Food Carts of Portland Bike Tour: local flavors and stories

In the Ladd's Addition neighborhood is the heart of the original food cart scene and we'll set the scene by trying some of our favorite coffee and discussing our route for the day.

Matt's is one of the ultimate: take Southern US-style barbecue and place it in the best tacos anywhere. (For vegan and vegetarian guests, we'll choose a different but equally awesome first stop!)

In the neighborhood anyway! We'll ride up in the direction of Mt. Tabor (one of four extinct volcanoes within the city's core!) toward another food cart pod, this one the descendant of our dearest departed collections of food cart -- RIP Tidbit. Luckily the carts themselves live on, especially some fun and beautifully executed versions of favorite snacks from our childhood. These are made with sustainable ingredients, interesting and delicious flavor combinations, so we'll sample these and maybe we'll teach you a few new words, too!

Hawthorne Boulevard is part of our hometown story: the heart of all that's delicious, funky, and hippie, a thoroughfare with a street food soul! We'll ride into our personal and the city's foodie history (this goes back over a century!) and stop at a special coffee food cart made in a unique vehicle. Here we'll get some caffeinated beverage (if that's what you like) to begin our day!

Cartopia was the first-ever permanent food cart pod in the city. This one is the epicenter of the food cart craze. We'll talk about how the food cart explosion began (a story told uniquely by us) and visit either Cartopia or its next door neighbor, the Hawthorne Asylum.