Food & Drink at XOXO 2018
Every year, we build an incredible food cart pod at XOXO, pulling together our favorites from the local food scene together with our bars serving creative drinks, day and night.
This year, we’re trying a few new things… and keeping a few more secret until you show up. Are you ready? Deep breath. Let’s go.
Coffee & Tea
This year, our coffee service is provided by our friends at Deadstock Coffee, a “snob-free” destination for caffeinated sneaker heads everywhere. They’ve partnered with p:ear, a local nonprofit dedicated to mentoring homeless youth with barista training, to teach the art and science of making exceptional coffee on-site at XOXO.
Drip coffee, decaf, and tea are available for free, with espresso carts making specialty drinks for purchase, on Thursday-Friday from 11am-5pm and Saturday-Sunday 8am-4pm.
Day Bars
During the day, our Pavilion and Concourse bars will be open with a free rotating non-alcoholic lineup of our creative, delicious sodas and shrubs, once again designed by Commissary for this year’s festival from their fresh hand-made syrups.
Naturally, we tapped into the collective wisdom of the XOXO Slack to help name them all:
Cut To The Feeling - Strawberry, Rhubarb, and Citrus
Good As Hell - Pineapple, Allspice, Ginger, and Citrus
Cool For The Summer - Cucumber, Mint, and Citrus
Now or Never - Watermelon, Jalapeno, and Lime
Pynk - Blackberry, Cardamom, and Lemon
No Scrubs - Rhubarb Shrub
Dancing On My Own - Hibiscus, Lavender, and Lemon
Curious - Pear-Cinnamon Shrub
This year, we’ve also added kombucha from Portland’s own Happy Mountain Kombucha, with rotating taps of Peach Blossom, Lavender White, Dragon Fruit, and Ginger Root.
As always, all the non-alcoholic drinks from our bars are free for the duration of the festival.
Night Bars
For Friday and Saturday night, we’ve built four bars on site for you all to explore, each with a distinct menu.
Our main bar in the Concourse spotlights the incredible beers from our friends at Gigantic Brewing, who you might remember from our Hops & Kisses IPA collaboration in 2015. At our outdoor Pavilion bar, you’ll find beers from pFriem Family Brewers, and selections from Breakside Brewery in our downstairs Arcade bar. (The fourth bar? You’ll just have to find it for yourself.)
Not a fan of hoppy beers? We hear you. We’ll have a wide range of styles beyond IPAs — pilsners, sours, pales, saisons, and more.
New this year, each of our bars will offer draft cocktails in the evenings, also custom-made for XOXO by Commissary.
Non-alcoholic drinks are free, with beers for $5, wine for $6, and cocktails for $7.
XOXO Cart Pod
This year, we’re centering our food lineups around chefs of color, several of them immigrants who relocated to Portland, each with unique stories and delicious food for sale.
Koi Fusion (Opening Party, Friday Dinner, 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. Vegan- and vegetarian-friendly.
Tamale Boy (Opening Party, Friday Dinner, Saturday-Sunday Breakfast/Lunch)
Growing up as a first-generation Mexican-American in the Northwest, Jaime Soltero Jr. had a hard time recognizing authenticity in the cuisine. He launched Tamale Boy as a trust in 2011, now spanning two brick-and-mortar locations with a seasonally-changing menu highlighting cuisine from various regions throughout Mexico. Grab a breakfast burrito in the mornings, or their amazing tamales at night. Vegan and gluten-free options available.
Pastrami Zombie (Opening Party, Sunday Lunch)
A spinoff of popular Chicago eatery Sammich, and winner of Feast’s Sandwich Invitational, the Pastrami Zombie food truck serves their signature Montreal-style smoked, brined pastrami sandwiches, along with Oregon Coast albacore tuna sandwiches, classic burgers, and more.
Ash Woodfired Pizza (Opening Party)
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.
Adelina’s (Friday-Sunday Dinner, Saturday-Sunday Lunch)
Family-owned and operated, chef Adelina cooks Mexican cuisine as she learned it in her hometown of Guerrero, Mexico, from sopes and tortas to chilaquiles and Mexican street corn, each prepared like she’s cooking for her own family. Gluten-free, vegetarian, and vegan-friendly.
Bunk Sandwiches (Saturday/Sunday Lunch)
The mobile arm of chef Tommy Habetz and Nick Wood’s sandwich empire, Bunk does one thing incredibly well: simple, high-quality ingredients on damn-good bread. Menu: House-Roasted Turkey Sandwich, Italian-Cured Meats, Vegan Italian Sandwich, plus chips and cookies.
Po’ Shines (Saturday Lunch/Dinner, Sunday Dinner/Closing Party)
Contemporary soul food with a Cajun flair, Po’ Shines offers comfort food staples like ribs, pulled pork, and red beans and rice, while providing career development opportunities through its non-profit work force training program, Teach Me To Fish.
XOXO Pop-Ups
In addition to our cart pod on the Pavilion, we’ve asked several chefs to help meet demand during lunch on Saturday and Sunday during the conference in our Concourse, offering a limited menu for quick, grab-and-go meals.
Creole Cravings
Growing up on the southwest side of Haiti, chef Elsy Dinvil serves Haitian Creole dishes based on family recipes in a series of local popup events, free of additives and most common allergens. All her food is completely gluten-free, with vegan options for both meals. Menu: Spicy plantains and beef or vegan kabobs, macaroni and plant-based cheese with beef or vegetable filling, and pikliz (Haitian pickled vegetable relish).
Don Churro
This family-owned cart is a favorite at the Portland Mercado, a hub of Latino culture and an incubator for Latino entrepreneurs. The Pozos family—Luís, Flor, and Valeria—make sure their signature dish, churros, are as close as possible to the real thing, following the classic Mexico City-style recipe of their ancestors. Menu: Gringas (stuffed quesadillas), Nachos (meat/ vegetarian options), and vegan churros.
Barkada PDX
“Barkada,” in Tagalog, means a group of best friends. With his popup dinner series, Chef Melvin Trinidad creates casual, modern Filipino family cuisine, inviting guests into his own barkada. At XOXO, he’ll be serving his family recipe Pork Lumpia and Sisig Rice Bowls.
Chuparrosa
Artist/chef Héctor Guerrero brings the food and culture of his native Mexico City to Portland with a series of popups and private events, serving healthy and thoughtful Mexican food made from the best local ingredients. Menu: Pork Cochinita Pibil Torta w/Pickled Onions and Salsa. Pork Carnitas Torta w/Slaw. Gluten-free bread option available.
Tapalaya
Born and raised by Vietnamese immigrants in New Orleans, Chef Anh Luu transforms classic Cajun dishes by utilizing Vietnamese ingredients and Pacific Northwest produce, meat, and seafood at her NE Portland brick-and-mortar restaurant. Menu: Andouille Sausage Banh Mi Sandwich.
Brown Sugar Cookie Company & Catering
Chef Sakile Mitchell serves up deliciously-unique seasonal cookie flavors, most gluten-free and vegan, and soul food made from the heart at popup dinners at events around Portland. Menu: Vegan and seafood Jambalaya. Sweet Potato, Honey Butter, and Whiskey Chocolate Chip cookies.
Desserts & Treats
Churros Locos (Opening Party)
Born in the U.S. and brought to Mexico as children, Daniel Huerta and Isabel Sanchez both fell in love with churros from street vendors, opening their adorable dessert truck in Portland in 2013 with freshly-made churros and decadent churro sundaes.
Little Bean (Opening Party, Closing Party)
Get a sneak peek of the upcoming launch of Little Bean, a new take on non-dairy ice cream, made entirely from sustainably-grown chickpeas. Free of dairy, gluten, nuts, and soy, in creative flavors like Strawberry Sichuan, and Chipotle Chocolate.
Nineteen27 S'mores (Opening Party)
Toasted s’mores, made to order, with your choice of Bourbon Salted Caramel or Water Avenue Espresso-flavored marshmallows, and unique toppings.
Pip’s Original Doughnuts & Chai (Saturday-Sunday Breakfast/Lunch)
Pip’s is a family-owned business making hot, made-to-order mini doughnuts and handmade chai tea out of a ‘71 Chevy Step Van, bringing the full experience of piping hot doughnuts and unique chai tea straight to you. Doughnuts contain eggs, milk and wheat. Chais can be made vegan.