Sunday, July 21, 2013

Joe's Slop Shop

(NOTE: This cart closed around August 2013.)

Joe's Slop Shop is located at the Cartlandia food pod in Portland, Oregon. Dennis and Robin are the co-owners, having opened around the beginning of June.

Long story short, Dennis wanted to serve great food quickly. After getting some input from others, they ran with the Sloppy Joe idea. Initially, they thought of setting up camp near Portland State University, but a spot at Cartlandia opened up.

Making the Sloppy Joe filling is the key. It contains ground beef, plum tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, garlic, and secret spices. The mixture is slow-simmered to extract all the great flavors.


But I wanted to take it a step further. The "Nacho Average Joe" ($5.95) caught my eye. Nachos in Sloppy Joe form? Sign me up! Sloppy Joe filling topped with nacho cheese chips (probably Doritos), jalapenos, and more nacho cheese sauce.





The bun of choice is usually a bolillo roll, noted for being soft but still thick enough to stand up to all that meaty filling.

I enjoyed the sweetness and savoriness of the Sloppy Joe filling. Add the crunch of the nacho cheese chips and the slight heat of the jalapenos. It just works.

Try as I might to stop eating the bolillo roll and save extra room for my next food cart, that basically failed. The whole autopilot mode kicked in and I basically shoveled the roll in my mouth much like Joey Chestnut would at the Nathan's hot dog finals.

Dennis and Robin also make their own potato chips, a great addition that not every cart will provide.


Aside from the Sloppy Joes and chips,be on the lookout for some refreshing summer salads and chilled soups. There was a chilled cantaloupe and watermelon soup with mint ($2.50), a quinoa salad ($5), and a tomato cucumber salad ($5).


This is a place to get some good comfort food and travel back in time to being 7 years old. I even stained my shorts eating the Sloppy Joe like the 7-year-old Aaron would. Fitting. 7.75/10

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