Eat Outside Guide

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VOL 47/27 05.05.2021

NEWS: LANDLORDS GET GHOSTED. P. 8 SCHOOLS: NO SYMPTOMS, NO TEST. P. 9 SPORTS: DAME TIME IS RUNNING OUT. P. 23

WILLAMETTE WEEK PORTLAND’S NEWSWEEKLY

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Ways to Dine Al Fresco in Portland This Summer (and Right Now).

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The

Eat Outside Guide

Ice Queen Owner Rebecca Smith

AARON LEE

THE EAT OUTSIDE GUIDE 16 WAYS TO DINE AL FRESCO IN PORTLAND THIS SUMMER (AND RIGHT NOW).

Eating outside is one of life’s simplest pleasures.

Right now, it’s also the law.

A week ago, another surge in positive coronavirus tests across Oregon prompted Gov. Kate Brown once again to impose harsher restrictions on businesses in 15 counties, including completely shutting down indoor dining in Portland. This time around, restaurants and bars were allowed to increase their outdoor seating, but that’s hardly stopped owners from arguing that their industry has shouldered a disproportionate share of the economic burden during the health crisis.

Whether or not the science supports such strict measures, all the grousing has obscured a plain truth: Nothing tastes better than a meal enjoyed in the open air.

It’s a fact anyone who’s ever bitten into a juicy pub burger on a sunny bar patio, pulled a perfectly grilled hot dog off a smoking camping stove, or given themselves brain freeze while licking a popsicle with their feet in the river would not dispute.

But when it’s mandated by the state, well, that can take the fun out of anything.

That’s why this issue, in which we’ve rounded up 16 of the city’s best al fresco dining experiences, isn’t just a guide to the only ways to eat in public at the moment. It’s also meant as a reminder of just how satisfying eating outdoors can be—and how, during a warm Oregon summer, it becomes something bordering on magical.

Of course, that includes food carts, long one of Portland’s main cultural exports, which have experienced a COVID-spurred renaissance and where you can find everything from poke bowls to Himalayan dumplings to vegan soul food to our current obsession, smash burgers. And it also includes patios, which, in certain cases, completely transformed some of the city’s best restaurants during the pandemic. But it’s also more mercurial experiences, like munching a “pickle on a stick” in the stands of a collegiate baseball game, or being in the right place at the right time to procure a Choco Taco from the ice cream boat off Sauvie Island— possibly while naked.

A lot has been made of the damage done to the Portland food scene, and the recovery will be long.

But there is still plenty of joy to be found—you just have to go outside.

—Matthew Singer, Arts & Culture Editor

VEGAN POPSICLES AT ICE QUEEN You need only to scroll through Ice Queen’s Instagram feed to understand why there’s always a line outside the Stark Street vegan popsicle stand—you’d be hard-pressed to find cuter frozen treats in Portland, vegan or otherwise.

After two years of pop-ups, owner Rebecca Smith opened her first brick-and-mortar last summer in the former Scapegoat tattoo shop. Now, Ice Queen serves its unique flavors from a pink-framed window inside its storefront, right across from the large grass field of Revolution Hall, aka the former Washington High School.

The pastel-hued She’s in Parties is dotted with sprinkles and contains a hidden slice of birthday cake, the Partners N’ Cream has whole cookies visible through the soy milk base, and the lip-puckering Lime All Yours comes with a tiny bottle of Tajin chile flakes.

Each popsicle looks so joyful they could gain a following on appearance alone.

But what’s really kept people coming back is that Ice Queen’s wares are as good as they are ’Grammable. The water-based fruity flavors are tart and refreshing, and the soy milk pops are creamy but not overly rich and never saccharine, thanks to a slight saltiness that complements the sweet. The slight salinity makes it taste a little like a grown-up version of the Ziploc-bag homemade ice cream you’d try making as a kid.

That’s really what makes Ice Queen so appealing—it’s nostalgic, but way better than what you had growing up.

SHANNON GORMLEY.

™

FREEZE FRAME: Ice Queen owner Rebecca Smith.

1223 SE Stark St., icequeenyouscream.com. 11 am-7 pm Friday-Saturday, 11 am-6 pm Sunday.

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AARON LEE

PORTLAND’S BEST CHICKEN SANDWICH IN A SOUTHEAST PORTLAND PARKING LOT

Which came first: Jojo’s fried chicken sandwich or its Instagram account? Obviously, that’s not an entirely rhetorical question.

But two years after arriving on the scene, it’s hard to tell if owner Justin Hintze’s Dril-like social media presence drove Portland to his food cart or if the cart helped boost his social media presence.

In either case, Hintze, a former real estate agent, is now poised to become one of the new leaders of Portland food post-pandemic, and no amount of goofy Instagram captions would’ve helped if the grub didn’t match the hype. (Although the captions are still pretty great. A recent example: “jojo is good for bones. teeth bones, leg bones, baby bones. skeletons love this shit [they have lots of bones].”)

The aforementioned signature Southern fried chicken sandwich was a classic the second the inaugural batch came out of the fryer: equal parts crispy and juicy; topped with vinegary coleslaw and a not-so-secret sauce of ketchup and Duke’s Mayo; big enough to bulge the eyes without forcing you to unhinge your jaw.

A brick-and-mortar is coming to the Pearl in summer proper, but for now, you can get it from a sky-blue cart tucked in the back of a gravel pit in a parking lot off Southeast Powell Boulevard, next to the newish John’s Marketplace beer emporium. It is, admittedly, not the most attractive pod in town, but there are few trips as essential. MATTHEW SINGER.

™ 3582 SE Powell Blvd., 971-331-4284, jojopdx.com.

11 am-9 pm daily.

TIM SAPUTO

POKE BOWLS AND SOFT-SERVE ALONG THE SANDY RIVER

Way back in the day, like in the 1920s, taking a drive on the Columbia River Highway was the thing to do.

And any good drive ended with a nice dinner at a “roadhouse.” The Multnomah Hazelwood drive-in served ice cream from the Hazelwood Cream Co. at a spot near Multnomah Falls. The Chanticleer Inn made a creamed chicken dinner to die for, until it burned down in 1930.

Here’s an update on that tradition: Hop on your bike and ride up the bike path on Marine Drive toward downtown Troutdale for afternoon poke bowls and soft-serve.

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In 2018, Emily Cafazzo and Ryan Domingo, two industry vets, opened the charmingly retro Sugarpine Drive-In at Glenn Otto Community Park, right along the banks of the Sandy River, and immediately drew Moda Center-sized crowds. And recently, the pair bought the site of Shirley’s Tippy Canoe, which, like the Chanticleer, burned to the ground last year.

The Sugarpine Roadhouse, as they’re planning to call it, won’t be ready until 2022. Until then, though, they’re trying out recipes at Da Pine Grinds, a food truck across the parking lot from Sugarpine.

The focus is Hawaiian food: Domingo’s family is from Kauai, and his brother Darrin runs the grill.

There’s kalua pork with pineapple barbecue sauce, beef short ribs and char siu cauliflower, but the early recommendation is the ahi shoyu poke, which places a generous helping of marinated tuna alongside cucumber, edamame, scallion, daikon, shoyu and ginger over rice. Add in a P.O.G.—a frozen mixture of passion fruit, orange, and guava juice that beats the hell out of Gatorade after a long ride—then take your food to an oversized picnic table above the Sandy and, boom, a perfect afternoon.

Want to make it more perfect? Hit Sugarpine afterward for ice cream, ideally the Larch Mountain, a literal peak of vanilla-chocolate swirl surrounded by blondie chunks and capped with purply blueberry-lavender sauce. You’ll need the extra fuel for the ride home, especially if there’s a headwind (and there’s always a headwind). ANTHONY EFFINGER.

™ 1208 E Historic Columbia River Highway, Troutdale. 11 am-3 pm Tuesday-Friday.

PICKLE ON A STICK (AND IN A SANDWICH, IN A GLASS AND À LA CARTE) AT PORTLAND PICKLE GAMES

There’s just something about a hot summer day at the ballpark that makes a person crave lactic acid.

Starting this June, as their thighs stick to the fiberglass seats at Walker Stadium in Lents, Portland Pickles fans can now chomp down on—you guessed it—a pickle.

Not just any old brined cucumber, but the Great West League collegiate baseball team’s first official pickle.

And not just a lone cucumiform straight from the jar: This season, the Portland Pickles have partnered with Wickles Pickles, a century-old Alabama pickler, to sell pickles on a stick, pickle chips, even “pickletinis.” The deck behind home plate will even be converted into the “Wickles Pickles Party Deck” to offer various pickle-related tastings throughout the season.

“We want to make pickles a staple in ballpark food,” says Ross Campbell, the team’s general manager. “It’s an amazing snack that most people don’t think to eat, but if everyone around you is snacking on it, you’ll want to see what the fuss is about.”

It’s such an obvious concept, it’s worth asking what the heck took so long. The process of naming an official pickle for a baseball team whose identity is a pickle is a monumental task. But Campbell said the decision to go with Wickles was easy.

“They’ve dedicated their lives to pickles,” he says. “We don’t know how to make pickles that well, but we know how to play as the Pickles.” MEIRA MEGAN GEBEL.

™ Walker Stadium, 4727 SE 92nd Ave., #4601. See portlandpicklesbaseball.com for schedule.

AARON LEE

A PHILLY-MEETSPUERTO RICO FUSION AT ONE OF PORTLAND’S BIGGEST NEW CART PODS Papi Sal’s is the must-try jawn at one of Portland’s biggest, newest jawns. Its signature item? The Jawn.

Confused? In Philadelphia, “jawn” is an all-purpose slang term, used indiscriminately for any place or thing.

In the case of the preceding sentence, those things would be, respectively, a food cart, a cart pod and a sandwich.

Owner John Hatch, who opened Papi Sal’s at the huge new Collective Oregon Eateries food cart pod on Southeast 82nd Avenue off Powell Boulevard in late February, is a Philly native of Puerto Rican heritage, and the Jawn—as in the sandwich—takes cues from both food cultures. It’s pulled lechon, slow-cooked in sweetish barbecue sauce, with toppings that nod to both Philadelphia’s Italian-style roast pork (sharp provolone, “long hot” peppers) and PR cuisine (sofrito mayo, sazón on the long hots, chicharrones).

The real star, though, may be the sesame sandwich rolls, which Hatch bakes daily in the truck and are influenced by two South Philly-New Jersey institutions, Sarcone’s and Liscio’s, as well as Hatch’s local growing up, Conshohocken Italian Bakery.

There’s much more to eat at Papi Sal’s, including a sazón hot fried chicken sandwich and also much more to the CORE: Hatch’s neighbors include The Drip’N Crab, Jas Kitchen and Breakside Brewery’s “Winnebeergo.”

The pod is also planning an onsite bar, a farmers market and a thrift market. An official grand opening jawn is set for June. JASON COHEN.

™ 3612 SE 82nd Ave., papisalfoodcart.com. 4-8 pm Wednesday, 1-7 pm Thursday, noon-7 pm Friday, noon-8 pm Saturday, 11 am-7 pm Sunday.

M A R Y E M I LY O ’ H A R A

CHOCO TACOS (POSSIBLY WHILE NAKED) ON THE BEACH AT SAUVIE ISLAND Contrary to popular belief, the Sauvie Island ice cream boat is not an urban legend.

It’s very real, and anyone who remains unconvinced of its existence has just never been at the right place at the right time, according to Scott Wessa, who runs it.

“If the weather is above 80 degrees on a Saturday or Sunday,” he says, “we’re there.”

For over 17 years, Wessa operated a fleet of ice cream trucks across Clark County in Washington.

Somewhere along the line, he started to notice a trend: Sales boomed in spring and early summer, but dropped off once the weather started really heating up. It wasn’t until one particularly hot summer, in 2009, when he and his wife, Kim, decided to take their business out on the open water, in a red, 17-foot fishing boat, to test their luck.

They found an untapped market of eager buyers.

From then on, the Sweet Tooth Ice Cream Boat became a summertime staple on the shores of Sauvie Island.

“Anytime we pull up now, it’s like you’ve never seen someone happier than getting an ice cream cone on the beach,” Wessa says.

If the forecast looks good, Wessa will start packing up the goods the night before—strawberry shortcake, bubblegum swirls, Nestlé Drumsticks, mango and coconut fruit bars—along with dry ice. The next day, he’ll load the boat around 10 am, drive to the ramp at Ridgefield State Park and be out on the water slinging ice cream from 2 to 6 pm.

Over the past decade, the Wessas have solidified their route. The first stop is Reeder Beach, on to Willow Point, and then Collins Beach, which is clothing

optional. (One Twitter user recalls swimming out to the boat naked to grab a Choco Taco.) On particularly nice days, they’ll do the route more than once. You’ll hear them coming: The boat is outfitted with a speaker that plays traditional, chiming ice cream truck music.

Wessa has since sold off his truck fleet and doesn’t rely on ice cream to make him money anymore. Hauling ice cream up and down the Columbia is laborious, and Wessa has since moved on to other ventures. So if you can spot him, consider yourself lucky.

“It’s a lot of work. We mostly do this to make people happy,” he says. “Our business now is other people. It’s fun for us and fun for the customer.”

MEIRA MEGAN GEBEL.

TEXAS BBQ AND SLUSHY COCKTAILS AT THE BEST CART POD IN THE CITY It’s a worn-out cliché, but let’s please cringe through it one more time: Prost Marketplace is the superteam of Portland food cart pods.

What else do you call a spot that was already the best German beer bar in town, then added the best Texas barbecue, followed by the best breakfast sandwiches (Fried Egg I’m in Love), a spinoff of the best tacos in Vancouver (Little Conejo), and maybe the best smash burger (Burger Stevens) in a city now overstuffed with them?

It’s downright unfair. But while the pod has really fortified its bench in the last year or two, the MVP remains its first big get: Matt’s BBQ. At this point, pitmaster Matt Vicedomini might be better known as one-third of another Portland food superpower, Thai fusion world-beater Eem, but the vintage trailer that bears his name retains a special kind of magic, cranking out perfectly smoky ribs, pillowy soft pork belly and brisket so succulent it made Texas Monthly’s barbecue editor cry.

All of this, naturally, pairs perfectly with a giant glass boot filled with a rare Kölsch from the adjoining bier hall. On a particularly sweltering summer day, though, cocktail cart Bloodbuzz emerges as the sixth man of the Prost roster. Get the Instant Crush, an extra-slushy take on a Paloma spiked with tequila and Steigl radler.

MATTHEW SINGER.

™ 4237 N Mississippi Ave. Matt’s BBQ open noon-8 pm daily.

Bloodbuzz open 8 am-10 pm daily.

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AARON LEE

CHICKEN WINGS AND RICE WITH SEAWEED GLITTER AT A HOUSE-TURNEDBAR ON MISSISSIPPI

If you’re looking to ease back into an IRL social life, eating crispy chicken wings and sipping on a mango slushie on the patio at Psychic Bar is about as close as you can get to feeling a party vibe without going to an actual house party.

For one thing, it’s at an actual house—a converted Victorian in the heart of the Mississippi bar district.

And there’s even a DJ on weekends.

But chef Diane Lam’s wings are festive enough on their own. After the pandemic claimed her gig as the chef de cuisine at Revelry, Lam pivoted first to a summer pop-up, Sunshine Noodles, where she created tasty bowls of Phnom Penh noodles and bo kho, then launched Prey + Tell, a takeout-only wings and rice project.

Now, Lam’s brought her perfectly crispy, gluten-free, Cambodian-style wings to Psychic’s ample outdoor space. Even though they’re great at home, those flats and bats are obviously at their finest freshly delivered to your table and paired with her aromatic ranch or lime Buffalo sauce.

On the side, go for fries or a few jasmine rice packs wrapped in banana leaf, including one topped with edible seaweed glitter.

Pair them with a highball with lemongrass and palm sugar or an old fashioned made with cardamom and mango-infused Old Forester Bourbon to keep the party going.

ANDREA DAMEWOOD.

™ 3560 N Mississippi Ave., 971-220-1997, preyandtell.com.

4-11 pm Wednesday-Sunday.

TWO SMASH BURGERS ON SOUTHEAST STARK STREET “You can keep your bistro burgers,” the Damned once sang on “Smash It Up.” OK, that’s not the lyric. But as you’ve probably heard or read, pandemic Portland has more smash burgers than doughnuts these days.

Two of 2021’s contenders, Monster Smash Burgers and MidCity SmashBurgers, opened up at almost the same time, separated by 35 blocks of Southeast Stark.

Respective owners Rico Loverde and Mike Aldridge are both longtime restaurant vets transforming tiny balls of ground beef into crispy, almost wafer-thin Maillard reactions on a bun, and both carts also do a vegan Beyond Burger version. Otherwise, there are 14

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more differences than similarities.

Monster Smash took over the former Monk’s Deli cart at Belmont Station bottle shop and biercafe.

Outdoor seating is either on the back porch or the sidewalk, and Laurelhurst Park is just six blocks away. The OG Smash Burger comes on a lofty Dos Hermanos brioche bun, with two 2.5-ounce patties of local grass-fed 80/20 beef from Fulton Provisions.

The housemade pickles lean toward spicy bread and butter, while Loverde’s “Monster Sauce” is in the classic Thousand Island style—mostly ketchup and mayo, with yellow mustard and seasonings.

At MidCity, the cheeseburger is more fast food style—including the price—but very much an elevated package. The bun is old-fashioned Franz, while the 80/20, 2-ounce patties from St. Helens Beef are

grain-fed, which does make a more toothsome smash, with lots of crispy char. Pickle and onion are not on the sandwich itself but rather Aldridge’s remouladelike “smash sauce,” which has 13 ingredients, none of them apparently ketchup given the shock-white color.

Wednesday nights at MidCity are “Smashy Hour,” with a weekly discount—the most recent was buy five, get one free—and 15% of sales going to an Asian American and Pacific Islander nonprofit. The vibe in the shared parking lot is definitely a party: two outdoor speakers blasting tunes, families and couples eating their burgers while sitting on station wagon tailgates, and obligatory selfies with the cart’s mascot, Smashy.

Because of course. JASON COHEN.

™

MidCity SmashBurger, 1015 SE Stark St. 4:30-7 pm Wednesday, noon-6 pm Thursday-Sunday. Monster Smash at Belmont Station, 4500 SE Stark St., belmont-station.com/monster-smash.

Noon-6 pm daily.

AARON LEE

GLUTEN-FREE CHICKEN AND HIMALAYAN DUMPLINGS AT ALBERTA’S BEST KEPT SECRET Bantu Island is a no-frills pod experience.

Decorated with asphalt and chain-link fences, the pod emphasizes a variety of quality food options and unfussy seating.

Most stalls have a couple of ragtag seats in front of their carts where customers can gather, but the main watering hole is toward the back of the lot by ThiccBoi, a 6-month-old cart serving gluten-free fried chicken.

ThiccBoi “breads” tenders and wings with cornstarch and rice flour. The gluten-free mixture makes for more of a crisp than a crunch—think Pringles, not Kettle Brand—and will please diners on either end of the gluten-tolerance spectrum.

While waiting for chicken (and there is a wait), podgoers have a new appetizing option: the Momo Master. To try all of the titular Himalayan dumplings, get the “Plattery,” a sampler of the three styles the cart offers. When your steaming paper box arrives, it’s momo roulette to see if you’ll get pork, beef, or veggie.

The cart lists its meat sources alongside its coffee origins, but the veggie dumplings made with Impossible Burger aren’t to be missed. They’re generously packed into chewy dough folded like a fishtail. The sweet curry edge waits to be cut with the bright sesame oil tomato chutney that comes with it.

ELIZA ROTHSTEIN.

™ 1533 NE Alberta St. 11 am-9 pm daily.

THAI DRINKING SNACKS AT PORTLAND’S ONCE MOST EXCLUSIVE RESTAURANT Langbaan was once a quiet place—a spot where in-the-know diners would wait up to six months for one of Portland’s most elusive prix fixe meals, then sit in hushed reverence when it finally arrived in front of them.

Now, dishes from that same exclusive Thai kitchen are accessible in broad daylight: on the street, à la carte, and without a reservation. Since July, when pandemic restrictions forced Langbaan and sibling PaaDee to build an outdoor dining space, their patio footprint has ballooned to include sectioned-off open-air “rooms” that sprout off the main deck, plus two-top tables beside an urban symphony of motorcycle vrooms and ambulance wails on East Burnside.

The kanom krok—crisp, sweet, soupy scallop poppers that were once the amuse-bouche of the private dining experience—can now be had simply by swinging by and ordering a six-pack. It’s just one of Langbaan’s “drinking snacks,” small bites at the front of the menu that presuppose you’ll be getting alcohol.

And you will: perhaps a Paadee Colada Slush-

ie—sour, with umbrella, and properly textured ice crystals that require enough suction to draw them through the cardboard straw. Or maybe the smoky Adult Thai Tea, which comes frothed, looking like freshly juiced carrot but tastes more like a milkshake.

ELIZA ROTHSTEIN.

™ 6 SE 28th Ave., 971-344-2564, langbaanpdx.com. 3-10 pm Wednesday-Sunday.

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AARON LEE

SONORAN DOGS AT A TINY NORTH PORTLAND HANGOUT

Hot dogs are thought of as the quintessential American food—but once you’ve had a Sonoran dog, it’s hard to go back to the sports stadium frankfurter you’re probably used to.

A staple of the northwestern Mexican state its named after and the bordering state of Arizona, it’s distinguished by the spiral of bacon that wraps the meat, toppings that can include (but are not limited to) jalapeños, pinto beans and tomatoes, and a sweet, pillowy, baguettestyle bun.

Somewhat surprisingly, given how thoroughly other Latin American street foods, such as birria, have infiltrated the city, it’s hard to find Sonoran dogs in Portland—making it even more surprising that one of the places you can get them is a neighborhood bar in the Humboldt area.

They’ve been on the menu at Red Fox, the friendly watering hole across from Mississippi Records and behind the Cherry Sprout co-op, for years but now make even more delicious sense since the bar expanded its seating into the tiny adjoining green space (where it normally holds its annual New Year’s Day fish-tossing contest).

Do the dogs, which come dressed in mayo and crema and dusted with cotija cheese, measure up to those you’ll find most plentifully in Tucson? Close enough. An d for the totally uninitiated, it’s downright revelatory.

MATTHEW SINGER.

™ 5128 N Albina Ave., 971-279-2635, redfoxpdx.com.

3-11 pm daily.

ONLY ALL-VEGAN CART POD An all-vegan food cart hub in Portland seems like a no-brainer.

But Shady Pines, the city’s first entirely plant-based pod, got a little unlucky with its timing. Launched by the owners of Fatsquatch, the pod planned to open in the Cully neighborhood in spring 2020 after steadily building hype with sporadic soft openings at the beginning of the year.

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For obvious reasons, the official grand opening never happened. And its most unique amenity—a cozy indoor seating area with turquoise walls and wood paneling—has rarely been open over the past year. That doesn’t seem to have hampered the venture, though.

Even on late afternoons in the middle of the week, there’s usually a constant flow of people picking up hearty vegan meals.

That’s partly due to the pod’s mix of established favorites—like Fatsquatch’s sauce-smothered onion rings and Sushi Love’s oyster mushroom-topped Don’t Be Shellfish roll—and intriguing newcomers, like the aromatic, Persian-influenced Safframen.

Arguably the biggest breakout success is

Dirty Lettuce. The Mississippi transplant serves up seitan versions of down-home favorites like barbecue ribs and fried chicken with a rotating array of classic Southern sides.

Even if it’s more for soul food-starved vegans and curious omnivores than hardcore foodies, Shady Pines encapsulates what makes its carts so beloved: plant-based grub that’s rich, filling and unique.

SHANNON GORMLEY.

™ 5240 NE 42nd Ave., instagram.com/shadypinesveganfoodcourt. Hours vary by cart.

BRIAN BURK

PLANT-BASED SOUL FOOD AT PORTLAND’S

MICK HANGLAND-SKILL COURTESY OF BIRRIERIA LA PLAZA

ALL-BIRRIA EVERYTHING IN DEEP EAST PORTLAND The life cycle of food trends in Portland goes something like this: An international comfort food shows up in earnest at a modest food cart or storefront; similar spots pop up and a favorite among the Instagram foodie set emerges; then someone with tattoos and deep pockets sands off the edges and sells it to Portlanders who rarely journey farther east than I-205.

The birria boom is on the cusp of Phase 3— and the persistent traffic jam outside Birrieria La Plaza signals that it’s the chosen one at the moment. Birria is a rich and aromatic consomme that’s used in every step of production at this bright red food truck, located in the parking lot of a neon-green discount store.

Tacos, quesadillas and tostadas are all familiar offerings that gain a new (and messy) dimension of juicy flavor when dipped in the deep red birria.

Load up as many as you’d like à la carte, or go for the Plato La Plaza (includes a mulita) if you’d like to sort out which item pairs best with the broth.

Seating options are limited to a pair of picnic tables and a small shed lined with bar-style accommodations. Glenfair Park is a few blocks away if you’re looking for a more peaceful place to enjoy your platter—but judging by the commotion surrounding La Plaza, it’s clear the birria is all that matters.

PETE COTTELL.

™ 600 SE 146th Ave., tacoslaplaza.com.

10:30 am-7 pm Wednesday-Friday, 9:30 am-7 pm Saturday, 9:30 am-5 pm Sunday.

BUILD YOUR OWN BUFFET AT THE BEST CART POD IN THE ’BURBS Though situated just steps from the Beaverton Central MAX Station, the suburb’s first-ever food cart pod is obscured from immediate view by City Hall—so once you smell the fried food and spot the shiny, candy-colored trucks, it feels like you’ve stumbled across a secret carnival.

In many ways, BG Food Cartel is like an amusement park where the grub is the focus. There’s an assortment of indulgent midway-ready creations, including breakfast sandwiches wrapped in waffles from Smaaken, Thanksgiving dinner stuffed into a crepe at Oh My Crepe, and Fry Bar, a cart devoted entirely to french fries, which come loaded with everything from a threebean cheddar jack chili to roasted marshmallows drizzled in chocolate.

With spots for more than 30 carts, the ever-shifting roster promises variety—pizza, wings, ramen, empanadas, even a healthy rivalry between two pitmasters.

The point, then, is not to limit yourself, but team up and tackle several carts at once. With your collection of cardboard clamshells and to-go bags in hand, find a seat at the patio bar—unlike many pods that simply spring up on an empty parking lot, this one was designed with care, which means there is a parklet carpeted in green turf, a fire pit and an indoor-outdoor bar.

If you’re not entertained by the toddlers attempting cartwheels on the fake grass, the bartender will provide a show, taking orders with the volume and charisma of an auction ringman. His closing-time notice bellowed into the crowd—“Last call for al-keee-hollll!”—drew a round of applause on our most recent visit. It’s probably the only time you’ll ever witness bargoers cheer being cut off. ANDI PREWITT. ™ 4250 SW Rose Biggi Ave., Beaverton, 503-605-9163, bgfoodcartel.com. 10 am-8 pm Monday-Thursday, 10 am-9 pm FridaySaturday, 10 am-7 pm Sunday.

OYSTERS IN A MAKESHIFT BEER GARDEN Finding a robust selection of oysters 90 minutes away from the nearest body of saltwater is quite the task, but Flying Fish Company rises to the challenge.

With over a dozen daily varieties, sourced from Washington, British Columbia, Prince Edward Island and the Oregon Coast, there’s no need to trek west of the Willamette for a fix of buttery, briny, freshly shucked mollusks on a half-shell.

Owner Lyf Gildersleeve has been slinging sustainable seafood since he was stationed in a corner of Providore Fine Foods, and has continued serving some of the city’s best fish and chips, ceviches and clam chowder since expanding to an East Burnside diner last February.

But this summer, the restaurant plans to expand its outdoor patio to include a beer garden and oyster bar, where patrons can partake of individual offerings or flights of six to 12—shucked right there and served raw on ice, with lemon and a bright, peppery mignonette sauce. Until then, Flying Fish’s patio is casual enough you can grab a picnic table and order as you go, tapas style.

The best time to go is in the late afternoon, when the sun remains high in the sky and provides enough warmth to make each slurp as savory and refreshing as it’s intended to be. Be sure to take advantage of the restaurant’s extensive marketplace, and perhaps grab a few fillets of black cod or pieces of scallops to throw on the barbecue later that night. MEIRA MEGAN GEBEL.

™ 3004 E Burnside St., 971-806-6747, flyingfishpdx.com. 11 am-8 pm Wednesday-Monday.

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