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I visited Portland a few years ago and the quantity and quality of street food being offered was amazing. There were entire squares packed with vendors.

I enjoy the street food scene in London, but I'd choose Portland over it any day.




Most food carts in Portland charge about the same amount as non-food carts. For most people, if it's not cheaper, it aint street food.


Street food has a price threshold?

In China, street food might cost 20 yuan for a dish of something. The median income for all of China’s is 18,000 yuan.

In Portland, the median income is $53,230. A street dish might cost $10.

In China, street food is actually a lot more expensive than Portland, adjusting for median income levels. Even if you bought a dish for 10¥ it is still more than twice as expensive as Portland.

Are we to say that China’s street food ain’t street food? Because that’s what you are suggesting which basically means that no street food is street food.


I meant if it costs the same as a restaurant, it's not cheaper and thus I wouldn't call it street food. I wasn't comparing across cities. If a decent restaurant decides to ditch their downtown indoor restaurant, and decide to get a food cart and offer the same food for the same price as they did, is it really street food?

A number of popular food carts in Portland have a median price of $10 or above. For things like Mediterranean food I've often found restaurants charging the same or less. At the end of the day, I'm paying for the privilege of standing in the cold/rain.


Over downtown near the waterfront during a farmers market, or food trucks?


food cart pods, spread throughout the city. less than there were, but still quite a few. typically, they range an entire city block.


In my case: food trucks.




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