Brooklyn Carreta Bar & Carts — Restaurant in Portland

Pros: I think the physical venue is top notch for a food cart pod. Really loved that aspect of it. Attractive, comfortable, only 10 minutes away from home which is great. My son was really off put by AI food photos on menus, it didn’t really bug me (until I ordered dessert! I changed my mind.)

Cons: Going to be blunt, the food we tried was ok, to bad, to really bad. Tried six different places on two visits, surely going to find something really good right?

Best was the waffle, the chicken on top was ok. I’d try another waffle selection next time & not do chicken again, but waffle was good. Ate all the waffle & 1/2 the chicken. Saved chicken & gave to our doggie. Cuban sandwich had amazing sauce. That was the only positive. Greasy mess of a poorly toasted bun, pork was mushy & still cool from being reheated. To call it best in town is laughable.Three people had a few bites, over 1/2 of sandwich tossed. Milwaukie cart, ok except for the sauce is not it. Like really bad. Dipping sauce but was also on the smash burger so the sandwich could’ve been ok, but sauce overpowered it. Some peeps might dig a Dijon mustard sauce with a funky spin, but for us it did not hit. Ate 1/2 potatoes & tossed most of smash burger, flavor of sauce was too overwhelming. Pakistani Mexican burrito. A lot of the elements separately would probably be quite good. So might give another try, ordering meat & hot rice bowl? Naan bread was soggy from sauce, rice was cold which was weird in a burrito, chicken was really tasty but skimpy amount for $14 burrito. Sauce that rice was tossed with tasty but again cold dish would’ve prefered hot rice, as well as chicken flavor was really good. Picked through & ate meat, some of the naan & tossed the rest. Aqua fresco. Wow. Flavor was strong, really off & bitter, other than a hint of lime no discernible fruit tastes. Had to have hibiscus (which I love Jamaicas) not sure what else was in it. Maybe it was just a poorly executed Jamaica? Had two sips & tossed. Finally was the dessert. The one thing that I couldn’t even swallow one bite of & spat out. The pictured dish I ordered looked nothing like the bowl I received. No shredded phyllo dough here. A cooked batter like cornbread over melted cheese with honey syrup.

So I don’t know? Should we try a third visit? Super disappointed in the food. So much wasted food & so much...

4/5 stars for overall ambiance. 3/5 stars for overall food quality.

I have eaten here four time already. It's one of the prettiest food pods in PDX! I love the wall decor, open skylight along with covered areas indoor and outdoor to accommodate the on and off seasons of our beloved PNW weather. It's also built with some thought on kids friendly with a little play area. There's arcade section as well.

Now on to the food truck. So far I ordered from Havana Station, Bollywood Dhaba, Shawarma House, The Nour Thai Cuisine, Korean Tiger, and Brooklyn Carreta.

I'm addicted to the Seaweed & Noodle Roll (5), $6.00 from the Korean Tiger!!!!! I couldn't stop eating them and got them all the four times I came within the last month. They're so delicious and satisfying, well seasoned and balanced with crunchy yet mochi texture of the mung bean/glass/clear noodle.

Havana and Nour Thai were okay. Both were cooked with too much oil I could literally feel my arteries coating. The plantain shelves from Havana were dripping with oil at every bite. The Pad Eggplant from Nour Thai was salty, oily, and chewy extra thin cheap cut of beef with fat.

The garlic naan from Ballywood Dhaba was too soft in texture for my liking. Their mango lassi is super sweet and no hint of mango flavor.

The baklava from Shawarma was okay. Slushy from Brooklyn Carreta was fun with plastic cup that changed to pretty swirl of purple and blue when cold and topped with gummy bear, pricy though for $6 for less than 6oz.

The coffee shop inside closed at 2pm daily so I haven't gotten a chance to check it out yet.

The main parking lot adjacent to the pod is limited spaces with one way access only. There's a bigger parking lot directly across to street from the pod.

P.Y. Clean restroom with toilet...

Some carts I talked to were pretty rude even when giving my order and picking it up (the lady at the Korean cart was exceptionally bad), having to go through a bar to enter because the rest of it's fenced off made it feel like we were defeating the purpose of food carts (even though I understand why the fence is there) and it really just felt like it was trying to sell me on this whole "experience" when I was just here to get dinner and go home - nothing screams "school cafeteria" like eating in a concrete bunker, but at least it was a sorta pretty concrete bunker?

Prices were actually pretty reasonable compared to a lot of other Portland options, they get some bonus points for that. The food was nothing mind blowing but it was the most memorable part of the experience, good food without ridiculous prices was something I found very difficult during my stay nearby so I enjoyed having this place even if the rest of it was a bit unpleasant.

I also think this place is just meant for families, I'm just a single person getting dinner for myself but it seems like a great place to take the kids for reasonably priced but good food that everyone can get what they want and still have a place to sit down and eat together - I'm just really not a fan of the concrete bunker design, it's attempting to be inviting and does succeed somewhat but I really cannot shake the school cafeteria comparison. I think a redesign of the interior could do wonders...