I lived in Portland for a short time before my current stay. While there I found a few food carts I especially liked. But that was five years ago. When I returned I really looked forward to seeing those carts again. But the food cart scene in Portland is nothing if not relentless. While it’s an easy business to get into, it’s also highly competitive. So new carts show up quickly and the old ones can disappear just as fast.
When I started looking for all my old favorites I was in for a fair bit of disappointment. My favorite Pho and Mexican food carts had closed. My favorite gyro cart no longer served gyros. Things like that. When I finally went to get a burger from probably my favorite overall food cart The Brunch Box, it was with a not insignificant amount of trepidation.
I hit the part of the town where The Brunch Box had been. As I had thought, it wasn’t there anymore. Pushing through my disappointment I decided to look around. Maybe there was some sign of it. But luckily a flyer on a nearby tree pointed me in the right direction. The Brunch Box had done so well that they had bought a full brick and mortar location nearby.
SO now I’ve been there several times. They have a full menu of fun, classic and interesting burgers. From the Classic, a standard burger, to the black and bleu, which features blackened spice rub and bleu cheese. There’s a few that I haven’t been able to muster up the courage to try such as the Slaughterhouse V, which features a beef patty, turkey, bacon, an egg, and cheese. Or the Redonkadonk, which take their already huge OMG burger and replaces the bun with a pair of grilled cheese sandwiches.
While I’m an adventurous eater, I haven’t really tried a lot of their menu yet. I stick to my two favorites. The aforementioned Black and Bleu and the 5-oh. The 5-oh is a little crazy. It’s a standard beef patty, but with pineapple and a slice of spam covered in teriyaki sauce.
That’s most of brunch box’s menu. It’s crazy and over the top. Don’t go there expecting a standard burger. Because even though they do have those and they’re quite good, it’s not their focus. There’s plenty of great burger joints in Portland. But the Brunch Box is more than just a standard burger place. You go there to get some crazy sandwich you’d never thought you’d eat much less enjoy. So dig in.
