Lil’ America, a new food cart pod focused exclusively on BIPOC- and LGBTQ-owned carts, will hold its grand opening from noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, April 1 at 1015 S.E. Stark St. In addition to music, a visit from the PDX Bubble Unicorn at noon, and a drag show at 3 p.m., the event serves as an introduction to the pod’s seven small businesses, including two brand new carts and several that relocated from other pods. Here’s what you’ll find if you drop by the pod today.
Bake on the Run
Take a bite of chef Bibi Singh’s chickpea-potato curry and you’re likely trying the only Guyanese eatery on the West Coast. “That’s from Chile to Alaska,” Bibi’s son, Michael Singh, notes. At Bake on the Run, that curry, a yellow split pea dal or a mix of egg and salted cod come with a side of bake, a semi-sweet puff bread that gives the cart its name. As Michael Singh explains, Guyanese food is part Indian, part African, part Chinese, part Portuguese, “with like nine tribes within the borders, so all the food intermingles.”
The Drip’n Crab
Over the past year, locals have lined up for seafood boils at Bag O’ Crab on Northeast 82nd Avenue, Captain’s Choice in the Lloyd District and the just-opened Sea Crab House in Beaverton. But Shermain Scott’s cart, which first touched down at Southeast 82nd Avenue’s CORE pod, opened before all three, offering saucy bags of crab, shrimp, sausage and hard-boiled eggs. Bibs and gloves are provided, and recommended.
FryBaby
Growing up, Sunny Hatch ate plenty of Korean food, but he also spent time at Popeyes, Church’s and Taco Bell. All of those experiences go into the menu at FryBaby, Hatch’s just-opened food cart, which pairs Korean-style double-fried chicken with sides influenced by both Korea and the American South. Those include bossam greens — collard mixed with deonjang-boiled ham hock and pork shank, a curry gravy with mashed potatoes and house-made kimchi.
Hawker Station
Damian Lillard likes the wings. For many Portlanders, that might be all you need to know about Andy Kou’s cart, which originally opened as Jas Kitchen at the CORE pod on Southeast 82nd Avenue (that’s where Dame dropped by, ordering his wings with Kou’s lemon-pepper sauce). But drop by today and you’ll also find Hong Kong-inspired specials, a peppery steak and eggs, perhaps, and a Singaporean style khao man gai, similar to the famous version at Nong’s, only with a distinct ginger-scallion sauce.
Makulit
Jollibee fans have at least another year to wait until the beloved Filipino chain brings its fried chicken Portland. In the meantime, local chefs are taking matters into their own hands. This new cart, from longtime XLB sous chef Mike Bautista and Xrysto Castillo, serves lumpia, adobo-smothered poutine, fried chicken bites and longanisa-beef burgers from an in-your-face cart with a pink-and-yellow color scheme inspired by a bag of Calbee shrimp chips. “We love Filipino food, but we love junk food too,” Bautista said. “We wanted to make it loud, because Filipino food is loud and spicy and sweet, and we didn’t want to compromise that.”
Los Plebes
The lone holdover cart from back when the pod was still a parking lot, Los Plebes serves regional Mexican dishes with an emphasis on Tijuana-style tacos, plus a real-deal trompo spinning up al pastor. Raul Garcia is the head honcho, loading the side broiler with marinated pork each night, while cousins Emmanuel and Eddie bring different tastes of Mexico to the table via the cart’s Saturday specials, including a recent Yucatecan-inspired cochinita pibil.
Speed-O Cappuccino
Originally found on Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, this bubble gum pink cart is staffed exclusively by queer sex workers and serves espresso drinks, oat milkshakes and an all-vegan menu of corn dogs, vegan smash burgers and sweet fruit tamales. Think of it as a bikini barista with a mission to nourish the LGBTQ community, while increasing visibility for trans and nonbinary Portlanders. “Sex work is like college,” co-owner Dahlia Hanson says of her dancing gig. “You can use it to level up, to strategize and get things you want.”
Read more:
Meet Lil’ America, a new BIPOC/LGBTQ-focused food cart pod
— Michael Russell; mrussell@oregonian.com
