Two Killer New Food Cart Pods to Get Excited About

Two new food cart pods are on the horizon, including one that’ll be home to more than 20 carts and micro-restaurants. So perhaps for every Portland food cart pod that closes, a new pod really does open? Here’s the scoop:

Collective Oregon Eateries

Setting up on a 36,000-square-foot property formerly home to Farm House Restaurant, Collective Oregon Eateries, or CORE, will be a humungous food cart pod and food hall expected to open in fall 2018, according to WWeek. It’s opening on SE 82nd Avenue (3612 SE 82nd Ave.) just south of Powell Boulevard.

Outside, there will be around 15 food carts, and indoors, nine micro-restaurants take over a 8,500-square-foot space. A patio and parking are also in the works.

Collective Oregon Eateries comes from the owners of Southeast Powell’s OM Seafood Market and Restaurant — one of the top Chinese restaurants in the city — including Mandy Kao and Henry Ho. The new pod’s food offerings will likely represent cuisines from around the world.

The Whale Food Cart Pod

In July, food cart owners at The Cubby Hole Station pod, located on NE 15th and Alberta, learned they had to be out by September 1, and at least some of the carts have found a new home. Gumba co-owner Jesus Martinez tells Eater his cart will close on August 28 to relocated to a new pod called The Whale, located just up the street at NE 23rd and Alberta.

“If everything goes as planned, we'll be open by Last Thursday,” he says.

The O reports former Cubby Hole Station food cart Bibingka and a Le Tap beer garden are also opening at The Whale. And hotspot DesiPDX is also on the move: It’s leaving Cubby Hole Station for Mississippi Marketplace.

• Southeast 82nd is Getting a Huge Food Hall and Cart Pod [WWeek]
• Portland restaurant and bar news: 10 things you need to know this week [Oregonian]