In the last month I visited a number of new restaurants and food carts in Portland that are of note. They are either brand new or new within the last year or so. Two sandwich shops, soul food, burgers, and a Greek spot. Let’s get into it.

Gabagool from Desperados Sandwiches. This is a cart in the “Park the Carts” pod on NE MLK just south of Lombard. I had been to the pod earlier in the week checking out Savage Soulfuleatz, a soul food cart I had heard good things about (see below) when I peeped the menu of this sandwich cart I had never heard of before. This cart pod is a bit out of the way and lackluster, not so much a destination as a good local pod. So I was surprised to see the menu at this chefy sandwich cart. With ingredients like flank steak, prosciutto, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic confit ricotta, I knew I had to try this place out! Also they make their own focaccia in house. This place is a gem! Definitely an under-the-radar spot. It’s rare for me to stumble across a place like this unheard, I almost always have heard about places ahead of time. This was one of the best sandwiches I’ve had in a minute. Capicola, salami, fresh mozzarella, lettuce, roasted tomatoes, pepperoncini, oil & vinegar on focaccia. The focaccia was incredible. Chewy, springy, oily. The meats were quality and the fresh mozz was on point. This is the best Gabagool I’ve had since Bacchi’s closed 10 years ago in town. I will definitely be back to make my way through the menu. Highly recommend this place just on the strength of this one sandwich.

Chicken Souvlaki from Souvlaki Queen. Located at 211 SW 6th Ave on a godforsaken block that is home to this spot and Grits N’ Gravy (another gem). She opened a year ago and is serving Greek street food, namely souvlaki with sides. Souvlaki comes in either chicken or pork options. 5 side options and spanakopita. This is a no frills spot and reminded me of tiny stalls I encountered traveling in Greece. It’s a “restaurant” with a few stools, but really it’s a take out spot or a just eat it right on the street kind of spot (very Greek!). I got the chicken souvlaki, lemon rice, village salad and a dollop of tzatziki. Other side options are pita, potato salad and lentil soup. This was a good plate of food for $15. Quality ingredients, a medium amount of food. The chicken was tender, juicy, well seasoned and on point. The rice and salad were both done well. The tzatziki was one of the best I’ve had in my life. Luscious, delicious and garlic forward. Growing up I ate a lot of Greek and Mediterranean food as my mom was a good cook and it was one her favorite things to cook and eat. This will definitely be my new spot for Greek food in town. Portland is a great food city but there aren’t a lot of Greek options.

Afterburn Burger and Lemon Pepper Waffle Fries from Burger Syndicate. Burger Syndicate is a brand new restaurant in downtown Portland at 221 SW Ankeny St (Ankeny Alley) right behind the iconic Voodoo Doughnut. This is the new venture from Anthony of Nacheaux fame. He is a busy guy who has opened a number of concepts, including a recent spot at Moda Center. I got to know him when he was set up briefly at Cartside years ago. Since then he has operated a mobile food truck going to events, so occasionally our schedules would align and I would go eat at his cart. He serves top notch fare and the new spot focuses on burgers, waffle fries, loaded fries as well as killer custom lemonades. The picture above is from the soft open for friends and family, so this is definitely a day one joint! 6 different burgers, 4 flavors of fries, and a few other things on the menu. What you see above is the “Afterburn Burger”: 2 smash patties, American cheese, jalapeños, Frank’s hot aioli, cheese skirt bun. Really killer. Everything on point. I’m not normally a huge cheese skirt guy, but it works here. All the details are really dialed in, as are his sauces. Already a top notch burger in town. Also want to shout out the Brisket Loaded Fries and his signature lemonades, which I got on my last visit (not shown).

Dirty Mac with shrimp and chicken from Savage Soulfuleatz, a new cart at Park the Carts on NE MLK that I talked about earlier. They are a spinoff of Jada’s Soulfuleatz (really 2.0) that was a neighborhood favorite of mine and they are serving up things like Dirty Mac, fried fish (catfish, Basa, shrimp), wings, sides and Po’Boys. I’m always on the lookout for good soul food. As a white boy who grew up vegetarian in the PNW, something about soul food speaks to me. Of course I like food of all stripes, but soul food and Hawaiian food has really grown on me in the last few years, and luckily there are great options for both here in town! This dirty mac was delicious. It was dirty, dank, super flavorful and packed with shrimp and chicken! You can’t really tell from the photo how much food it was, but this was a heaping helping. Only a few times a year do I ever have leftovers, and this was one of them. I look forward to going back and trying one of the Po’Boys, amongst other things.

Italian Grinder Combo from Sunday Sauce. The newest of the new! This is from their opening four days ago. Sunday Sauce is a new Italian restaurant in North Portland (902 N Killingsworth) that opened 6 months ago. Last week they started offering sandwiches at lunch. Sunday Sauce had been on my list to check out for an Italian dinner, but I hadn’t made it yet so I decided to be a day one for the sandwiches. This was a lot of sandwich! They offer half and whole versions of each sandwich, and I didn’t know what to expect so I got the whole sandwich. This was a behemoth! I’m a big eater but at least from this first sandwich it seems like a 1/2 will be plenty. They have 11 sandwiches on the current menu, on bread from Dos Hermanos (a favorite). This had everything you expect and want on an Italian. The best part of it was the cheese, which was a smoked provolone. They could do a bit of dialing in terms of sandwich perfection. The bread was a bit much, maybe scrape the interior or tailor the loaf a bit. I will be back to try more sandwich offerings from them, and I’ll get a half. Not sure if there are any side options as it’s a brand new joint and the menu isn’t printed anywhere. Met the owner Judson (also of Normandie) and he seemed like a cool guy.

So many new places to try! There are plenty of other brand new spots that I have tried that I haven’t written about yet, as well as a ton of places on my list that I haven’t tried yet. Happy eating!