Bacon Wrapped Chicken Wings - The Sausage Shack, SW 3rd and Stark

A cold, rainy day in Portland (imagine that) had me wanting to stay close to work for lunch. A cart I've passed just about every day but never bothered to stop at - The Sausage Shack - was open earlier than usual, so I figured I'd see what they had going on.

They have a large flatscreen in a window displaying various menu items, such as burgers, corn dogs, sausages, and the like - and proudly displayed in their window was a trophy claiming them winners of the "2011 Bacon Cup."

The screen faded in and out of various offerings, then, two of my favorite things in one dish: Bacon Wrapped Chicken Wings.

Now, how awesome could that be? I ordered half a dozen. They took about 10 minutes to cook, the sauce choices were "spicy, BBQ, or BBQ spicy" -- I went for the spicy, as I have a preference for savory over sweet.

This gave me ample time to stand watching the flatscreen display all the sinful, heart-attack inducing cuisine they have to offer.

Fries, curly fries, cheese fries, chili-cheese fries, bacon wrapped corndogs, and burgers of various configurations including their "Paul BrOnion Burger" - which features a full pound of meat (beef and bratwurst) - chili dogs, chili burgers... it's quite an extensive menu.

The wings wrapped in bacon were, indeed, a lovely combination. I personally prefer my spicy wings be hot enough to make my scalp sweat. These weren't that spicy, but still quite enjoyable (and I realize not everyone likes their wings as hot as I do) - The breading was subtle, which is always good, and wrapping it in bacon - truly inspired. Mmm. Very nice.

I'm sure I'll be back to try the chili dog or chili burger in the near future, other guilty pleasures I indulge in on occasion... though this seems to be more of a 'late' cart, in that they often aren't open when I go to lunch, but appear to be open in the evenings and late into night and early morning hours - unlike many carts in this pod.

Brunchbox - SW 5th and Oak/Stark - Trial by Fire!

Brunchbox is a cart that's been around a good while and has quite a following (and a recent feature on Eat Street) - Offering ridiculously compiled sandwich goodness in all sorts of varieties. As indicated by the word "Brunch," this cart serves breakfast sandwiches (all day) and lunch.

They're also apparently quite tech-savvy, having a rather impressive website, Facebook, and Twitter presence... no need for me to tell you about their menu when you can see it in all its glory here:
http://brunchboxpdx.com

Naturally, they have a Big Kahuna burger. "That is a tasty burger!"

They offer many sandwiches with "Texas Toast" instead of a standard bun, and you can request it on the standard bun sandwiches, as well.

Speaking of Texas Toast, they do a grilled PB&J with Oregon blackberry jam - which I'm sure many people will find quite intriguing. Another thing of note, this is probably one of the most "kid-friendly" carts there are in Portland -- aside from the PB&J, the "Cheezasaurus Rex" -- A grilled cheese sandwich shaped like a dinosaur, also available as a PB&J.

Probably a good pick for parents bringing their kids out to try out cart food.

Since I love spicy stuff, the Trial by Fire was my pick for today - this thing is LOADED with beef, bacon, lettuce, onions, ketchup, mayo, and - best of all - Secret Aardvark sauce (a habanero based hot sauce local to Oregon)

I sat at my desk dripping this thing off my hands and chin voraciously and had it down in all of about five minutes - putting the sandwich down only twice during the experience -- the Aardvark sauce has that addictive quality of many spicy foods that keeps you craving more and more until there's nothing left.

Now, off to wash my hands and get this sauce out of my facial hair...

Happy Grillmore - Portland's Best Food Cart Burger

A rainy Portland day has arrived, so I wanted to stick close to my office for today's meal.

I headed up to SW 3rd between Stark and Washington, and Kryse's smiling face at Happy Grillmore landed me there, where I ordered what has been voted as Portland's Best Food Cart Burger.. "the Chubs."

I know burgers might not sound as 'exotic' as some of the other things I've blogged about so far -- but hear me out....

Their burgers are served on multigrain Ciabatta buns, which themselves are quite tasty, and sturdy -- something you can't say about a standard burger bun, and one of this caliber would certainly destroy a standard burger bun in a most unpleasant fashion.

The meat (Angus beef) is tender and has a great blend of spices and onions - it has some kick, and comes cooked how you want (I ordered mine medium-rare, an option I love having available) topped with mustard, your choice of cheese (I always go with Pepperjack, mmmm!) arugula, and fresh spinach leaves.

Disclaimer: I am a regular at this cart.

They frequently feature awesome daily specials (Kalua Pig, Duck Breast, Pulled Pork, Soups, to name a few) and their standard menu is mostly sandwiches, featuring turkey and bacon, (a heavenly combination), bacon and fried egg (again.. how can you go wrong?) - sausage, and more... add pineapple or avocado to any of these and it's always a treat.

The people who run the cart (Darren and Kryse) are very friendly and usually playing great music as they serve up their tasty meals. Sometimes you can even catch Kryse singing along... (she has a lovely voice). They're good about posting daily specials on Facebook for those who follow them, usually early on so you're aware before you head out to lunch. Their daily specials are ALWAYS amazing, from my experience.

Two thumbs up from this guy, I've always been impressed with anything I've ordered. Check out their website for a full menu and descriptions of all their great food.

Happy Grillmore

Adam's Amazing Lebanese Food

Today's adventure took me off the beaten path a little, to a smaller pod on the corner of SW 3rd and Ankeny. My intent was to try out "Big Ass Sandwiches," a cart that's been around a while, and gained lots of praise - yet somehow has eluded me. Today was not to be the day, as they had not opened yet, even though I was there 15-20 minutes into their posted operating hours.

Around the corner, I walked by Adam's Amazing Lebanese Food, a cart I had not seen before... The photo of the food looked pretty appetizing, so I stopped to give it a try.

I hesitated a tad, because, apparently, after last Friday's glowing blog post about my love for Gin Thai, they've announced they're 'going on hiatus' and will be closed until further notice.
I sincerely hope my blogging isn't shutting down food carts.

Typically, when it comes to Lebanese food, I pretty much eat Gyros and Hummus and that's about as far as I venture. In the spirit of trying something different, I opted for the Lamb Schwarma. I really wasn't sure just what I was getting myself in to...

This thing is HUGE. It's basically an oversized Gyro, but with fries and sauce (including hot sauce!) added to the mix. Hummus was an optional 50 cent ingredient. Yeah, it's kind of like a "Lebanese Poutine" in a way, when you think about it.

It looks so wrong, but tastes so right... who knew that adding fries and hot sauce to a Gyro would make such a sinfully delicious meal?

The lamb is tender and spicy, and the (pita-style) breading is toasted just right, still soft, but able to hold the massive pile of ingredients this thing was loaded with. I will be QUITE surprised if I can actually finish this, it's enough food for two people.

Adam's serves a variety of Gyros and Shwarmas with different meat options, as well as Falafel, burgers, hot dogs, and more...

While a few of us waited on our food, the owner offered some fresh fries to enjoy. Certainly a good way to drum up business and keep people interested.

So, a closed cart resulted in my trying a new dish and a new cart I wasn't aware of - Here's to hoping this one doesn't announce it's closure after I blog about it. ;)