PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — For Portlanders, many of whom live mere minutes away from food carts, it’s no shock that the Rose City has plenty of talented cooks serving high-quality meals on wheels. Apparently, out-of-towners have noticed the bustling food cart scene as well.
Food & Wine magazine just held its inaugural Global Tastemakers, an awards program that asks readers to vote for their favorite culinary destinations based on places they’ve visited within the previous three years.
In the 2023 Global Tastemakers Awards “top food truck city” category, Portland was the No. 1 pick.
“No trip to Portland is complete without sampling one of the city’s hundreds of food trucks,” Food & Wine magazine said. “But let’s clear things up: Food trucks here are actually referred to as food carts. Rather than stand-alone, most carts work together in clusters in what locals refer to as ‘pods,’ making it easy for diners to try a variety of global cuisines — all in one place.”
The magazine also highlighted specific pods, including the Fifth Avenue pod that houses Mexican, Egyptian and Asian restaurants, the Third Avenue pod near Tom McCall Waterfront Park, and the newly-opened Lil’ America pod that features BIPOC and LGBTQ+ chefs.
Additionally, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler declared April Food Cart Month in the city just last year, saying “the over 1,100 food carts in Portland create approximately 3,000 jobs and provide accessible opportunities for entrepreneurs to start and grow businesses, with many food cart owners eventually establishing brick-and-mortar restaurants.”
Other cities that made Food & Wine’s top 10 list of food truck cities were Los Angeles, Austin, Texas, New York and Raleigh, N.C. See the full list here.
Additionally, Portland was voted as the fifth-best city for food overall, the fifth-best for airport food due to the dining options in the Portland International Airport , and the ninth-best for neighborhood restaurants.