Have you checked out The Lot? A food-cart pod located two blocks west of Mirror Pond (745 NW Columbia St.), The Lot is Bend’s answer to Portland’s Cartopia. To date, it’s home to five diverse food carts: Rico’s Tacos, the Brown Owl (local comfort food), Mauna Kea Grill (Hawaiian specialties), Real Food Street Bistro (locally sourced regional fare) and Thailandia Asian Food Cart (vegan/vegetarian).
Not only is The Lot open well into the evening (currently, until 11 pm), but it also features live music on Thursday nights. Another nice touch: the open-air covered eating pavilion, which features heated benches, a mammoth gas fire pit and overhead heaters. The real draw (at least when I’ve visited) is the Lot’s beer bar: Adjacent to the pavilion is a bar stocked with 16 tap handles featuring local beers, cider and kombucha. It’s a popular neighborhood spot for mixing, mingling and sampling a cross-section of the food-cart fare. The vibe is decidedly downtown.
The Lot is open from 10 am-11 pm daily, but each cart sets its own hours. For more info, call 541-610-4969.
Here are a few more photos of the carts at The Lot:
About the Author
Lisa Broadwater, GRI, CDPE, is a Central Oregon-based real estate professional who specializes in listing and selling homes, especially in Sisters, Tumalo, Bend and Redmond.