Night Owl PNW — Restaurant in Portland

My coworkers and I were on our way to the airport but wanted our last meal to support local in Portland so we thought we'd give Night Owl PNW a try. We called them around 8:05 pm (they open at 8 pm) to place a pick up order and they said that they were running late so they'd have our food ready at 9:00 which we told them that it's no problem so they took our order.

Heads up, this is a food truck in between 'The Bite on Belmont' and 'Kind Coffee' so if you want to try Night Owl PNW, you're going to have to street park.

My coworkers and I came to the food truck right around 8:50 but they didn't open their truck until 9:10. The owner told us that the sandwiches would be ready within a couple minutes but unfortunately we didn't get to our food until 10. While I appreciate the owners trying to make up for the lateness by throwing us a coupe extra cookies, my coworkers and I ended up rushing to the airport and could not enjoy the sandwiches in a relaxed setting like how we originally planned.

Here is what we ordered:

1. Where's the Beef? Loaded with roast beef and I enjoyed the pickled red onions! There's also horseradish so if you like that, then this is a good choice

2. Sassy Cassy Melt I loved this one so much. It's like a charceuterie board in a sandwich. The creaminess from the brie, saltiness from the prociutto, and the sweetness from the apple slices & fruit preserves is just chef's kiss

3. The Murphy Honestly, I was pleasantly surprised from this one. Similar to the 'Where's the Beef', this sandwich is loaded with ham and I loved how there was garlic aioli and pickled red onion to enhance the flavors.

4. Presto Pesto Similar to The Murphy, this was another sandwich I was pleasantly surprised with. The pesto, greens, and tomato were fresh and I loved the toasted ciabatta bread.

5. The Tony This was an interesting one. It's like a pizza but sandwich... but also like a big toasted bread with pizza toppings? It's a little confusing but it tasted pretty good! I guess this will be good if you're craving a pizza but you happen to be at this food truck haha.

Dessert

1. Cookies & Cream Cookie I really liked this cookie! It had that crunch on the outside but soft texture on the inside

2. Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cookie Although I love chocolate and peanut butter cookies, this one was falling apart a little too easily so it made it hard to eat but that flavors were great

3. Wild Oatmeal Cookie I personally don't like raisins but I enjoyed how there were potato chips on top to give it that sweet and salty combo. In general, I wish all the cookies were a little bigger in size because $2.50 for these tiny cookies are definitely a little pricey. But it's also in Portland so I'm not that surprised.

4. Death by chocolate cupcake Super rich but a delicious chocolate cupcake that will satisfy your sweet tooth for sure!

Overall, really solid sandwich place that's carefully combined with a variety of high quality ingredients. I love the decorations and the creative names that goes with the food. I really wanted to give this place a 5/5 and again, I appreciate the owners for trying their best and giving us some free cookies to make up for the delay but my coworkers and I were given a false sense of hope when the owner said it would only be a few minutes when it was actually close to an hour. Plus we ended up having to rush to the airport from the delay so that was a little stressful. But if you're just swinging by this place and it's already open & ready to go, I would totally give this...

I'm so tired of late-night food options being just fast food or bars, and this place? This place was on point. Like, we're talking legit sandwiches that go way beyond what you'd expect from some late night food truck tucked away in the back. Food trucks usually mean cheap, kinda junky but filling food, right? This spot was a little pricier for the portions (but hey thats inflation)—$17 for the 'Where's the Beef' and 'Sassy Cassey Melt,' and $12 for the 'Clam Jam'—but dude, it was absolutely delicious. Not junk food at all, just crazy good sandwhiches packed with a variety of flavors.

The 'Sassy Cassey' had apples in it, which added this perfect sweet touch, and the clams? F#cking incredible. Not overly briny, just the right amount of garlic, dill, scallions, and a nice little kick of acidity from the white wine. I think a hit of lemon would’ve taken it even further, but it was still devoured.

Now, here’s the thing: it's definitely underrated for what it is, but yeah, for the price, you could probably get a bigger comparable sandwich at somewhere like Lardo’s. Plus, there was a bit of a wait—I showed up at 1 AM, and there was only one (super sweet gal) making all the food, plus they had to handle DoorDash and Uber orders too so i wont be marking them down for it. But even with the wait, these sandwiches? They didn’t cut any corners. Every element—saltiness, fattiness, acidity, sweetness, meatiness—was nailed. They really thought it through.

They also gave us free cookies cause they felt bad...

Whoah! Super unique menu and addictive food! In Portland, folks are often looking for the next new "thing", sometimes to the degree that they keep it a secret until it's discovered and becomes more known. I feel like Night Owl is that place! If you're lucky enough to catch Theresa while she's doing what she does best, this super friendly lady who is passionate about her craft will seemingly throw together something that will have you scratching your head as to how she made it so delicious. She might call it a sandwich but I'll be damned it it's like any sandwich I've ever had. Sandwiches, Soups, a kale salad, or desserts. It's taken me a couple months to try everything and there is nothing on her carefully thought out menu that has failed me. Get over there soon because the menu will change before you know it. Can't wait until the next trip to...