Making your way down Vancouver, you may have seen and wondered about Sloan’s Tavern, the business at the corner of Vancouver and N. Russell that has a semi-truck cab jutting from its side. Curious myself, I wandered into Sloan’s Tavern to get the scoop.
Pay it forward. This is a well-known phrase that is easy to understand and possible to enact but rarely a lifelong philosophy that continually directs your life. One Eliot businessman has dedicated his life to paying it forward and it has had a positive effect on his life and the life of others. You might have been to the food cart pod on Vancouver and Fremont or maybe you’re new to the Eliot neighborhood and are looking for some convenient and delicious dinner options. Jimmy Wilson owns the food carts at this location and the story about how they came to be located here is one of dedication and generosity.
A series of short posts about food carts in and around our amazing neighborhood. Portland is becoming known for its mobile food and we have a number of tasty options!
The scent of roasting meat from BBQ Soul made my mouth water as I approached the cart, and wasted no time in ordering a pulled pork sandwich, selecting the maple-infused BBQ sauce to add to it. I knew the second I sank my teeth into my sandwich that I made the right choice. Lachisa Gill, one of the operators of the family-run business, also speaks particularly highly of the BBQ chicken that the cart prepares. BBQ Soul has only been in this pod for the past three weeks.
A series of short posts about food carts in and around our amazing neighborhood. Portland is becoming known for its mobile food and we have a number of tasty options!
Thai Palace serves delicious, generous portions of classic, MSG-free Thai food. The Massaman curry with chicken is rich and creamy and served beside fluffy jasmine rice. And don’t skip the iced matcha green tea with tapioca bubbles. Perfectly refreshing!
The Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church is pleased to announce its Capital Campaign Improvement Project to renovate its lower level spaces of their Historic Church site listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Through this endeavor, the church is committed to fostering community livability and greater communal participation among its neighbors, by connecting cultural engagements, along with providing adequate spaces for educational programs for youth, and social service programs offered by the church.
Although Bread and Honey Café has only (officially) been open since March 12th, it has lived in the mind of owner and chef Dyani Walden since she first began working in kitchens 20 years ago. Dyani’s vision has been and continues to be the creation of a beautiful, friendly and open space where the community can come together and experience healthy and delicious food as well as excellent customer service. She, along with Trevor Rhoads the sous chef and co-owner, are striving to create a communal environment that will have a positive impact on the community and in turn hope to be impacted by the community.
Overshadowed though it may be today by the Cook Street Lofts apartment complex currently under construction across the street, the Vancouver Avenue Baptist Church (3138 N Vancouver Avenue) is an institution of the Eliot neighborhood and of African American history in Portland . The Church appears similar to most others across Portland, with a brick facade, stained glass windows, and a mid-sized wooden steeple. However, it is one of the few remaining structures from Vancouver Avenue in the 1950s, and a link to the era when the area was known as “Black Broadway”: the hub of African American life and culture in Portland.
Current Projects:
There are quite a few projects going up right now in and around Eliot. North Eliot is getting most of the action. The two proposed large six-plus story tower developments at NE Fremont and Williams as well as the project at NE 7th and Russell have driven the most uproar. However, there are a number of other developments being proposed or already under construction.
As required by the Portland Zoning Code, Architect Rich Brooks, CIDA and developer Ben McInnis, BENCO initiated contact with the Eliot Land Use and Transportation Committee and presented their plans to build a 5-story micro unit apartment building at 3116 N. Vancouver Ave. The building with a footprint of 36’x44’ will have eighteen 250 sq ft micro apartments expected to rent at between $866 – $898/ unit.
A letter from the Land Use Chair…
Vacant land in Eliot has been one of my biggest annoyances since moving here in 2008. I realize many of you have lived here longer than I have and some of you have even gotten permission to use the vacant land that you experience around you every day. However some of the bigger pieces really leave holes in the urban fabric that surrounds us. Some of the vacant land is used for parking, but at its worst some of our land is used for nothing at all.
One house, two house, red house blue house, both will be gone soon. The two houses on Cook near Vancouver are slated to be demolished, forever erasing 110 years of history in the neighborhood.
The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) has contracted with Dirt & Aggregate Interchange for preventive maintenance and rehabilitation of North Vancouver between Russell and Monroe. Work includes a 3” grind and 3” asphalt pavement overlay, digouts in the roadway to repair failed areas, and re-building several sidewalk corners that do not meet ADA standards. The sequence of work will generally be:
By Jackie Sandquist
Que Sabrosa – La Cocina Mexicana is a food cart on the corner of N Fremont and N Vancouver and offers delicious hearty Mexican food for a great price. Que Sabrosa has been in this location for three years but has recently moved to the prime spot on this food cart corner, housed in a new sleek apple red trailer. The sign says “Authentic Mexican food.” I stood out in the crowd on the newly built plywood porch as the only non-Spanish speaker. While I placed my order, two women delivered ingredients and sang along to the Mexican ballads coming from the radio. The owner Yulissa loves to cook and uses the recipes handed down from her grandmother.
In keeping with a current Portland trend, a couple of underutilized lots have been transformed into great little food cart pods in Eliot. The first few carts to call Eliot home are located in a lot named Jimmy’s Corner at the corner of Vancouver and Fremont Street. I discovered them several months ago while out canvassing the area to notify residents about upcoming neighborhood events. The owner of Mum’s Kitchen offered samples of her African fare and I was hooked. Soon after, a Mexican cart arrived and their homemade fresh tamales made my mouth water. The pod also has a pita cart and a drive thru coffee cart.
Eliot Neighborhood 