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1. Chamorro Chicken
Order through Instagram @ramon.cooks.
With stints at Le Pigeon, Crown Paella and Beaker and Flask, Ramon Navarro has a Portland kitchen pedigree. But it was quarantine-driven stagnation that brought out the inspiration to make Guamanian-style Chamorro barbecue chicken. Navarro takes orders on his Instagram, @ramon.cooks, for pickup on Sundays and Mondays. Your $20 gets you half a barbecued chicken juicy enough to do Cardi B proud, a mound of spiced red rice, and a side of finadene, cucumber and onions in a soy and vinegar sauce that perfectly complements the rich, smoky bird.
2. Toki
580 SW 12th Ave., 503-312-3037, tokipdx.com. Dinner served 4-8 pm. Wednesday-Sunday, brunch 11 am-3 pm Friday-Sunday.
At the moment, Toki is for all intents and purposes Han Oak, with a menu that includes both greatest hits and revised versions of other old favorites. But there's also food that chef Cho was not inclined to cook much in the past, including bibimbap and a steamed bao burger, maybe the world's first reheating-friendly cheeseburger. The star item, though, is the Gim-bap Supreme, which takes its inspiration from both Taco Bell and the TikTok "wrap" trend, in which a tortilla is partially cut into four quadrants, topped with four different ingredients, folded into layers, and griddled.
3. Gumba
1733 NE Alberta St., 503-975-5951, gumba-pdx.com. 4:30-8 pm Wednesday, 4:30-8:30 pm Thursday-Monday.
As a food cart, Gumba punched above its weight, serving fresh pastas, handmade burrata and ambitious snacks that made you want to linger at an outdoor table. Now it's a brick-and-mortar in a time of takeout only—but you'll still want to break out the candles, placemats and cloth napkins once you get the food home: No meal in 2020 provided more of a "this feels like we are in a restaurant" frisson than Gumba's beet, cabbage and endive salad, pappardelle with braised beef sugo, pan-roasted steelhead trout, and eggplant olive oil cake.
Read more: Whether Serving Out of a Cart Window or Cardboard Boxes, Gumba Is One of Portland's Finest Pasta Parlors.
4. Noodle Gang
Order via instagram.com/chuckdanger.
Just like his other industry comrades, Isaac Ocejo found himself reeling when his job at Jackknife evaporated and his catering business with his wife also dried up. Ocejo got to thinking about the year he spent working at dearly departed Wafu, learning ramen at the hip of sous chef Jane Hashimawari. When the owners of Jackknife offered the use of their kitchen, he jumped in, making chewy wheat noodles by hand, curing his own pork belly and building out the tare, or flavor base, all himself. Bowls run $20 for pickup, or he'll deliver for an extra $5.
5. Poppyseed
1331 N Killingsworth St., 503-489-7449, poppyseedpnw.com. Noon-8 pm Thursday-Sunday.
What kind of food cart serves a duck country pâté with roasted hazelnuts, cranberries and parsnip purée, and also a grilled peanut butter and jelly sandwich? The kind of food cart started by a trained pastry chef and a Le Pigeon alum. Poppyseed makes fancyish, local and seasonal food that's both takeout-friendly and affordable. The leading player on the menu is brisket, which has been available both as a sandwich or as an entree with a Parmesan potato cake and vegetables.
Read more: A New Food Cart from a Le Pigeon Alum Serves Duck Pate Along With Grilled PB&Js.