Popular Vegan Food Truck Opens First Storefront

Portlanders no longer have to brave rainy weather to enjoy their favorite vegan pastrami sandwiches or mac ‘n’ cheese-stuffed burritos, as the popular Homegrown Smoker Vegan BBQ food cart has opened its first brick-and-mortar location. The plant-based eatery has wowed on-the-go eaters since 2009 with dishes such as slow-smoked maple ginger ham, spicy jalapeno-Chao seitan burgers, and nori-battered fish ‘n’ chips. After a number of new carts and relocations, they’ve finally found a new home, incidentally, in a building shared with another Portland favorite, Vtopia Cheese Shop. Owner Jeff Ridabock shared with Portland Monthly his excitement about the new location and what sort of impact he felt it would have. “We vegans, we know how to take over the world,” he says. “So that’s what we’re going to do, one plate at a time.”