One of the newest on the soul food scene is this Beaverton brick-and-mortar, which occupies a former Pizza Hut location in the Canyon Place Shopping Center. Inside, owner Ron Thomas started by casting a wide net of burgers, barbecue, pizza, Mexican food, and soul food, but has since scaled things back, cutting the menu down to soul food and burgers. Fried chicken and wings are the main attraction here, served with sides of collard greens and mac and cheese. The fried chicken is also available with waffles — a breast or six wings — served with smoked gouda and drizzled with strawberry habanero syrup. It’s open for dinnertime dine-in service, as well as takeout.

Few side dishes are as reliably crowd-pleasing as mac and cheese — soul food or otherwise. In the Portland metro area, there are countless great places to find a steamy bowl of chewy noodles drenched in gooey cheese. The Mac food cart in Tigard takes these bowls a step or two further, offering everything from typical protein additions such as turkey, bacon, or smoked chicken all the way up to king crab legs (when in season), steak, and brisket. Beyond the noodles, the Mac also serves fried or smoked chicken strips, standalone or in the form or sliders. Seating is minimal in this parking lot on Pacific Highway so be prepared to grab takeout.

Longtime Portlanders are naturally a little wary of Californians bearing gifts, but exceptions are enthusiastically made for Compton’s Trap Kitchen, which has taken Portland by storm in recent years — partially thanks to locals running the kitchen. From the initial East Portland cart to a new downtown location within the Roseland Theater, the inventive soul-fusion of chef Malachi “Spankihana” Jenkins and his acolytes have made old comfort favorites like chicken-and-waffles and catfish-and-fries as exciting to the taste buds as the popular pineapple bowls.

This bright yellow cart has only been in operation since the beginning of 2020, but it has already developed a stellar reputation for its boiled peanuts, catfish, and array of chicken wings. Many visit the cart for her chicken or vegan soy protein wings, be it buffalo bacon ranch or the ATL — Atlanta-style chicken wings in a saucy lemon-pepper glaze. All of the wings are fantastic, but an alternate move here is to go for the knockout smothered chicken in a deep mushroom gravy, with a few sides of collards and mac and cheese. Erica’s recently moved from Southeast 82nd to Northeast Russell — watch out for maps or guides with the old address. With frequent catering bookings, be sure to check the Instagram account before heading over.

Owner Jamie Turner comes from the world of cupcakes, but after some coaxing by friends and family, she decided to open Ja’Das Soulful Eatz in 2014. Customers at the Park the Carts pod on MLK choose from a tight menu, featuring piping-hot lemon pepper wings, cornmeal-fried basa and catfish strips, fried chicken, and shrimp-filled mac and cheese. No visit would be complete without dessert, of course: Turner usually has something tasty behind the window, from sweet potato pie to banana pudding.

This bright vermillion-hued cart sits just off of Killingsworth on Northeast 42nd Ave, where six days a week it slings barbecue ribs and chicken, deep-fried catfish, and a handful of sides, ranging from savory collard greens and smoky-sweet baked beans — plus some peach cobbler to finishing things off. The menu changes from time to time, and the cart moves around to festivals and events, so it’s best to call ahead before heading out to the cart. Limited un-covered outdoor seating is available. When at the usual Killingsworth spot, Verajames is often open late.

Few culinary traditions are so deeply connected to animal proteins as soul food is to pork, chicken, shrimp, and catfish. Some might ask: is vegan soul food even possible? Dirty Lettuce proves the doubters more than wrong, with a dazzling selection of seitan ribs, seitan fried chicken, and konjac root shrimp alongside sides that highlight the rich vegetable-forward side of soul food, including collards, yams, and cauliflower. Carnivores might not find the same exact mouthfeel, but the taste and care that chef Alkebulan Moroski puts into every creation will have many returning for seconds.

This quaint little mobile home sits in the Cully Central food cart pod, where it serves familiar soul food dishes like fried chicken and wings, as well as fried catfish and red snapper, gumbo, and whole racks of sauce-slathered St. Louis-style ribs. Side options include many of the usual suspects (mac and cheese, potato salad), but also a few southern sides not as easily found elsewhere, including cabbage and yams. It is open from Tuesday to Friday. With no dedicated seating, plan to eat in your car or take your meal to go.