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Portland Food Carts, Pods, & Patios Tour

Portland Food Carts, Pods, and Patios Tour

Weekly at 1:30pm / 2:30pm

Duration 3 hours

$89 per person

Approx. 1 mile walking

The Essentials:

Visit several locally run food carts, relax on warm Portland patios, and eat a huge selection of diverse foods. Get up close and personal with food cart owners while eating their dishes, drinking tasty beverages, and exploring Portland’s up-and-coming Eastside.

Stops

5-7 food carts, including two food cart pods and a food hall, plus one brewery. You’ll get more than a full meal! This tour takes place primarily outdoors, and covered seating is available at each stop.

Group Size

Groups are currently limited to 4-10 people per tour. Everyone in your party must book a spot, including infants and children of all ages.

Frequency

This tour is only available specific days of the week to ensure a smooth experience. If the date you prefer is full, you can join a waitlist and we will notify you if space becomes available. 

Start & End Location

Starts in the heart of Portland’s Central Eastside district. Ends half a mile away from the start location. An email will be sent with detailed meeting location details immediately after booking.

Dietary Requirements

We are happy to welcome vegetarians and pescatarians, but please let us know at time of booking. Due to the diverse nature of food carts visited, this tour is not recommended for gluten free, dairy free, vegan diets, or severe allergies. Please message us prior to booking if you have any questions.

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Or check out our Coffee & Donut Tour!

About This Tour:

Join us in a flavor odyssey of the food cart scene in Portland. 

In one word? Yes. In two words? Hell yes. Of the 1000+ food carts in Portland, we’ve narrowed it down to the top 1% for the city’s ultimate food cart experience. Beer, desserts, and international fare are accompanied by quirky neighborhood stories and larger-than-life personalities of the amazing chefs who run these carts. 

Truly a frontier foodie destination, you’ll get a real feel of the next big thing in flavor where each stop is somehow better than the last. Top off the afternoon nursing the strain in your Thanksgiving-pants with a sampling of craft beer on a massive patio, debating which bite was best. 

Portland Food Cart Tour Sandwich Selfie
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What You'll Do:

Portland Food Cart Tour Poutine

Start the afternoon in Portland's first food cart pod and taste Chapter 1 in Portland’s food cart saga: quality hand-cut, twice fried Belgium style potato fries topped with gravy and cheese.

Portland Food Cart Tour Ethnic Cuisine

Eat Bavarian, Slavic, and Burmese delights while learning about the chefs on the former grounds of Oregon’s Hospital for the Insane. Mentally prepare yourself for this.

Portland Food Cart Tour Street Art

Explore an industrial area of Portland best seen by foot, renowned for its murals and interactive art installations.

Portland Food Cart Tour Waffle Sandwich

Sample a variety of sweet and savory dishes, as well as iced tea and soft drinks, across 5-7 different food carts in Portland’s Eastside district. It's more than a full meal!

Portland Food Cart Tour Truck Owner

Learn all about the owners and chefs behind Portland’s booming food cart scene.

Portland Food Cart Tour Craft Beer

End the afternoon sampling beers on a massive patio with a major legacy behind it, made with products locally grown near Portland.

Watch:

YouTube

Our founder, Michelle, was featured in this Travel Oregon video about why using local guides are the best way to explore Oregon.

YouTube

Join us and Max McFarlin as we take him to our favorite Portland food carts from our tour to get an in-depth look at the dishes and chefs that make them so special.

Customer Reviews:

5/5

“Our guide Herb was amazing – fun, funny, and very knowledgeable. The trip was well organized, a great pace, and a great value as we left STUFFED. The food and drinks were very diversified and we loved everything we tried. If anything it was too much food as we took food home and ended up skipping our dinner plans but I wouldn’t change a thing. I loved being treated with a drink on a hot day to start and the taco was my favorite bite of the trip although everything was wonderful! We would love to see more of these tours from Lost Plate around the US. Hit me up if you make it to Seattle!”

Kevin W

Sept 2022

5/5

“It was such a fun way to be able to experience a greater number of items from the various pods. We both liked every single item that was chosen. Herb, our guide, was super friendly & quick to answer all of our groups questions. Even ones that weren’t about food, or possibly didn’t paint his city in the best light, he was always honest and took the time to explain everything. We had gone back and forth trying to decide if we should book this & we were both so glad that we did.”

Danielle

Sept 2022

5/5

“Evangel was great! She knew so much about the city and the food and provided us with the best hospitality and service. We sampled so many dishes and they were big portions too! There was a little walking which was nice to burn off a little food for more food. Highly recommend this tour if you’re looking to try out some food truck foods so you can get a taste of a variety of things.”

Chelsea

August 2022

5/5

“The experience was way more than I was expecting. Herb was an excellent tour guide sharing about the foods, carts, pods and patios. He shared about the people who started the carts of the food we were eating. He shared their stories and explained some history of the food. It was a great assortment of many different countries, all with an Oregonian twist. He explained that Oregon grown food helped curate the taste. The drinks are worth mentioning as well. Refreshing and something I would never think to buy on my own. Everything was carefully picked and was completely different. Great tour!! I would definitely recommend! Come hungry! The dessert was the absolute best!”

Teresa R

August 2022

5/5

“First of all, let me just tell you that our guide, Michelle, was awesome! Her food selection was great! The portions are more than adequate to the point that I was in food coma after sampling 7 different cuisines plus drinking three different beverages.”

Tess A.

April 2022

5/5

Bring Your Appetites for this Delicious Tour!

“Michelle was a wonderful tour guide and storyteller, and easily accommodated my vegetarian friend and me. I recommend this well organized tour!”

Lost Plate Portland Food Cart Tour Review by S

S

April 2022

5/5

“I took the Food Carts, Pods, and Patios tour today and it was excellent! The food was delicious and Herb was a fantastic tour guide! He made it fun and educational. I highly recommend this tour!”

Michele A.

March 2022

5/5

“Great tour!! Herb was a friendly and informative guide and we felt like we learned a lot about the history and culture of food carts in Portland. Most importantly, the food was delicious!! The portions were satisfying and there was great variety. Vegetarians were accommodated with no problem at all. Come hungry!!”

PAfamilyadventures

March 2022

5/5

Excellent Tour!

“Come hungry for food and knowledge. You’ll get the down low on Portland’s food truck scene with the tour, and get a taste of some of them! And see some cool art along the way!”

Lost Plate Portland Food Cart Tour Review by Ernest

Ernest

March 2022

5/5

“It’s a good way to explore food carts in Portland for first timers. Our guide Herb was knowledgeable and fun to be around. We get to try some of the best food carts, it’s flavorful and portions are just right! Highly recommended!”

Mishi O.

January 2022

COVID-19 Health & Safety.

  • Flexible Cancellation Policy: We have always offered one of the most flexible cancellation policies in the industry and that hasn’t changed. You are able to reschedule your tour or receive a 100% refund for all cancellations made at least 48 hours before the tour start time. Your reservations with Lost Plate are worry-free.  
  • Symptom-Free: We require that all guides and guests are free of any symptoms. Guides or guests showing symptoms of any illness, including fever, cough, or shortness of breath, will be asked to not join the tour. 
  • Masks: In general, there is no longer a mask mandate in Oregon, but they are still recommended indoors or in crowded areas.
  • Sanitization: Hand sanitizer and/or hand-washing facilities will be provided at each stop.
  • Your guide has the right to refuse service to anyone not complying with safety protocols. If you have any questions or concerns with any of these details, please contact us before your tour begins. All Lost Plate tour guides are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. 

Frequently Asked Questions:

Yes! This tour takes place primarily outside at different food cart pods and patios, with one indoor stop. There is typically seating, but we may need to stand at some carts to enjoy our dish…in true Portland-style. Most carts and pods have covered and/or heated areas, so we promise you’ll be comfortable. Just make sure to dress for the weather!

The coolest thing to hit the USA! Food pods are areas made up of multiple food carts. Communal seating and restrooms are available, and alcoholic beverages are often available as well.

All of our tours are rain-or-shine, so we suggest you dress for the weather (and bring an umbrella if it’s raining). In rare cases of extreme weather, your guide will cancel the tour and provide a full refund. There are covered and/or heated areas at each stop.

Your options are limited as these carts are very specialized, but in our experience guests love that this tour is curated. The best thing about this tour is that we’ve done all the hard work for you! We meet personally with the food cart owners to provide the best dishes (sometimes off-menu!) and perfect portions for you. We promise there is something for everyone.

We will try non-alcoholic, unique beverages at each food cart pod, as well as a beer flight at our last stop. We suggest bringing your own water bottle as most stops do not have a free public water station. You are more than welcome to purchase your own beverages at any stop if time permits. 

This tour covers about 1 mile by foot, so we recommend leaving the heels at home. This distance is split up between 4-5 stops, so it’s roughly a 5 minute walk between each stop and a great chance to digest a bit before the next stop. We also find that exploring by foot is the best way to explore the area and fun relics dotted throughout.

Of course! We explore off the beaten path places you may not have tried yet. After our tour, you can impress your friends with all kinds of fun facts about Portland.

Our tours have been designed to accommodate as many diets as possible while still remaining stupid delicious. We are happy to welcome vegetarians and pescatarians, but please let us know prior to your tour date as same day requests cannot be guaranteed. This tour is not recommended for gluten free, dairy free, vegan or other special diets.

When booking online, you’ll have the opportunity to let us know if you have any dietary restrictions or special requests. Please use this field to let us know about your requests and we will follow up if there are any problems or questions.

The tour starts right on time at our first stop – a food cart pod in the Central Eastside district. You’ll get the exact address, directions, and transportation details immediately after booking.

The end location is approx. 1/2 mile away from the start location. Our last stop is at a brewery, where you are able to stay as long as you like!

Currently group sizes are limited to 10-12 people. (All people in your party must book a spot, this includes infants and children of all ages.) There’s no flag to follow, or megaphone, or tacky uniforms. It’s small enough to be intimate, but big enough to get away with trying several dishes at each stop. You’ll get plenty of face-time with the experts. Bottom line is, you’ll follow the guide through a super-local experience and make friends along the way.

This tour lasts about 2.5 hours and ends in a brewery, it’s not uncommon for guests to stay and keep the pints going afterward. 

If you have any concerns about timing and meeting up based on your itinerary, let us know and we’ll see what we can do to make this as hassle-free as possible.

Unfortunately, pets are not allowed inside food and drink establishments in Portland. While we would love to meet your furry friend, pets are not able to join our tours for the comfort and safety of all guests and vendors.

For the safety and comfort of our guests and guides, all tours are smoke-free. This includes nicotine, cannabis, and vape devices. 

We do serve some alcohol at the end of this tour, but please keep in mind Oregon law prohibits the serving of alcohol to visibly intoxicated individuals. If you arrive to the tour visibly intoxicated, you will be kindly asked to leave. We want everyone to have a comfortable and pleasant experience, so please save your shenanigans for after the tour. All Lost Plate tours are a family-friendly experience and we appreciate your understanding. 

We have many happy customers who do more than one of our tours in Portland. We have designed our tours to focus only on very different parts of the city and different cuisines. This means that each dish, story, and vibe is unique to each tour and there aren’t any repeats.

Most people are very surprised how broad the culinary scene is in Portland, and our tours are a good way to discover those differences. We cover everything from food carts to private kitchen experiences, morning coffees to wine tastings. We encourage you to pick the tours that best fit your itinerary and we offer a 10% discount if booking more than one tour.

Yes we do! If you would like to book a special tour for your organization or group, just contact us and we’ll take care of you.

We sure do! If you decide to do more than one tour with us we are happy to offer you a 10% discount off your total amount. It doesn’t matter if the tour is in the same city or a different city, we want to keep feeding you as long as you let us. Our online booking system will automatically deduct the discount from your total if booking online at the same time. If you decide to add more tours later, your original confirmation email will include a promo code to use on those bookings.

Bookings cancelled 2 days (48 hours) or more before your tour are fully refundable (100% refund). Bookings cancelled within 48 hours notice are not refundable. Cancellations must be communicated by email to info@lostplate.com or by phone. If you would like to reschedule your tour with less than 48 hours notice, we will need to charge 50% of your total since we are unable to fill your spots at short notice.

Ask us anything,
we love a good question.

Portland Food Carts, Pods, and Patios Tour

5/5

$89/person

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