Holy Cannoli

(UPDATE 10/15/12: Holy Cannoli has closed its doors as of October 13. Jessy and Tami are taking their great food to Sonoma County, so be sure to look them up if you're in the area!)

(Second Review -- February 2012)

Holy Cannoli is an Italian and Sicilian-influenced food cart located at the corner of SE 52nd and Foster in Portland, Oregon. Headed by Tami and Jessy, this duo serves hearty sandwiches (meatball, sausage/peppers, and chicken), but make sure you save room for that Sicilian dessert...cannoli!

Holy Cannoli regularly changes their cannoli flavors. While the classic amaretto is usually the mainstay of the group, Holy Cannoli will do seasonal specials like pumpkin pie spice. They have also brought back "Birthday Cake" cannolis on a few occasions. Doesn't that sound awesome?

Menu (as of mid-October 2011)

Menu board, part 2 (as of mid-October 2011)
(note the Pumpkin Pie Spice Cannoli as a seasonal fall flavor!)

I ordered a meatball slider (one for $3; three for $7.50) and a Classic Amaretto Cannoli ($2). The meatball slider consists of pesto mayo, one large Sicilian meatball, topped with a slab of provolone cheese (lightly slathered with some temperature-hot marinara sauce) on a slider bun.

The cannolo (singular form of cannoli) is a fried tube-shaped shell filled with pastry cream filling. I also got the ends of my cannolo sprinkled with chocolate chips.

Meatball Slider (Holy Cannoli)

Classic Amaretto Cannoli w/chocolate chips

The meatballs are very large here and laced with that Sicilian aura. It's fairly light and seasoned well. I thought the extra brushing of marinara sauce on the provolone was a smart idea. I always appreciate melted cheese on any sandwich, and while the cheese didn't completely melt, the sauce brought more welcome flavor here.

The cannolo was good, but I thought the shell could have been harder and crunchier against the sweet amaretto cream filling. The shell may have suffered from remaining in a closed, refrigerated container for an extended period of time.

While I just got one meatball slider here, a much hungrier person can get three sliders for $7.50. One of Holy Cannoli's most popular items is their "Wicked Meatball Sandwich" ($7; marinara, provolone, mozzarella in a roll; add peppers and onions for $1 extra).

Holy Cannoli also offers a "Sausage & Peppers Sandwich" ($6.50; sausage, grilled onions and peppers, provolone, and marinara); and a "Heavenly Chicken Sandwich" ($7; chicken, garlic chunks, rosemary, provolone, and pesto mayo). Last, but not least, the appropriately named "Godfather" sandwich ($10) is an epic combination of meatballs, sausage, bacon, provolone, grilled onions and peppers, and pesto mayo.

Holy Cannoli offers Eggplant Fries and tots at reasonable prices, and you can add various toppings to it if you wish (called "Fry Madness").

Finally, Holy Cannoli offers Mocha Kiss coffee, a unique blend that can be found in Los Angeles. I sampled the coffee during my time at Holy Cannoli, and I thought it was quite good.

Especially with Garden State shutting down for the winter, I'm sure many people are now trying to find another place to get a great meatball sandwich. Look no further than Holy Cannoli to help fill that void!