PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Xuemei Simard is hard to miss in the window of her food cart on SW Washington Street, where she hand stretches hundreds of noodles each day.
She moved to Portland with her husband Duane in 2016 and cooked up the idea for a food cart serving dishes from her hometown in China. The two met 11 years ago when Duane was teaching overseas.
“I used to go to this stretch noodle place for lunch. The noodles were so good, I asked Xuemei if she could make them,” he said. She eventually went to school to learn the 800-year-old technique of stretching noodles.
“What’s special about the noodle is she makes them very quickly from fresh dough we make every morning,” Duane explained.
They only serve 3 dishes but are often so busy they warn customers it can take up to 20 minutes.
“We can only do 30 or so stretch noodle dishes in an hour, so if you’re in a hurry, reconsider,” he said.
Xuemei said moving to Portland and being met with such success is overwhelming but wonderful.
“People here are very friendly, I really like the customers,” she said. The two hope to open a brick-and-mortar one day, where they will be able to serve additional dishes.
You can find Stretch the Noodle open weekdays for lunch at 232 SW Washington Street.
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