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Wolf & Bear's
Categories: Restaurants Middle Eastern Restaurants Food Stands Middle Eastern, Food Stands [Edit]
3925 N. Mississippi Ave.Portland, OR 97227
Neighborhoods: North Portland, Boise, Mississippi
- Hours:
Mon-Sun 12 pm - 8 pm
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- No
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- No
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch
- Alcohol:
- No
- Noise Level:
- Quiet
- Ambience:
- Hipster, Casual
- Has TV:
- No
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Dogs Allowed:
- Yes
81 reviews for Wolf & Bear's
Review Highlights
81 reviews in English
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Review from Anne S.
Portland, OR
12/23/2011
Amazing, fresh and tasty food from this little cart.
Anyone who gives less than 4 stars should have their head examined.
YUM! -
Review from Ana M.
12/17/2011 9 Check-ins Here
Wolfs And Bears, Oh My!
Formerly a South East favorite my darling Wolf & Bear recently moved to Mississippi. No Matter - I would travel to the ends of the earth for that fresh falafel. I would fight traffic down town or arm wrestle prostitutes on 82nd, my love for this cart knows no bounds. They assured me they would be back to SE for the summer...but we'll see about that.
The Out to Lunch Pita is a knock out. From the web site it's layered with labneh, gorgonzola crumbles, caramelized onions, roasted red peppers, falafel, salad greens! I mean doesn't that just sound like a dream? It is! The best dream, the kind that you smile about all day.
I'm not a falafel expert but you don't need to be to see the obvious difference here. The patties are not to hard, not to soft...just right and fresh to def!
If your falafel loyalty currently lies otherwise, I double dog dare you to take the Wolf & Bear challenge. Something tells me you'll be switching over. -
Review from Aaron W.
10/9/2011
Being the adventurous type, I ordered the Sabich ($7), a traditional Iraqi-Jewish breakfast. Hummus, grilled eggplant, hard boiled eggs, diced onions, diced cucumbers, pickles, parsley, and salad greens are topped with their house tahini saice and amba (mango pickles), then and wrapped in a pita. Wolf & Bear's offers skhug (or zhug), a Middle Eastern hot sauce, with your meal.
The sabich was good, just not mind-blowing. The hummus provided a hint of garlic and did not overwhelm anything. I appreciated the textural contrasts between the softer ingredients and the crunchy vegetables. The greens gave that wrap a refreshing aura. I might not have had many hard-boiled eggs at breakfast, but they worked in this pita. That skhug was a great complement for the sabich, but I did not find the condiment to be spicy. The pita was fresh and pliable, ready to be devoured.
Overall, a nice experience. If I go back, I'm probably trying their falafel, especially after reading so many rave reviews on it.
(And by the way, Wolf & Bear's is now on N Mississippi for the winter months) -
Review from Angie L.
Portland, OR
2/1/2012
With out a doubt theeee best falafel I've ever had! Yummmmmm
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Review from sarah c.
Portland, OR
2/2/2012
My hippy mom 'discovered' falafel in the early 80's in chicago and it always made me feel like I had eaten rocks. I'm happy to say wolf & bear's had made me a convert. And I could eat that green sauce til the end of time.
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Review from M C.
Portland, OR
1/18/2012
Sadly, I have only eaten here twice because the past two times I have gone they were closed during posted operating hours. If I were just reviewing the food they would get 4 stars. If you do catch them open try the house hot sauce and the basic falafel sandwich which is fresh and delicious. All the vegetables and sauces meld with the falafel which is wrapped in a fluffy warm pita.
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Review from Harm D.
Portland, OR
1/8/2012
Falafel salad is amazing. Nice workers who are also super helpful. Vegan safe and warm cider with lemon helps when it's really cold out.
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Review from Josiah M.
Portland, OR
12/27/2011
My go-to for falafel. The green hot sauce is very tasty, and the olives are a nice touch.
Good work. -
Review from Jessica Ra K.
Portland, OR
12/22/2011
By far my favorite food cart in Portland!!
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Review from Cheryl G.
11/19/2011 1 Check-in Here
This is the falafel I have been looking for my entire adult life! Fresh, bright, flavorful and healthy. It brings back memories of the falafel of my youth from The Roxy in Encinitas. I am so excited they are on Mississippi now.
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Review from Christa W.
Portland, OR
7/13/2011
I'd made a sort of personal vow to myself to stop reviewing places that already get consistently high ratings. But screw it -- I really need to gush about the meal I just had at Wolf & Bear's.
The Best. Fricking. Felafel. EVER!
Honestly, I had no idea felafel could be that good. It comes topped with fancy lettuce and sauteed veggies (what was that? squash? eggplant?) as well as some kind of light hummus-y thing that makes it all hang together. Then -OMG- add a splurt of their housemade hot sauce and it's complete nirvana.
They sell jars of that cilantro-jalapeno hot sauce too, which is good because I can envision myself putting it on everything. Everything!
I drive by this cart all the time and it took a Groupon to get me to finally stop and order something. I hate that I waited as long as I did... this is easily some of the best cart food in Portland. -
Review from kelly s.
Portland, OR
7/8/2011
I'm actually a huge fan of this cart, but I only now realized it! I am craving the heck out of their food, and I'll tell you why... it's super fresh and light tasting. While it might be true that I'm generally a lebanese style falafel fan, this isreali inspired version is light and flavorful. It does need the homemade green sauce to get the flavor punch I crave, but it is soo good. They also get points above some others (and above all the other food carts with falafel) for adding some unique flavors to a dish that has a lot of traditional preps that could bore you if you're a falafel enthusiast).
Other major points scored for homemade fresh lemonade, which I often crave, as well as nice large covered areas to eat, complete with complimentary arty magazine collection. To top, the staff were sweet, and who doesn't love that.
Light, fresh, flavorful, affordable, friendly- sounds pretty good to me! -
Review from Andy O.
Portland, OR
7/9/2011
Had the Sabich and it blew my mind. I'm craving it right now. I'm not a huge fan of eggplant, in general, but this was cooked wonderfully and went great with the egg and everything else in the wrap.
Thank You W&B,
I'll be back -
Review from Melvin T.
I have passed by this non-assuming little cart on a sparse dirt lot many times. I am not making that mistake anymore! Wolf and Bear is a diamond in the rough!
My family and I had a standard falafel sandwich, the Sambiche falafel, and the Out-to-lunch falafel. Every falafel sandwich was scrumptious. All the spreads and sauces are so fresh. You can tell that these are made from scratch.
The be-all-end-all is their homemade green hot sauce. It is packed with flavor, freshness, and a good amount of heat. I think I used half a bottle in one sitting. I bought a $5 jar, and three days later it is half gone. Someone needs to get this into a Whole Foods or something. Spread on a shoe good? Hell no! Spread this hot sauce on a foot jam riddled, stank, been sitting on a Goodwill shelf shoe good!
They take credit cards! ATTENTION all Portland food carts! Wolf and Bear's on that barren dirt lot actually resides in the 21st fricken century! They take credit cards! They use the iphone app and adapater. No transaction fee, no BS. So when I drive by with no cash in my pocket. I can just park it, swipe it and enjoy it! Guess what other Food Carts? If I pass by your cart with no cash, you get no business. I splurged at this cart because I could spend whatever I wanted with my credit/debit card. (Hello, Yelp? Why is there no option for me to select "Takes Credit")
Also, they open at noon. I got there at noon. They were there and open.
Their hot sauce has made me a customer for life. Since they take cards, I never have an excuse to pass it by. Awesome falafels are a bonus!Listed in: My favorite food carts
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Review from Eli G.
Seattle, WA
6/24/2011
This was our first meal arriving in Portland -- brings back so many fond memories of summers of Tel Aviv as a kid and the awesome, healthy, natural food I enjoyed there.
This was so good that my friend doesn't know yet if he's going to eat anywhere else during our remaining 36 hours in Portland. -
Review from Joshua H.
Portland, OR
12/23/2011
love this place!
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Review from Erica L.
Portland, OR
10/18/2011 1 Check-in Here
I hate to give this place a 2, I was about to give it a full out 5 stars because it was soooo good but the last bite I took had a black hair in it! BARRRF!!! I am willing to give it another try because it is really good food but the hair....eeekkk
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Review from Karl R.
Portland, OR
10/18/2011
Absolutely best falafel in town! Been coming here on the regs until the cart up and moved to Northeast... lost 2 stars there, Wolfey. I would love to be plowing through a few of your sandwiches right now, however you are located in some remote location I never seem to find a reason to frequent. I'll drop by for a refresh in the spring when you move back to Portland proper.
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Review from Joel N.
Portland, OR
9/20/2011
Its the best felafel in town. Also, they have a green hot sauce that I have only seen in Israel and establishments owned by first generation middle easterners. This place is legit.
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Review from Andrew H.
9/30/2010
After seemingly months of trying, the stars finally aligned:
- I actually had cash on me
- I wasn't running late to work
- This cart was open (be sure to check their hours before you set out for it)
And I was able to check this place out. In typical Portlandian fashion, the name is ironic. She's named after a carnivore and an omnivore but she's vegetarian/vegan.
I'm an "Omni" (that always sounds kinda sexy to me) myself, which means I am so open minded that some days I'm vegan, some days I eat meat, and somedays my caloric intake consists primarily of beer.
I really do love a good vegetarian meal, and the food here is prepared expertly. This is some of the best falafel I've ever had. The homemade "sauce" consists largely of fresh jalapenos and is delicious (reminds of the stuff I used to get at Middle Eastern joints in DC). Many of their menu items make copious use of gorgonzola which is the best cheese ever to be curdled (hey, I've read STUDIES...on the INTERNET, so you know I'm telling the truth). If you're vegan/vegetarian well...you should've already been here by now and not need my review. If you're "omni", it's definitely worth checking out!
They have some very interesting reading material here. I was reading a small book that I'm convinced was penned by Tyler Durden. -
Review from jam j.
Portland, OR
9/17/2011
best. I want to know when they're going to make the move to n. portland!!!!!
the only place i have ever been excited to just go down the entire menu. I can't believe what they offer and how hard they work for each ingredient. and they are some classy kids. naturals. these guys are the cart that really needs to get a permanent spot. I love it when people are just happy to give you something rad, without the sense that it's maybe just to good for you (even though I know it probably is) and when a business can do that, thats when its loved.. and it's probably why they are so loved here. -
Review from marianne c.
Clackamas, OR
10/4/2010
An Israeli friend heard about this cart and so on a dark and stormy afternoon (seriously gale force winds and rain going sideways!) we headed down there to get some Sabich. I had never heard of this before (but love falafel). This food was delicious! Well worth the trek from outer SE.
Went there again yesterday and had the falafel -- fresh homemade with sprouted chick peas, not deep-fried, it was delicious! Would go there every day if I lived closer!
My only comment is that they didn't have kid-friendly food. Since they weren't too busy, they were happy to make a simple plate for my daughter with just the falafel, hummus and pita, but said that if they were busy that wouldn't happen.
Tried the kombucha for drink and it was great! -
Review from marissa w.
Portland, OR
6/17/2011 1 Check-in Here
Really yummy handmade falafel. The "hot sauce" is incredible so ask for extra. They also make delicious pickles!
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Review from Kari S.
Portland, OR
7/10/2010
Yes they do have the best Falafel in town and I Love Falafel. Love is not an exaggeration here.
The sandwiches are Huge so go hungry. It's a two person operation, so you will have a little wait. Keep in mind perfection takes time. Oh and do not skimp on the drink.. The tea/lemonade combo on a hot day...YUM. -
Review from Emily T.
5/11/2011
Wolf & Bear's is finally open for dinner again and I've been twice in four days. I'm not a veggie but this might be my favorite cart in town. They just do so much more with their falafal wrap than any other place I've tried, even nice sit-down restaurants - grilled eggplant and onions, the best hot sauce ever, warm pita, never greasy. Plus the people who work here are so nice and gave me dinner even though I didn't have cash - just told me to get them back soon. Cool!
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Review from Angela S.
5/2/2010
Wanted to go to the Sat. market, but since it was a Cinco de Mayo weekend...it was impossible to find a place to park.
It then popped in my head... let's go find Wolf & Bears little vegetarian/ Middle-Eastern cart. I've read plenty of yelpers reviews about this place, so I just had to see it for my self.
Driving around, we almost missed it. It is small.
I ordered the falafel sandwich... minus the pita, since I'm gluten intolerant.
The guy in the little cart was really nice and understanding.
He served my meal in a take out box instead of the pita.
Fresh greens topped with warm flat felafel's, sauteed onions & peppers, 2 grilled slices of eggplant with a side of hummus, kalamata olives, pepperoncini and a pickle.
$6.50 for the whole shabang.
Very unique taste that satisfied my taste buds.
Worth the trip and will be back. -
Review from Kimberly V.
Portland, OR
You read "Wolf and Bear's" and you expect something involving the carnivorous side of life, right? At the very least (at the BEAR-y least, ba dum ching) you'd expect a couple of animals to be paraded out of a cage wearing Cossack hats and made to dance for their lives.
But that is not what Wolf and Bear's is about. Their philosophy - that vegan and vegetarian bites do not suck - is quite the opposite. The cute couple who man and wo-man this food cart serve Mediterranean-inspired snacks. The only carbon-based things involved in the process are the cooks, except for those brave garbanzo beans, chickpeas, and salad greens that offered up their lives in the pursuit of homemade hummus and falafel.
You might also expect that a vegan/vegetarian meal won't be enough to fill you up, and maybe you're right, but this cart's menu certainly tries. The Roadside Snack is more like the Roadside Reason to Give Up the Wheel and Pass Out in the Passenger Seat for an Hour. I eat it with caramelized onions and grilled mushrooms, but they have other choices for fillings. They also carry a sauce that probably contains some cilantro and other green herbs in it. The sauce holds an unexpected bite and could easily sit alongside Sriracha, Cholula, and Secret Aardvark in the executive chambers of the Hot Sauce Council. Plus, it prevents you from completely WOLF-ing (ba dum pow) down your pita and its contents without breathing.
Thanks, ladies and gentlemen, I'll be here all night.Listed in: Cartographer Seeks Magical…, Closet Vegetarian
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Review from Don B.
9/28/2009
Did you ever hear the story about the wolf and the bear? Nope, neither did I... until I started reading some Yelp reviews about this little vegetarian cart that sits all lonely in the middle of a big empty gravel lot on Morrison and 20th. The suspense was killing me, but I can now say with certainty that this story has a happy ending.
I finally made it down to try Wolf & Bear's today for lunch, and just one "sandwich" has me sold. I ordered the Out to Lunch, which consists of a "pita with labneh [a creamy cheese-type creation made from cultured yogurt], gorgonzola crumbles, caramelized onions, roasted red peppers, falafel, salad greens, freshly cracked pepper and drizzled with tahini sauce and olive oil." (ingredients lifted from the menu on the website). As you can probably guess from the list of ingredients, this pita sandwich was fucking delicious. The heady gorgonzola was made creamy by the labneh, and then offset by the sweet onions and peppers, and made hearty with falafel and some lettuce. The addition of the "hot sauce" which is a jalapeño/cilantro puree that's both very spicy and incredibly delicious, totally completed the combo.
Served up with a little side dish of peperocini, 2 kalamata olives, a pickle half and some uncooked onion (?), it made for a fairly filling yet obviously healthy lunch for $7 (yowch!). I understand the high price since everything is made from scratch using wholesome ingredients, but it always smarts paying much more than about $6 for only food from a cart.
That said, I will not hesitate to recommend this cart, especially to vegan and vegetarian friends. The falafel and cheeses made this sandwich plenty hearty for me, the meat lover, and the fact that any dish here can be easily made vegan without taking too much away flavor-wise is a major bonus.
Good stuff.Listed in: Cart-y all the time., Inner-SE PDX, V is for Vegan
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Review from Jacob G.
9/15/2009 ROTD 7/9/2010
This is a rare specimen: a food cart open for brunch on weekends. It's true! Thankfully they have very tasty food. I wouldn't eat a wolf or a bear, but the food here is mostly of the falafel variety. My sandwich was called "Out to Lunch" and was falafel with peppers, onions, cheese, and other goodness. The darn thing stuffed me for hours and was $7. The lemonade with mint was a nice addition to my meal.
So, the plan for weekends should be: (fun), Potato Champion or Whiffies, sleep, Wolf and Bear's for recovery?Listed in: Buckman! (Inner SE), Food Carts, ROTDs
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Review from Rob W.
Portland, OR
8/29/2009
The food carts are spreading over the river farther and farther east like some kind of delicious plague.
And I'm delighted.
Wolf & Bear's ingredients are *fresh*: Homemade Pita's, from-scratch-hummus, greens and vegetables that have to be grown in their own garden, and freshly made hot sauces. Dare I say that the ingredients here rival many mid priced middle eastern restaurants around town?
The entire menu is vegetarian and vegan, the portion sizes are almost spot on, and everything is relatively inexpensive for how above average the food is in terms of freshness. -
Review from Kody L.
Portland, OR
8/28/2009
The menu is fun and they've done a lot to make the odd location very hospitable: picnic benches, stools and other seating are widely available. It's all vegetarian and I believe most if not every item could be made vegan.
I got the Out to Lunch: falafel roasted peppers, Gorgonzola, caramelized onions, greens and sauces for $7. It was very good and came with a little bag of some sides: kalamata olives, pickle, peperchini and I nabbed a size of their homemade hot sauce. In fact, just about everything is homemade.
Also, check out their drinks. I got lemonade with mint ($2), but I was tempted to try their French press with cardamom. Yum!
This cart is of good quality and everyone should go out of their way to try it at least once. I wish it was more convenient from where I work!Listed in: I Heart Food Carts!
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Review from Halle W.
Portland, OR
6/28/2011
Lots of great things about this cart: the sabich (Iraqi Jewish breakfast sandwich) is incredible, the eggplant is cooked perfectly, not mushy at all. Good homemade hot sauce, tasty lemonade with fresh mint. Fresh ingredients all around, really. The people who work here are super nice. Interesting reading materials. They even take credit/debit cards (with a 50 cent charge) and are open for dinner in the summer!
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Review from Lisa S.
8/29/2009
After experiencing the most perfect taste sensations at Wolf and Bear, I can't wait to go back.
$7 may seem like a lot for cart food, but it's a *great* value for the wonderful special-of-the-day pita I got: labneh (homemade yogurt cheese), falafel, fresh greens, pesto, carmelized onions, red pepper, and the little accompaniments on the side of kalamata olive, pepperoncini, pickle and cilantro. Large and filling and not too salty.
Try their cilantro hot sauce too.....my my my, that's *SO* special.
Great drinks, SUPER CLEAN COOKING AREA (this is a must for me), and wonderful people running it.
It looks funny all alone in that big gravel lot but don't let that stop you.
Hope they stay around for a long, long time, and I can't wait to eat everything on the menu, one by one. -
Review from Brian G.
4/3/2010
I was scared about the eggplant in the falafel, but the nice woman in the little WB cart/shack reassured me it was tasty and that she would even put it on the side for me so it wouldn't ruin the falafel for me if I didn't care for it.
Well, it rocked.
Complaints (super nit-picky!)
-I can't remember if there was tahini in the falafel, but if there was, I would have liked more.
-I would definitely have preferred romaine or green leaf lettuce to the srping mix that was used. There was a bitter aftertaste in some bites from it (or from something else?)
-A heavier hand with the spices would have been cool.
-A pretty cheese-heavy menu. I think the falafel was the only thing that was vegan without alteration; if I wanted something else I would have had to ask for ingredients out.
Aweseomness
-Hands down best pita I've ever had. Holy shit so big and fluffy and delicious. I imagine this is what eating a pillow would be like. If pillows were delicious...
-Strange pickle and pepper thing on the side were an excellent complement to the falafel.
-Green chunky hot sauce - muy bueno! -
Review from Jess B.
Portland, OR
9/10/2009
Just had Wolf and Bears for dinner...again! I find the Siren song of the delicious food cart at the end of the block irresistible.
This place is just delicious. It looks unassuming from the outside. A trailer in the middle of a gravel lot with a few picnic tables outside. But once you step up to the window you realize that there's something different about this cart. The smell of delicious food greets you as the cool owners go about their business.
The food is fantastic. And this is coming from a guy who requires meat with every meal but is reviewing a vegetarian food cart. Everything is tasty and fresh, the pita and some of the best I've had. I just tried the "Out to Lunch" and am now basking in the post Wolf and Bears food cart bliss! -
Review from Amber C.
Portland, OR
4/23/2010
If you're looking for a place to get some excellent vegan/vegetarian food, this is it. It's also located in a lot all by itself, so you have a lot of space to eat your food in.
Every time I've been here, it's been by bike. If you're out and about, especially in the summertime, you have to come here at least once.
Heck, you should probably come here once a week.
The couple that runs the cart is adorable and kind. They're also funny and will tell you some of their life story if you ask. I think I went there on one of the first days they opened.
I'm sorry that I can't tell you anything more about the food, except that you should try the vegan Sabich/ Iraqi Jewish traditional breakfast. It's completely sweetopian.
I don't think they're open as often when the weather gets cold, so you should try and get there as soon as you can. -
Review from Jen I.
10/15/2009
I want to give it 10 stars.
After a delayed fight and mediocre airport soup, I was starving.
I'm glad Bobby suggested Wolf & Bear's. We walked to the cart which made for a nice evening stroll. We ordered and I sat in the swing and we pulled up extra chairs to dine under the dim glow of Christmas lights. Lovely.
What made it even better was the food. I had the falafel and even though eating in dim lighting makes me nervous since I can't see if there are any scary condiments lurking inside my flat bread, I was hungry and the falafel smelled...safe.
(Yes, go ahead. Laugh.)
I ate mine rather quickly and almost immediately wanted another but there was chocolate cake to be had!
The cake was moist and the frosting was perfect and yes, I almost immediately wanted another one.
I refrained.
I wished I hadn't.
I wished we had time to go back one more time, two more times, before returning to San Francisco.
Portland's food cart culture is starting to emerge in SF in a different form. Various home chefs are taking their wares to the streets either for fun or to supplement income during these economically challenging times (sadly the latter more the the former). Most of the SF street vendors I've encountered though are meat-a-licious. People really like sausages.
I want my own Wolf & Bear's. I'll find you a place to park in GGP not too far from my house. My neighborhood is severely lacking in vegetarian fare. Please. I will house you in my little apartment and I will wear your sandwich board boasting the Non-Scary Falafel and Moist Chocolate Cake.
And you know how I feel about the word 'moist'.
Only for you W&B. Only for you.Listed in: Yes Virginia, Vegans Only Eat…, An SF girl in the PDX
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Review from Michael S.
Portland, OR
4/11/2011
Magic food, Magic couple. Don't forget to put green sauce on your falafel.
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Review from chani k.
Portland, OR
6/29/2010
Having driven past this oddly situated and oddly named cart a few times, I was not sure what to expect of Wolf & Bears. When I got brave enough to check it out, I brought a friend. We each got our own Gamasio salad (which was a good call- it is too yummy to share with even your best friend) and we ordered a Falafel and a Sabitch which we split so we could experience both.
The two were a delicious melding of tastes, particularly when jazzed up with that crazy green saucy stuff. Top notch ingredients put together by a couple of food artists.
I held back from awarding W&B's my coveted 5 star seal of approval because the food is just a tad pricier than it probably should be for a cart- lower overhead should translate into lower prices, right? No matter, the food is great. Ready yourself for a taste sensation! -
Review from Nathan W.
8/10/2009
So delicious! Homemade pitas, homemade sauce, homemade cheese, and close to my home.
They serve wonderful Israeli food that appeals to mine and my wife's peacekeeping heritage (I'm part Lebanese, she's part Israeli). Wonderful hot day food that stands out amongst the million middle eastern meals you've had.
One star off because the $6 sandwich wasn't enough to fill me up. I will be back, multiple times though!
