt (or some similar sour dairy product) and ajvar, which is some of the best I’ve ever had.
Lots of food for $ 5.95 and comes out the window very quickly! The woman (Ziba, perhaps?) behind the window is very sweet.

OMG I’ve never had Ajvar this good. Never.
I finally made it by this little Bosnian cart the other day, but I wasn’t in it for the full meal deal. I had a lunch to go to and speak at, but I hadn’t eaten breakfast yet. I needed a little food in my belly to get me through my event, and I happened to be standing in front of the carts. While reading the menu looking for a workable side, the proprietor beckoned me in. After some negotiation as to what she could offer me that wouldn’t overload me, I settled upon a side of? (can’t remember the name — fried fluffy bread balls) with Ajvar and some sort of white cheese for dipping. 2 large bready balls with these two dips = $ 2.5.
I sat down at her little outside table and tore into my little fluffy balls of joy. The bread was good. Tasty. Fried. Fried bread is so good. The highlight? Dipping sauces. Delicious, amazing Ajvar, and some spot on white cheese (cross between cottage cheese and cream cheese? Not sure. It was delicious. I scarfed. Literally. I blew through that food so quickly, and it took all I could do to keep from licking the little sauce/​cheese containers clean.
I’ll definitely be back to try the stuffed pitas. They look like nothing I’ve ever had before.
Bosnian food. Who’d have guessed? Good stuff tho.

I work up on the south side of town so lunch at this United Nations Food Cart Plaza of The World is a rarity. I responded to a «let’s meet for lunch downtown» with «how ’bout the carts on Alder between 9^th and 10^th?»
I’d heard about the Bosnian meat/​filo/​waffle thing so, we ordered 1 meat, 1 spinach, full plates. Wow! a hearty lunch indeed! The full plate comes with a cucumber/​yogurt salad and a flavorful red pepper paste for smearing on the filo waffle with every bite. Nice.
Added bonus was 50 cents off for bike riders (or your own plates) so it was $ 6 even. (I’m glad she spoke up, I wheely like reductions for cyclists.)
It only took me ten minutes to ride down there. With the nice weather here, I’ll do it again.

I was excited to try Bosnian food for the first time! The cute guy behind the counter (+ .5 star) was super nice (another + .5 point). He helped me pick out a combo meal. I devoured it in record time and liked it, but found it to be too salty. I might try it again it hopes they were having an off day.

This food cart is really delicious. About $ 6 for a Pita meal (not what you think — here is what Bosnian Pitas look like
) — if you want the «full meal» you get some cucumber salad and ajvar — look it up if you don’t know what that is. They had 4 varieties of pita: meat, cheese, spinach, zucchini.
I tried the meat, cheese and spinach ones. and the spinach was my favorite.
They also carry meatballs in white or red sauce.
Here’s the thing, it’s Bosnian food.
What IS Bosnian food– i don’t know– but this was a very delicious cart and the lady is super nice.

Well, *munch munch* it’s not a pita *munch munch* it’s some kind of *munch* segmented pocket thingie.
*gulp*
Pretty damned good.
Good to go, too. Got back to work, the crust (filo?) wasn’t soggy a bit. Should have got a pop, tho.