Food & Drink at XOXO 2016
Every year, we build the world’s greatest food cart pod at XOXO — drawing together our favorites from Portland’s legendary food cart scene, along with open bars serving a complimentary menu of craft drinks day and night.
This year, we’ve nearly doubled the number of carts from last year, 18 carts serving everything from crepes to musubi, from piping hot doughnuts to cereal from a van.
We’re pairing it with open bars running continuously during XOXO, serving complimentary coffee, tea, and soda drinks during the day and a rotating selection of local craft beer and wine, with our menus of non-alcoholic house-made sodas.
Let’s do this.
Day Bar
Thanks to our friends at Asana, we’re able to provide free espressos, macchiatos, cappuccinos, and other coffee drinks from Roseline Coffee Roasters, all day Friday through Sunday, including the return of our “Morning Beer,” a hop-infused, non-alcoholic cold brew. New this year, by popular demand, we’ve added tea to the drink menu.
We’ve also teamed with our friends at Slack to bring back our amazing lineup of complimentary non-alcoholic drinks, available throughout the day and evenings at XOXO.
Once again, we worked with Commissary to design an all-new menu of creative, delicious sodas and non-alcoholic cocktails made from their fresh, hand-made syrups.
Last year, people had trouble pronouncing the emoji-named drinks. So, with the help of Slack’s expert wordsmiths, we finally found names that were impossible to screw up.
The Seeg - Pear/Rosemary/Lemon
The Hyperbowl - Hibiscus/Lavender/Lemon
The Gif - Grapefruit/Lemon/Ginger
The Skooten'n'Froody - Cucumber/Jalapeno/Lime
The Ah Megadon - Green Tea/Apricot/Lemon
The Facey-Smile - Fig/Demerara/Apple Cider
Night Bar
At night, our bars are serving the best of the Pacific Northwest’s world-renowned microbrew scene, completely free of charge.
Not a fan of hoppy beers? We hear you. We’ll have a wide variety of styles beyond IPAs — Czech pilsners and saisons, kolsch and hefeweizen, stouts and porters, and a selection of Portland-made ciders and wines, a changing selection of our favorites rotating throughout each night.
And if you don’t drink alcohol, or are looking for an alternative, our full menu of non-alcoholic cocktails and sodas will be available all night, thanks to Slack.
Surprise Treats
At our opening party on Thursday night, we’ve teamed with WordPress.com for an Ice Cream Social — complimentary frozen desserts from three of our favorite carts:
Wailua Shave Ice. The first and only location outside of Kauai, Wailua opened in Portland as a popup this summer to rave reviews, with their emphasis on house-made syrups, creative flavor combinations, and ice like freshly-fallen snow.
Zed’s Fruit Ice Cream. Inspired by the fresh fruit ice creams of Australia and New Zealand, Zed’s blends fresh fruit and Tillamook Ice Cream on the spot into a unique frozen treat with the help an Australian-made machine.
Fifty Licks. Chad Drazin moved to Portland to make beer, but ended up applying his food science background to ice cream, focusing on his two part manifesto—"purity of flavor" and “texture above everything else.” Returning to XOXO, Fifty Licks will also be serving Friday at lunch.
And, on Friday morning, before our opening comments, we’re thrilled to announce that Asana is treating everyone to free, piping-hot doughnuts from Pip’s Original Doughnuts. If you end up addicted like we are, Pip’s will be returning to sell their adorably delicious donuts on Saturday and Sunday, made on the spot.
XOXO Cart Pod
Here’s the rest of this year’s food cart ridiculous lineup. We hope you find some new favorites.
Ash Wood-Fired Pizza (Opening Party, Friday-Sunday Lunch)
Ash is pretty serious about the quality of their ingredients, never using commercial yeast for their sourdough starter, instead cultivating wild yeast from local grapes. Combined with seasonal ingredients from local farmer’s markets, their menu changes weekly, including vegan and vegetarian options.
Le Pantry (Opening Party, Friday-Sunday All Day)
Opened in May, Le Pantry is a French-inspired “open eatery” focused on strictly local, organic, and seasonal fare sourced solely from sustainable farms and producers. Last month, Willamette Week named them one of their favorite new carts of the summer.
Cereal from A Van (Opening Party, Friday/Saturday Late Night)
Is there a better way to cap off a night than your choice of 50+ cereals served from two delightful, pajama-clad weirdos out of a 1968 Dodge van? No, there isn’t.
Chicken and Guns (Opening Party, Friday-Sunday Lunch, Friday Dinner)
Opening last summer in the Cartopia pod, Chicken & Guns made a name for themselves with their incredible Latin American-style chicken slow roasted over white oak, from chickens locally-raised chickens from Scratch Farms in Canby, Oregon. Try the crispy potatoes doused in Peruvian aji sauce.
Aybla Grill (Opening Party, Friday Lunch/Dinner)
Syrian-born chef Saied Samaiel was trained on the Greek island of Crete for ten years before coming to Portland, growing his cart business to five locations across the city with a selection of Mediterranean, vegetarian-friendly offerings made with local and organic ingredients.
Fried Egg I’m In Love (Friday-Sunday Breakfast)
The best breakfast sandwiches, and arguably the best-named food cart, in Portland. With dishes like Yolko Ono and Huevo Mutilation, Fried Egg I’m In Love’s roots are in music, started by two bandmates from Fort Union. They’re serving breakfast every day at XOXO, so come out early.
Perierra Crêperie (Friday-Sunday Breakfast/Lunch)
A fixture at Hawthorne’s Cartopia carts, Perierra serves made-to-order sweet and savory French crepes from their cart, with vegan and vegetarian options. We can smell the Nutella from here.
Kim Jong Grillin’ (Friday-Sunday Lunch/Dinner)
Kim Jong Grillin’ is the stuff food cart legends are made of. Han Hwang’s wonderful Korean BBQ food cart won the Eat Mobile Competition in 2011, and burned to the ground while he was picking up his award. In 2014, his cart reopened to acclaim and sell-out crowds after an appearance on the Food Network’s Chopped, expanding to two more locations later this year.
Grind Musubi (Friday-Sunday Dinner)
New to XOXO for the first time, the seasoned and wrapped rice ball known as musubi, or onigiri in Japan, is a staple of Hawaiian comfort food — a quick, healthy, and delicious meal while running between events. In an ongoing effort, Musubi donates 10 cents from each musubi sale to help end hunger.
Salt & Straw (Saturday-Sunday Lunch)
It wouldn’t be XOXO without Salt & Straw, and we’re thrilled they’re returning to XOXO for lunch on Saturday and Sunday to help you beat the heat. In the last five years, the handmade “farm-to-cone” ice cream by cousins Kim and Tyler Malek has taken over Portland, expanding from a single tiny cart to three stores, a soft serve shop in Pine Street Market, and three locations in L.A.
Bunk Sandwiches (Saturday Lunch/Dinner)
The mobile arm of chef Tommy Habetz and Nick Wood’s sandwich empire of Bunk Sandwiches. Avoid gimmicky carts like Big Ass Sandwiches, and stick with the real thing: simple, high-quality ingredients on damn-good bread.
Nong’s Khao Mon Gai (Saturday-Sunday Lunch)
Taken from the street food of her native Bangkok, Nong Poonsukwattana only makes one dish: poached chicken & rice, wrapped in butcher paper and served with a spicy sauce. But it’s so insanely good, the lunch lines at her 10th & Alder location often stretch down the block, leading to two new locations to satiate the addicts. Got a minute? Go watch her tell her story.
Koi Fusion (Closing Party)
Bo Kwon was 12 years old when he started fusing his South Korean parents’ food with other cuisines, adding kimchi to his grilled cheese sandwiches. 20 years later, he’s doing it for his customers with a food cart empire—three trucks and five stationary locations mixing Korean BBQ and Mexican flavors in tacos, burritos, and Seoul sliders.
The Whole Bowl (Closing Party)
The Whole Bowl is a Portland mainstay, serving their beloved vegetarian bean and rice bowls, with savory toppings and sauce, expanding to six locations since they first opened in the Pearl in 2001.
See you tomorrow!