Grilled Cheese Grill on Portland’s Funky Alberta Street

Portland, Oregon is known for pop up restaurants and food truck cuisine. But imagine my delight, as a grilled cheese lover, to find a trailer kitchen devoted to gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches. These were not the grilled Velveeta sandwiches of my youth, but carefully thought out, creative delights with locally sourced ingredients.

A gourmet grilled cheese sandwich? Yes, that is what Portland’s Grilled Cheese Grill does so well. They serve up simple to elaborate grilled cheese sandwiches at three locations. We went to the Alberta Street location in North Portland one day. The grill was in a food trailer and patrons sat outside on picnic tables or inside in the funky converted school bus.

Oh yes, they have sandwiches other than cheese. Try the Original Cheesus burger. It’s a burger between two grilled cheese sandwiches. Only $9.50. And yes, they have gluten free and vegan options.

But we were totally impressed with The Mondor for $7.25. The Mondor included Tillamook pepper jack cheese, avocado, fresh red onion and roasted red peppers on multigrain wheat. You could add bacon or turkey for $2.00. Couple that with a beverage and you’re set for a tasty budget-conscious lunch and probably will take some of it home.

Good breads, great ingredients.

More Food Carts

Once you enjoy a grilled cheese sandwich that is a gourmet treat, you might want to venture out and try more cart finds.  Eater PDX has their top food carts mapped out to make that easy.

Food carts have become part of the Portland culture and the food is excellent. Portland has over 500 food carts available at any given time. Most carts are organized into what are called “Pods.” These are surface lots with more than a few carts. Here is a map where you’ll find these Pods. And, the FoodCartsPortland.com website has things organized for your phone. Their iPhone and Android app is always updated with the current location of the carts. You can find the app here.

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Grilled Cheese Grill Address: 1027 NE Alberta St.

Portland, Oregon

Food Cart Blog

Happy Valley Station: Suburban food cart pod worth a visit

Happy Valley Station, a fairly new food cart pod, is a beautiful example of
a community gathering place surrounded by carefully selected food carts.

Food carts have become a mainstay of Portland culture. But, until recently, you had to head downtown or to the more historic neighborhoods to check out the food scene.

Thee first food cart pod to open in Happy Valley, a comparatively new suburb east of I-205. With 26 food and drink purveyors and a clean and comfortable 450-seat pavilion, this is a pod that fits in well with the tidy, family-oriented community. It’s heated in the winter and garage-type doors roll up in the summer. There is parking and an on-site restroom.

We were there for breakfast (some had lunch because you could do that) one rainy morning and found out why Happy Valley Station is such a draw. At one end of the pavilion was a bar with 30 taps where you could get plenty of Oregon beer, wine and cider and at the other, a 400 square foot kids play area. A mom sat on a bench working on her computer while her toddler finished his waffle. The only downside? Due to food regulations no dogs are allowed.

Laotian Street Food

We sampled breakfast burritos, crepes, waffles and fluffy biscuits. A delicious serving of shrimp and rice from the Lao Street Food cart
rounded out the offerings. There was certainly something for every one in this light and bright pod. While Happy Valley Station is truly community oriented, it’s also a draw for those traveling I-205 (Happy Valley Exit) and people coming to Kaiser Sunnyside for sppointments (it's only up the road). It’s also not a long drive from Clackamas Town Center.

In the evenings look for entertainment. Throughout the year, watch their Facebook page for special events.

Happy Valley Station is located at 13551 SE 145th Ave Happy Valley, Oregon.

More Site Information
Happy Valley Station Website
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Travel Portland
Oregon’s Mt. Hood Territory
The Tualatin Valley – Oregon’s Washington
County

This experience was part of a tour hosted by Travel
Portland, Oregon’s Mt. Hood Territory and the Washington County Visitors
Association - Tualatin Valley. While this has not influenced this content, the
writer believes in full disclosure of all potential conflicts of interest.

What’s new on the Portland food truck scene? Pastrami Zombie!

Things are always changing with Portland’s food carts. New pod in suburban Sunnyside… pod to close due to downtown construction. I can’t keep up!

Follow da signs!

But one bit of news intrigued me. A “sammich” shop in Ashland was kicking off their new Portland food cart concept… Pastrami Zombie. And I was invited to the event in NE Portland. It was a very Portlandia type affair. Chalk signs led us to the back yard of a stately craftsman style home. The smell of barbque permeated the growing gardens. Families sat around tasting sandwiches and voting on the bread that Pastrami Zombie should adopt for their Portland venue. After all, one must source locally!

It was a Portlandia type party in a NE neighborhood

Not spotting Carrie or Fred in the crowd I turned to the star… a huge brined brisket being carved for sandwiches, hot off the grill. A rye bread was chosen from the six different loaves and the Russian dressing was drizzled on. Next came the Pastrami, lots of it. Topped with creamy slaw. This was a favorite down south in Ashland. It’s their Chicago style pastrami (house brined with  Washington Double R Ranch beef) on light rye, served hot with Swiss cheese and their house slaw.

The star of the show

I added a bit of salad as a side and dove in to the warm sandwich. It was amazingly tender and the slaw added a creamy goodness. Of course, since we were sampling I chose another. This one was on the marble rye. Amazing!

After just one sample, I was addicted!

I chatted with Melissa McMillin the owner and founder of Sammich in Ashland. She and her chefs create Chicago style sandwiches in Ashland receiving rave reviews.

Chicagoan Melissa McMillin is the mastermind

Her plan, and it's in the works, is to have a food truck to test the waters here in Portland and, after tasting the pastrami sandwich, I can’t wait. The truck should be ready this summer and the location(s) will be announced.

Hey Melissa… how about checking out the mobile restaurant scene in Vancouver. The ‘Couve needs a little pastrami love too!

More Information
Sammich Ashland
924 Bridge St.
Ashland, OR 541.708.6055

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