Kathy

"I usually stumble upon [a food cart in Portland] by driving by a food cart pod, or word of mouth, or a recommendation and I’ll try it out that way. Sometimes I’ll go online to look but usually, I see them when I’m out and about in Portland."

The Portland food scene "is amazing! I love how that even during COVID, there are still new places popping up. It’s not only unique but resilient to survive during such a tough time."

The most important to me when dining out or getting takeout "is probably how fast the food can be ready, the quality of the food. The dining experience used to be a lot more important to me, but since COVID hit I don’t expect some extravagant experience, I just want to have a safe and enjoyable one."

Describing what a unique dining experience means to me "depends on what I’m feeling. Like if there’s an occasion, I expect a really cool one. Having unique flatware is nice, everything is plastic now since COVID so we don’t get to use cool ceramic bowls and such."

The most recent dining experience at a food cart "was awesome, the people were super nice and the food was delicious. It came super fast even though it seemed like they had a ton of to-go orders. The outdoor space that they’re a part of was really spacious and comfortable."

Mackie

The Portland food scene "I think [is] great. I feel like there’s a big variety and the aesthetic of restaurants is nice. COVID makes things harder to enjoy it all though."

My ideal dining experience is "either [a] rooftop location or somewhere with a lot of sun and greenery. Or a really aesthetically pleasing restaurant with bold colors and great cocktails. That’s all very important to me. Good service."

I prefer "dining at restaurants because I feel like there’s usually more space to eat with friends, which can be hard to find at food carts sometimes. Sometimes there’s not enough space."

"I like that [food carts are] usually quick, with minimal interaction with people. The variety of food, the options. It’s usually pretty affordable."

I enjoy exploring the food cart scene in Portland when "finding new places to eat, new styles of food, or trying something I’ve never had before. I like that there’s a lot of Asian-inspired food carts."

Ryan

I typically find food carts in Portland "through food influencers, like Bill Oakley who is really into fast food and food carts. Instagram or EatPDX lists that come out. I don’t use yelp so much for food trucks but I use it for other things."

"I think [the Portland food scene is] really good. You can basically eat tasty bar food anywhere or elevated dining experiences. Something that’s lacking is healthy plates, I feel like it’s either something super fried or something super leafy and bland."

My ideal dining experience "involves trying lots of different types of food, tasty drinks, great music, laid-back servers, having the owner or bartender giving you a stand-out experience. When we were at Lazy Susan the owner came up to my partner and me and brought us a port wine on the house just for us to try and that was extremely special and such a small kind gesture. That made us feel at home and something we talk about a lot, it was truly special."

I enjoy exploring the food cart scene in Portland because "I enjoy the unexpected nature of it. There’s a lot of randomness to it, and it’s cheap for the most part so you can always find something you’re looking for."

"One thing I hate about [Yelp] is that one bad review can ruin my judgment on finding a place to eat. You’re at the mercy of a bad review. But what I like about it is that it does help me find places to eat and make a decision. It can be hard to trust the positive reviews sometimes because it feels like they’re incentivized to write them."