A Better PB&J: Portland OR

One Saturday afternoon while on NW 23^rd Avenue, I realized I had skipped lunch, which immediately made me feel ravenous. As fate would have it, I spied the PBJ’s food cart across the street, which serves gourmet sweet and savory grilled sandwiches.

Keena of PBJ's hands out sandwich samples

Man, these are good – and rich. (Nut butters, chocolate and cheeses - oh my!) And they use all local, mostly organic ingrediants. I had the Oregonian, an amazing grilled, melted concoction of challah bread, berry jam, blue cheese and hazelnut butter. 

I also got to sample a dessert-like sandwich (as if the first sandwich wasn’t dessert-like enough). This one involved peanut butter and chocolate, and finished on a perfectly salty high note.

I also chatted with one of the owners, Keena Taliman, who has boundless enthusiasm for turning people onto the gooey goodness of her fancy-but-still-down-to-earth sandwich creations.

PBJ’s

NW 23rd Avenue and NW Kearney Street

pbjsgrilled.com

Good Mexican Food, Good Mexican Names: Portland OR

It was a warm Saturday afternoon, and the long-awaited first true Spring day had arrived. EVERYONE was out and about. So, a friend and I took to the joyfully crowded streets in search of food.

We found ourselves in the Hawthorne District, and wandered past Por Que No, a tasty upscale taqueria that prides itself on authentic Mexican food. But on this sunny Saturday, it was way too crowded and the line was out the door. (Better to hit it on a weekday anyway, right before the lunch and dinner rush. The moles are great.)

Popular Por Que No

Although Por Que No was packed to the gills, as fate would have it – in a moment of Isabelle Allende-like magical realism – a humble Mexican food cart appeared across the adjacent parking lot, just in the nick of time.

Newly launched by husband and wife team Nestor and Christine, this food cart is part of a new food cart “pod” located on Southeast Hawthorne at 46th. The food was tasty enough, and easy on the wallet. (We especially enjoyed the eggplant tacos at $1.50 a pop.)

Open for business

Aside from the cheap eats, the most interesting thing about this place was the name, which Nestor tells me was his wife’s idea. Apparently, it’s quite provocative by Mexican history standards.

Depending on who you ask, La Malinche, an indigenous woman that was a mistress of Cortes, is either a heroine in the same league as Sacagawea, or a complete traitor and a harlot. It’s a fascinating piece of Mexican lore, and worth a Wikipedia visit if you care to learn more.

Por Que No
4635 SE Hawthorne Blvd.
Portland, OR 97215

La Malinche
SE Hawthorne at 46th Avenue
Portland, OR 97215