Hullo! Tees, press, don't forget about Side Cart

Coming soon...Brunch Box Tees! Awhile back, we held a T-shirt design contest. Local design duo Jolby came up with one of the bestest, most raddest designs ever, and it's getting slapped onto some American Apparel tees. There's a Beige Men's version and an Aqua Ladie's. We're thinking $12 a pop! Not too shabby!

Also, this week (11/16-11/21) is Veggie week @ Brunch Box. We're def not meat-free, but there's a different veggie special everyday of the week. Check out our twitter feed for the daily menu. (We're also on FB)

It may not have it's own site...but Side Cart is special to us! Haven't tried it yet? Side Cart, located right next to Brunch Box, is also our little brainchild. It's been picking up press lately--two show-dows in November Portland Monthly: Baptism by Fryer, and Snack Track. Gainin' fans everyday. Hey, you should check it out before it blows up (uh, figuratively, of course).

Mademan.com Article

Deja Vu! A (good-lookin') site apparently dedicated to men. And the things they tend to like. Men like us. Now to get Women's Day in our corner...

Nation's Best Best Street Cart Food

The top of the bottom shelf grub

• 

Tue, 09/08/2009 - 10:18 am

You're drunk, it's late -- or lunchtime, if you're like us -- and you'll likely be arrested if you attempt eating in a restaurant. Enter the street cart. There's nothing quite like ordering up a mess of grease and stuffing your face on the sidewalk while breathing car exhaust. So we decided to scour the country and have found the cream of the slop just for you. Don't ever say we never do anything for you.

TakiTacos -- Los Angeles

At 75 cents, we'd eat pretty much anything and Taki's tacos are exactly that price and amazing. Pollo, tripa, lengua, asada, cabeza, al pastor are all primed for the taking at this Mexican food heaven on earth. The owner rattles off Spanish like Speedy Gonzalez on...well, speed, but since most of the patrons are drunk and trying to soak up the booze they just consumed, communication is the least of their concerns.

Kwik Meal -- Midtown Manhattan

Although it may send you on a Kwik trip to the toilet, Kwik Meal is a powerhouse food cart in the capital of food carts. Their specialty is the chicken and lamb over rice combo. Sure, paying $8 at a street cart for a plate of food could be deemed as heresy in the sidewalk grub world, but try it and you'll understand why it's worth every penny. Oh, and did we mention this award-winning cart has other locations? Kwik Gourmet, Kwik Meal IV, and Quick Delight. We assume Quick Delight is spelled with the traditional "Qu" because Kwik Delight was already taken.

The Boston Pretzel Company -- Downtown Boston

The BPC has carts all over Boston, but downtown the pretzels apparently are made with magic. They are piping hot and not overly chewy. The salt is just right, because too much or too little can ruin your twisted little snack. We suggest getting it with Gulden's Spicy Brown Mustard if you are down with pretzel perfection. The cost is a mere $2.50, so why not pick up two? You can start your diet on Monday.

Fojol Brothers -- Washington D.C.

From the kickass Chicken Curry to the Gewpee's Garlic Ribbons, this D.C. staple is a must for your street food cravings. And to finish it off grab a Mango Pop for a full-on party inside your mouth. Four dudes run it and two of them are brothers, but the coolest -- or is it creepiest? -- aspect of the experience is their fake mustaches and psychedelic turbans. Just lay off the LSD a day or so before you visit their cart so you can keep it together. They do move around and set their own hours, so if you are worrying about missing them, follow them on Twitter. Yep, street vendors on Twitter. Life is good.

Brunch Box -- Portland

Dude. The Fatty Melt. That's all we gotta' say to get the juices going. Well, Brunch Box takes the concept even further with the YouCanHasCheeseburger. Here's the set-up: make two Texas toast grilled cheese sandwiches and set them aside for a moment. Then grill a nice big greasy hunk of burger and slap it between the grilled cheese sandwiches. This culinary cardiac killer may be $5, but you'd be hard pressed to find a better grease sandwich anywhere.

Chicago Hot Dog Vendors -- Chicago

Chicago-style hot dogs are by far the best dogs in the universe. We couldn't narrow it down to just one vendor because there are so many good ones in the city that do the classic Chicago dog. Yes, you are likely doing permanent damage to your arteries by ingesting it, but we'd trade five minutes of taste heaven for five years off the end of our life. They are massive steamed, all-beef franks with a mound of shit piled on top. No, not actual shit, although we might still consider eating them. The best way to do it is get your dog and start building the toppings in this order: ketchup, yellow mustard, green relish, chopped onions, tomatoes, pickles, peppers, and celery salt. Make sure to have assistance to carry it. Note: Some argue that ketchup should be omitted. Screw 'em.

Tags: food, health, hot dogs, Lists

Yahoo! Food Article

Look! During a 3am-boredom induced google search, we found this Sep 15 2009 article by yahoo (this is the link)! Only 6 vendors chosen in the entire country, and we were fortunate enough to be one? How am I going to sleep now, I'm so excited! It's really gratifying when a business you built from the ground-up gets national praise.

America's Tweet Trucks: 6 Reasons Not to Shun Street Food Anymore

Posted Tue, Sep 15, 2009, 10:25 am PDT

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Food Shark truck

Street food vendors were once something that some people loved and relied on and that others fearfully called roach coaches. Now street food is sweeping the country, with some trucks becoming so popular that entire cities are following their whereabouts on Twitter with the humble hope that they'll be in driving distance when lunch rolls around. From bison burgers to schnitzel, street food cuisine is becoming more eclectic and exciting than just hot dog and tacos. Here is a little round-up of the most interesting vendors across the country.

Chef Shack in Minneapolis, Minnesota: What's on the menu? More like what isn't on the menu. For two and a half years, Lisa Carlson and Carrie Summer have been serving up beef tongue tacos, bison burgers, veggie-walnut burgers, pulled pork nachos, grass-fed beef hot dogs, bacon brats, vegan brats, falafel, tempura-fried soft shell crab sandwiches, hand-cut fries, "trailermade" tempura cheese curds, fried green tomatoes, Indian-spiced mini doughnuts, crème brûlée, chocolate mousse, goats' milk ice cream, and red beet ice cream.

Food Shark in Marfa, Texas: Krista Steinhauer and Adam Bork sell falafel (or in Food Shark terms, "marfalafel"), hummus, salads, and a variety of daily specials including regional fare (like Mexican) in the eclectic Texas town of Marfa.

Brunch Box in Portland, Oregon: Portland is a street food hot spot. In fact, there is a whole blog devoted to the scene. But one of our favorites is Brunch Box, where Ryan Incles and Ariana Berry specialize in breakfast sandwiches, hot dogs, and burgers—some of which are strange. Like the OMG! Burger, which layers a cheeseburger with egg, ham, SPAM and bacon, and the YouCanHasCheeseburger, inspired by Adam Kuban's own Fatty Melt: a burger patty stuck between two Texas-toast grilled cheese sandwiches.

Schnitzel and Things in New York City: Schnitzel is probably as fun to say as it is to eat. And how often do you really get a schnitzel-eating opportunity? Oleg Voss and Jared Greenhouse scoot around Brooklyn and Manhattan selling pork, fish, and chicken schnitzel. The "things" refers to sides like roasted beets and feta, Austrian potato salad, braised sauerkraut, Tahitian vanilla panna cotta, and apple sprtizers.

Let's Be Frank in Los Angeles and San Francisco, California: Streetside hot dogs are not uncommon, but how often are they made from locally raised cattle fed nothing but grass their whole life? No speck of hormone or antibiotics in this tube meat. The menu also includes chicken dogs and "Not Dogs."

Fojol Bros. of Merlindia in Washington, DC: Where or what is Merlindia, you ask? It's a word combining the fantastical elements of merlins with Indian cuisine. Four "brothers" (technically they're not all related) serve chicken masala, various curries, lassipops (frozen lassis on a stick), and locally-made snacks and chips.

Here is a more complete list of street food vendors on Twitter across the country.

Cyan movie nights

We cater them! this friday 9/25-Napoleon Dynamite. Come for a free movie on the big screen and Brunch Box food. Bitchin.

A Design Contest for all

Brunch Box Menu

Lookee lookee who got the seriouseats.com cookie!

Street Food Profiles: Brunch Box in Portland, Oregon

Posted by Erin Zimmer, August 24, 2009 at 3:00 PM

Note: Since this street food trend is getting a little out of control, we're going to spend every Monday getting to know different vendors from across the country.

1. Name: Brunch Box

2. Vendors: Ryan Incles and Ariana Berry

3. What's on the menu? Breakfast sandwiches, hot dogs, and burgers—some of which are strange.

4. Location and hours? Downtown Portland on SW 5th Avenue in a parking lot between Stark and Oak. Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.

5. How many years have you been street fooding? Since March 2, 2009, so 0.475 years. Is that right?

6. You on Twitter? If so, how has it affected business? We are all up on it (@BrunchBox). People use Twitter to form mobs and then mob us during lunch hours. We like it.

7. Why a mobile business over brick-and-mortar? It’s like a convenience store vs. grocery store situation, just a different kind of service. Food carts are good stepping stones to brick and mortars but we’re happy in our little cart. Lower overhead and more customer interaction FTW, yo.

8. Typical customers? Man, it is just all over the map. Literally young, old, street people, business execs, blue collar, white collar, bike kids, locals, tourists, all standing in line together. We especially like the guy who asked for a heartburn everyday (a hot dog with mustard, apparently). Now we see him crossing the street and have it ready before he even has to ask.

9. Describe a typical day from start to finish. *Grin.* It may be somewhat censored:

• Wake up at 6 a.m. (it was 4 a.m. when we made homemade English muffins).
• Get to the cart, set up. More specifically, turn stuff on, do some prep.
• Open to a small gaggle of sleepy but smiling customers.
• Work our toned, chiseled asses off until 4 p.m., close the doors, do more prep. Our asses are big and soft, by the way. Job hazard.
• Make lists to go out to re-stock supplies for next day.

10. What are/were you doing before this? Ryan was a manager for Laurelwood Public House & Brewery. Ariana was a manager for Voodoo 2 Doughnuts. (They both worked in kitchens for years and years.)

We think 100-percent certified Black Angus beef is good but we also think SPAM is good.

11. What makes the food so special? Can anything like it be found in the city? We’re not from Portland but have much lurv for yer guys’ ability to go out and appreciate a five-star dinner dinner, then go home and scarf tater tots. You know what’s good! We think 100-percent certified Black Angus beef is good but we also think SPAM is good. We think Chimay is good but we also think PBR is good (but drink it in bars and risk being called a hipster). Then we use our kitchen management experience to keep costs low and pass on the savings. Everyone wants good food cheap.

Although we have some standard stuff and fairly typical flavor combinations, our menu was designed by asking, what are items we’d want to eat that haven’t been done yet in a Portland food cart? That’s how the YouCANhascheeseburger was born.

12. How would you define "street food"? Here in Portland it seems to be mobile food units worked by the owners and operators or their friends and family.

13. The best street food city and why. *Thoughtful face.* That’s hard to answer. Surely Portland is up there because the city welcomes carts and the “pod” lots are pretty unique. It’s just that we watch certain street-food-centric episodes of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations and feel very, very humble.

14. Your comfort food after a long day? Yes! The 12th Ave. and SE Hawthorne Blvd. cart lot is a comfort-food haven for the late-night masses. Lots of affection for those vendors.

15. Advice for an aspiring vendor? Kitchen experience and a little bit of business know-how come in handy. It’s not necessarily the opening of a cart that’s hard. Don’t underestimate the sometimes repetitive nature of daily operations. Bring something original to the table; never bite the flavor of somebody else’s menu. It can be a lot for one person, so having a business partner can really take a load off. Keep a sense of humor.

And if you’re gonna go, GO ALL OUT!

Related

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Portland OR kicks New York's Ass! [Talk]

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Tags: Brunch Box, food trucks, Oregon, Portland, street food, Street Food Profiles, street vendors

Yeah!?

Hey look at this review we just found on urbanspoon.com. We certainly enjoyed looking at it. Thanks Cory!

Share your opinion with the world. Add your review below.

"don't kid yourself... this place is nothing short of amazing" by Cory (8 reviews) August 04, 2009 - Likes it - There comes a time in every man's life when he is given two options - he can eat a burger, or he can eat one of the most amazing hamburgers ever create in the history of all things that have ever been created. In steps the Brunch Box. Now, if you are looking to lower your caloric intake with a light airy lunch... well, you won't find that here. If you ARE looking for a burger with (not one, but) 4 different animals slapped between two grilled cheese texas toast sandwiches acting as the bun... the kind of burger dreams are made of. Well then, you will find heaven here my friend. 1 person likes this review - Recommended

Whoo Side Cart

Side Cart on Facebook

T-shirts & Stickers!

Need a creative outlet? Overachiever? Art Student? Trying to get your name out there?

Brunch Box needs T-shirts & Stickers.

1. Artists:
Submit your designs to brunchboxpdx@gmail.com; if we use your work, you'll win great gifts (wallets from MILKMUNNY.COM! Free food, and more!). We encourage you to sign your work in the design so that you will get credit for your art!

2. Production:
You make T-shirts & Stickers? Contact us @ brunchboxpdx@gmail.com and let us know, we can pay your with money and/or shower you with gifts.

Good Luck!

Side cart menu

We also have sweet potato fries. Grand opening Monday!

Second Cart

There will be a soft open ("Deep-Fryday!") of our second cart tomorrow. Today we handed out samples, come by tomorrow and visit us at "Side Cart", located right next door to Brunch Box in the SW 5th & Stark lot. Grand Opening next week.