The Coop

The Coop is a chicken-and-waffles cart located at the Cartlandia food pod in Portland, Oregon.

Lisa and TJ have run a catering business for quite some time, mainly serving businesses in downtown Portland. They then decided to open up a food cart and opened for business on July 1.

This is another cart that specializes in just one dish, and here, it's chicken and waffles. The differences come in portion size, the type of waffle (buttermilk, cornbread, or bacon), and the part of the chicken you want (wing or breast).

Bacon waffle?! YES!

The wings are jumbo, full wings. Each chicken breast is boneless, with skin on. Each piece of poultry gets a nice seasoned coating and is fried to a crispy golden brown.

Oh wait, did I mention a bacon waffle option? That's obviously happening. Real bacon bits in the waffle! I got "The Bird" ($5) with a bacon waffle and a wing. The syrup comes in its own container on the side.

It's a good waffle, and the bacon made the difference for me. An extra punch of savory meat crack to lift my day.

Bacon bits in the waffle!

At The Coop, you'll get the entire wing, not just some dinky little thing. All the chicken is fried to order. Admittedly, I had a bit of difficulty with handling this monstrosity. It's very juicy and fried perfectly, but it's not for the timid. Gotta brave the temperature heat and embrace messiness.

Other choices:

• "The Random Cat" ($7) = 2 wings and 2 waffles
• "The Breezy" ($7) = 1 breast and 1 waffle
• "The Uncle B" ($8) = 1 breast and 2 waffles
• "The Swaggy" ($9) = 1 breast, 2 wings, and 2 waffles

Check out The Coop and try this cart out! 7/10