Joslyn’s Ciao Chow

This place is amazing! I ended up at this place by default, as the cart I was going to get lunch at was closed today, and now I’m glad it was. Gourmet italian fare, there is a good mix of soups, salads, and pastas on the menue when I went. The line was short and my wait was minimal. The owner is extremely friendly and happy to answer questions.
What really impressed me is everything was prepared on the spot, no premade «sauces/​cut meats/​veggies» but EVERYTHING. I tried the linguine carbona and was impressed as I watched the owner crack and seperate egs, shed parmesan, chop the proscuitto, etc for my dish. The finished product came out perfect. I think I have a new cart favorite.

I’ve eaten here 5+ times and I always leave satisfied and happy.
It all started when I got seared swordfish on a plate of mixed greens. After that, I was hooked. My personal favorites include: the bruschetta, insalate caprese, meatballs, clams. You really can’t go wrong.
Thanks Joslyn!

Yum, yum, yum. Yum. Did I say yum? This is real Italian food: simple, clean, fresh flavors and ingredients. I ordered the Pasta del Giardiniao. Joslyn prepped the entire meal when I ordered it. She chopped the fresh veggies (asparagus and summer squash, and a bit of onion, yum!) and cooked them perfectly (not overdone as is often done in this country), threw in each white wine broth ingredient, and there it was. Beautiful, delicious. She included a piece of bread and I ate the entire meal on the spot (she has chairs for quite a few people to sit and eat) — I couldn’t resist even though it was a lot of food. I am going back again soon. Very soon.

Maybe the sunshine lately has made me overly nice but I’m sated and in a generous mood so this place gets 5 stars, but it has some truly wonderful qualities.
The owner was super friendly. I didn’t want one of the seasonal vegetables in my pasta and as she was making it she saw that she had some squash and offered to throw it in. Great customer service (but how did she know squash is my weakness?).
The serving size was large. The vegetables were fresh. The pasta wasn’t overly salted – I hate when I do that. So if you worship at the alter of salt, be sure to taste a bite before you walk away.
Most pastas cost $ 7, a couple are $ 9 and there is one plain one (garlic, red chili pepper flake, etc) that is $ 5. There are also some meat dishes on there, similar price range. Being the carboholic that I am, I didn’t look to hard before zeroing in on the pasta.
Might even be worth walking those extra few blocks in the rain – if only you knew how much I hated rain (I know, it’s Oregon).

I came down to Stark St originally with intentions of trying another Italian themed food cart, only to find them closed. I’d heard about the new cart in the former Spud Locker cart and remembered it had the word «Ciao» in its name and wandered over. Lucky me, I’ll get Italian for lunch afterall!
I ordered the Cavatappi quatro formaggio, spiral pasta served in a cheesy Gorgonzola sauce and topped with walnuts. I asked for some veggies (aspargus, green and yellow zucchini, cremini mushrooms, and onions) and was obliged for a couple extra bucks. The result was absolutely delicious — aldente pasta in a delicious cheese sauce with a gentle bite of gorgonzola. I loved the texture the walnuts added to the dish and the added veggies gave me more things to scoop up the sauce with.
Prices are on the higher end for food cart food — my pasta dish with my added items was $ 9. Buy I feel like the food quality was very good and wasn’t too put off by the price once I tasted it. There are a good variety of things on the menu including crostinis, caprese salads, as well as pastas and entrees. They are also housed in a protype cantene trailer that was built for the military but, well, wound up as food cart
. With the built-​in drop down tables, it’s a great place to enjoy your lunch al fresco too!