Janet "Janternet" L.'s Profile

I love Cartopia and now live very close to it, and this has always been my least favorite cart in the pod. Partly because I know just how cheap/easy crepes are to make yourself so the price tag turns me off, but yeah that's my issue and their ingredients are good and the crepes are generally alright (not awesome) here.

Aside from my feeling about overpricedness, my main gripe was how slow they always are. For awhile I attributed it to the fact that the orders must just always be backed up when I get there, they must be so popular, right?

But an incident the other night has ensured I will never go to this cart again, ever. I took my brother visiting from out of town to the pod and he was craving sweet, so he decided to get a crepe. There was nobody attending the crepe cart and he stood out in front of it for awhile, waiting.

Then he approached the window to peep in, then looked around and made eye contact with a girl sitting on the bench in front of the cart and asked if she knew if anyone was working there. She asked him what he wanted and said she would get to it. This gal was in no rush to finish her cigarette and we all watched, kinda bewildered, as she took her time smoking and talking with her friends for nearly 10 minutes (while me and the rest of our friends finished their food from other carts).

It took so long that my brother wanted to ask her when she thought she'd be able to get to it since it was like "should I cancel my order and go somewhere else? is this ever gonna get made?" But then he was scared to say anything for fear that she'd spit in his food or skimp on filling or something out of annoyance.

When he was about to cancel his order she finally got in the cart and (slowly) made the crepe.

Maybe this girl was on break? If that's the case then put up a "back in 15" sign. Don't brazenly sit out front and tell the customer "I'll get to it" and wave them off while you socialize and smoke. It was really rude and was the lamest/negative encounter my bro had during his stay in Portland. Creperie? More like Crapperie!

Second trip to Kettleman, and I'm dropping the star rating.

- out of the bagel I wanted (okay, they sell out sometimes so this isn't why I'm dropping the star)
- ordered coffee, but coffee was empty
- needed a knife, but only spoons and forks were out (isn't that an alanis morissette song?)
- my friend wanted to buy a shirt, but nobody working had a key to where the shirts are apparently
- the front door doesn't close on its own so every time someone comes in or leaves it's wide open so I had to keep getting up and shutting it to keep from freezing. Get a damn spring!
- employees still sourfaced

sorry, all these are minor things in isolation but in rapid succession at a place I was already half stink-eyed about, I'm over Kettleman and I'm not sad they've sold to Noah's. Hopefully they'll improve with the ownership change. The bagels are good, just not good enough to make me want to deal with everything else.

basically the best hardware store I've ever been to. so friendly, attentive without hovering, and non judgmental about my stupid (aka "do you have a mechanical screwdriver") questions.

also my friend and I refer to it as the "secret garden hardware store" due to its neat frontyard exterior and old-school splitdoor entrance.

they copy keys! there's an awesome assortment of designer ones that are only a dollar more than the plain boring ones. and the key making machine has to be the quietest one I've ever encountered.

a welcome addition and pioneers of a newish cart pod on Belmont. they're open late. they have vegan dumplings (there were a few vegan options on the night I was there, including the special - awesome). of course there are plenty of omnivore and veg options too. I was really impressed with the length of the menu.

The service was awesome and the food came out pretty fast. they weren't too greasy or heavy but decently sopped up the cheap beer in my stomach. the portion is pretty generous, you get several lil dumplings and mine were served on top of a sort of slaw salad which was a wonderful surprise.

it'll be hard for me to want to try anywhere else in this pod now. you heard it here, take your dumps on belmont.

I was biking the springwater corridor and was pleased to stop by this new pod - Cartlandia - that I read about on the Portland Food Carts blog. All the carts looked good and I'll be back to try them all.. but what made me try Cascade first was that they advertised Foursquare/Yelp checkin specials. And I like to patronize businesses that reward my internet related compulsions.

EPIC Veggie burger is right. This thing is awesomely delicious. The price is right. The ketchup for my fries (Free with the Yelp check in, btw) seemed homemade and was effing delicious.

The dude working was super nice - he seemed a little overwhelmed by the lunch rush but I think everyone would agree it was worth an extra 5 minute wait for the burgers.

My only suggestion would be that they should get to-go boxes. All he had was a paper sack and my leftovers made it all wet and gross in my backpack after I rode down the trail and back.

Still, a great meal at a wonderful new cart pod. Highly recommended.

My favorite food cart. The veggie burgers are the best I've ever had and easily beat most beef burgers. I'm not sure what to say that hasn't been said but I really wanted to throw another 5 star review for them. The service is always super friendly. On Wednesdays you get a discount if you bike in!

For selection on glass pieces you really cannot beat this place. The prices are very reasonable and even if you aren't interested in buying one you should stop in to see the art pieces they have. It seemed like most of the glass is locally made and the employees are happy to tell you more about it.

Everyone working was really helpful and nice and it's super clean in there.. maybe a little too clean, kinda feels sterile for a head shop but I'm sure they are still growing into their space.

They are tucked in a corner shop between the Pita Pit and the Hawthorne Hop House.

While visiting Vancouver and riding my bike around, the chain broke off. I Yelped nearby bike shops and walked my bike over to JV. They repaired my chain on the spot in just a few minutes for a low fee, and I was on my way. The dude working the repair shop was very friendly and happened to be a vintage Schwinn enthusiast.. and since I happen to ride a vintage Schwinn, it was fun to chat and learn a few things about my bike.

Note that the repair shop entrance is next door to the bike shop entrance. So save yourself accidentally walking your bike into the crowded showroom and then having to awkwardly retreat. I made this mistake and watched another person do it too..  they should consider getting some super obvious signage indicating the shop entrance.

Oh my god. My friend and I visited Vancouver for the first time and we walked in here and ate some of the best tacos we have had in our lives. They were SO GOOD that we deemed the meal "untoppable" and came here again for lunch the next day. When I visit a new city I never do this, I always want to try new places... so a repeat visit is a big deal.

We tried over half the tacos on the menu but agreed our favorite was the creamed corn one (Rajas con Crema). Although honestly there was not a taco I disliked, they were all really good.

The dudes working are super nice!! Don't forget to squirt some of the hot sauces onto your tacos. They don't need anything extra but the sauces are so good I couldn't help it. And take your plate to the nearby park on a nice day to eat your tacos. I can't wait to come back!

Also, this place is conveniently located across the street from the New Amsterdam Cafe.. that's all I'll say about that.

To be completely honest, my friend and I only stopped here with intent to use their restroom and try and get directions to an abandoned graffiti building thing we came to Vernonia to check out. But we were pleasantly surprised to find a really eclectic and interesting "museum".

I put museum in quotations because it feels more like an old house full of stuff that is slightly organized. Sure there's glass cabinets to look in but they have anything from a collection of spice containers to old valentines, to a wreath MADE OF HUMAN HAIR. There are mannequins in period clothing, maps, and some fascinating books and newspapers from the turn of the century.

From what I can tell this is just a collection of stuff that citizens of Vernonia have contributed to create a mish-mash that sums the history of the town. There was a woman working (I assume a volunteer) who was very kind and gave us a good bit of information without being annoying or pushy. We DID use the restroom and she did give us directions to that abandoned building - not only that but she showed us an aerial view of it taken when it was still part of the Saw Mill (Vernonia's one of the few mill towns that's managed to survive after the mill) - and explained how that structure is the only part of the Mill left.

How cool - if we hadn't stopped here we wouldn't have had any idea what that thing was. Anyway. The tour is "self guided"  but there is someone nearby if you have questions about anything. We spent about 20 minutes in here but you could easily get lost for a few hours especially in that newspaper/book room.

The museum is free but the hours are very limited - I think the 1pm-4pm Saturdays was the window we stopped in, but I would call ahead if you really wanna make this a destination - they seem to open by appointments and probably close whenever they feel like it. When we signed the guest book we were the first signatures on the book in 3 days.

But yeah. Gem of Vernonia. I would definitely check this place out again.