Mississippi Marketplace

Love this place its vegan heaven … So much selection … I went to homegrown smoker bbq and had this Mac cheese chili burrito …8 bucks but it was the size of my head pretty much or a small baby hhHaha… soo yummy… Plus there are other carts there like southern food, vegan hotdogs, Asian food, burgers you name it !!

A little TLC in this pod could go a long way!
The actual food carts themselves are great. There’s a little something for everyone — pesky pals with the dietary restrictions, obnoxiously healthy people, and that person who always orders a hamburger no matter where they go.
The problem with Mississippi Marketplace lays squarely on the shoulders of whomever is in charge of maintaining the actual space to enjoy your food. It’s a mess! Tables looks like they haven’t been cleaned in forever. Someone at your table (or the table itself) will have have a wobbly seat. The trash cans, which I get are needed, are disgusting! Even more so in the summer when it’s hot and… you know how trash does. Maybe build something so they aren’t staring you in the face while you eat or hose them off once in awhile.
With such delicious carts inside it would be nice to enjoy the food in someplace equally refreshing. Or just clean. I’d rather take my food to a park!

The actual food carts are great but whoever is managing the facility is horrible.
The tables are filthy cover in mold
The ground is littered and is never cleaned
There is no recycling or compost
The tent is torn and also filthy
These carts are popular and the state of the dinning area is ridiculous I can’t even stay and eat because I’m so grossed out.

This is a decent sized food pod with a nice variety of food trucks. There is plentiful seating as well as a covered seating area. The only thing that is a bit of a pain is that not all the trucks open at the same time, so your options might be limited until after 12.

The rich witch is a philly cheese steak on steroids!!! Get it if you want to be in a food coma

Mississippi Marketplace has one of the best set up for food cart zone I have been to.
I like how there are actually seats that I can enjoy my food without standing around trying to find a park, a bench or balancing my food eating in the middle of the street. I know it is street food but…
Oh and it is right next to Prost which let you bring your food into their pub if you just buy a drink. A beer and street food! Ahhhh.
Mississippi Marketplace though it is a little out of the way from downtown but worth dropping by for some of what these food carts offers after a drink or 2 at the some of the breweries around the area.

GO THERE. If you’re in Portland and want to get some really good food head to the food truck zone. There are a ton of diverse options and all of them are good. Get it.

Sometimes I crave vegan food, sometimes ramen. Koi Fusion? Check. Tents, plenty of seating. Natch. Worth the trip. An enlightened choice on Sunday, where there are lines and specious service at every worthy brunch spot on town.

I got to try koifusion and their beef sliders. Ill definitely be coming back to try the other food carts.

Alberta neighborhood (NE Portland)
W side of N Mississippi Ave just S of N Skidmore
It was rather easy to give this Food Cart Pod 5 stars… Why you ask (maybe?)
Well it’s pretty easy to find parking (that is free,) there is a good variety of carts here (some take card,) there’s an ATM here, Furry Friends are welcome here, there is plenty of covered seating, plenty of trash recepticals, and they have Port-​O-​Potties if you need to relieve yourself… not to mention the whole place is kept crazy clean!
They’ve always done a great job of having both a diverse and great selection of Food Carts here. Many have come and go, but this place is great about bring in ones that are just as good if not better. All the vendors here are really nice.
So if you can brave the weather of the PNW then this is a great spot to hit up for a good variety of great food. Prices range from pretty cheap to average for a truck.
Recently Big A** Sandwiches opened up a location here, but I didn’t get to try it because they were not opened when I went. FAIL
It was hard to pick out a favorite cart, but standouts were «Native Bowl,» and «Homegrown Smoker BBQ.» I can tell you I was not really a fan of crowd favorite «The Big Egg!»

Mississippi Marketplace is a food cart pod that has a few unique features that distinguish it from considerably larger pods. It has a large, tented seating area in the center, with the food carts surrounding it on two sides. Located next to Prost, a German pub, there’s an arrangement where food from the carts can be brought into the pub if a beer is purchased; the pub’s seating is both larger and more comfortable, with a big outdoor section as well as indoors. So not just food cart eats, but a way to enjoy a beer too; very Portland.
Compared to other pods, I found the ratio of appealing to less appealing carts to be much higher. Very subjective, of course, but there just seems to be a very diverse selection. On this visit, tried Prickly Ash and Kate’s Southern Kitchen. On a future trip to Portland, Mississippi Marketplace is worth another visit.

This is a really cool cart pod! In hindsight, I wish I was able to visit this place earlier on my last trip to PDX, but it was the last place on the list before I had to head over to BoltBus on my return trip to Seattle. I will not make that mistake again!
Mississippi Marketplace is a relatively small pod where you will find about ten carts, but these are of high quality. I missed out ordering from The Big Egg because they sold out on the dish I wanted, but grabbed a bite from Koi Fusion. I ordered the pork and kimchee burrito which was very tasty! I was also tempted to order from Miss Kate’s Southern Kitchen, but I was under the gun in regards to time and I really didn’t want to be rude chowing down on food among passengers on the ride home! Next time!
The great thing about this pod is the covered seating and you can take your food inside Prost! Gotta love having a cold one when grubbing on some good food!
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Wish I would have known a little sooner that I have been living next to this amazing array of food carts!
I can’t say every cart is amazing but I can say there is a great variety of choices here, ATM on site and Beer near… plus:
If you don’t find anything here that satisfies your craving, head further south on Mississippi Ave for Thai at Mee-​Sen, Sushi at Uchu, Burgers and Little Big Burger, Beer at Amnesia and Tacos at Por Que No… its pretty hard to not land a good choice on this part of town.

With the addition of awesome carts like Prickly Ash and the absence of some of the previous dead weight, this cart pod seems to only be getting better and better. And at least during summer hours, more consistently open as well. Stoked to have Big Egg, KoiFusion, Native Bowl, Prickly Ash and many others in the same pod. Yum.

Like the rest of Portland, it’s busy trying to be a lively jazzed up, all embracing area but fails miserably. Looks like the whole place is hung over. 8:30 am and we found only one coffee place open! really?

This cart POD embodies the melting pot that is the Portland street food experience. What exactly is a «Portland Style Chinese Flatbread Sandwich»? Some kind of gimmick? Maybe, but if it is also amazingly good, who cares?
And what about KOI Fusion? Korean food with a Mexican twist, over blown Portland hype you say, until you eat it and say «wow, can I have more?» This all wraps up nicely with a good German Beer at Prost. The Prost porch is snuggled up nicely to the POD and you can bring the food in with you.
More of a breakfast person? Well you are in luck. The Big Egg has no special twist to it, other than it is worth driving across town to get a ridiculously good breakfast sandwich. Be warned though, many people feel the same way, and you will have to wait, but it is worth it.

Wow what an amazing find tucked just off of I5 in a ‘hood that used to be terrifying.
Koi Fusion was the only cart in this pod open when I stopped by, which was more than ok, I had been chasing the roving cart in vain for the past couple months, on and off. I can’t find the Unilocal page for this particular koi fusion, so I’ll just leave the review for it here for now. It’s reasonably short and sweet…
Unfortunately, it’s the «Sweet» part that is a bit too literal for this hungry honcho. I tried the Bulgogi beef burrito, w/​a pork taco, short rib taco, and of course plenty of kim chee and the hottest sauce they had available for them all. The medley of garlicky, tangy, still slightly crunchy fermented cabbage, along w/​the marinated meats, cheese, and lovingly rolled in buttery, blackened tortillas was excellent. All the meats were pleasingly tender and delicious. The presentation was flawless, the texture and mouth-​feel were Borat-​level «Very Nice!» The marinade flavor– while robust — was to my crazy palate, a bit too sugary. It overpowered some of the subtler presences in the mix. I don’t know if they use regular cane sugar, or brown sugar, or maybe something else for their marinades. Judging from the overwhelming positive Unilocal reviews, most people obviously love their marinade just as it is. It’s simply a deviation from the type of marinades I would ever make for myself, let alone specifically ask for in a restaurant.
I love that Koi Fusion offers spicy tofu, as well as sweet potato fries on their menu— they are definitely attuned to the feeding habits of so very many Portlanders, and are readily equipped to satisfy the preferences and needs of pretty much everyone and everyone…
… unless you happen to like a lot more heat, and a lot less sweet, like me. But they still get high marks for friendly staff w/​great attitudes and fast, proficient service, an innovative menu, and boy oh boy you’re not gonna finish your meal complaining of still being hungry. I sure wasn’t…

I found the second best burger in Portland at the food carts here (best is Killer Burger — 47^th & Sandy).
First, Mississippi Marketplace (corner of Mississipi and Skidmore) is a great new concept not found at other restaurants (Prost!) or food carts. It combines 10 food carts with a neighborhood pub specializing in German beer. No Bud Light here, fella. All the beer is imported from Germany. There is a small pub menu, which I have not sampled, but just outside are 10 food carts with a wide variety of cuisine from Mexican to Asian to waffles to eggs to noodle bowls and four more I can’t remember now.
Second, they all cooperate. You can get food from a cart and take it to either the deck full of tables outside Prost! (if you buy a beverage, and why wouldn’t you want to?) or inside the pub itself. The only thing you can’t go is take beer from the pub outside of their deck, which probably has more to do with a city ordinance than anything else.
There is a large covered area (handy during the Portland Rain Festival) with picnic tables between the pub and the food carts.
Finally, back to the burger from Burgatroyd (the four stars are for the burger not the name). It has the same unusual quality as Killer Burger — it tastes like meat! You can cover it up with your choice of probably 15 toppings, down to and including Kimchee (but why?). Sturdy fresh bun and fries just a hair thicker than shoestring. Makes my tongue fairly slap my brains out!

Inconsistent, half-​assed niche market crap.
I’ve been to this lot three times now, this is the only time I’ve successfully spent money. The first time was for a weekend breakfast when the only breakfast-​y business was out of half their menu. The second time was when we were at Prost for a UYE. Prost allows food cart items to be brought in, but the carts were shutting down on a sunny evening as the bar was filling up. WTF?
On this trip, two carts were closed, one had a sign that they’d open late and another one just popped open at 12:45 for some reason. I know there’s probably not a big lunch rush on N Mississippi, but you’re opening just before 1pm? Seriously?
And they haven’t updated their website since March, even though one of the businesses has relocated.
If this place wasn’t a vegan attraction, I can’t imagine it staying open. Tent or no.

Mississippi Marketplace is the newest food cart mecca adding to the plethora of carts that Portlanders have grown to love over the past couple years. What makes this group of carts unique is that it shares the block with new German pub, Prost!, which offers cart patrons the opportunity to take their diverse food bites over to the pub and pair it with a small selection of imported German beers.
There is something for everyone at the carts ranging from delicious vegan bowls at Native Bowl (My favorite! Try the Mississippi Bowl with bbq soy curls, ranch sauce, veggies and more!), pastries and sweets at The Sugar Cube, personal pizzas at Southwestern Pizza, vegan sushi at Sushi Tree, breakfast at The Big Egg, vegan/​organic Thai café food at The Ruby Dragon and more! Check out Food Carts Portland’s website for more listings, reviews and pics of all the carts:
The marketplace is filled with plenty of covered seating, public bathrooms, an ATM machine and recycling bins throughout.
The hours of the carts are set individually and for some carts the hours seem to be up in the air depending on the time of day, weather and amount of visitors they are getting that day. As of yet, it’s not a late night dining destination (like Cartopia at 12^th/​Hawthorne) but with so many other wonderful bars, restaurants and hungry neighbors I think there may be opportunity for some late night hours in the summer hours – especially with Prost! already being so lively at most any night of the week.