Sopa Burns is the owner of Mai Tong Thai Food in Astoria. 

Food carts seem to appear almost everywhere you look up and down the North Coast. But no more so than in downtown Astoria, where a plethora of carts offer savory meals good anytime of the year. Our Coast visited a couple of the area’s food carts — some new, some well-established. This list is not exhaustive but more of a starting point to fuel your own discoveries of the culinary delights the coast holds.

Tres Bro’s

Along Main Avenue between 2nd and 3rd streets, Warrenton • facebook.com/tresbrosnica/

Tres Bro’s food truck is your vehicle to authentic Nicaraguan food. Yadira Lopez, one of the truck’s owners, was born in Nicaragua and brings personality to his skills in the kitchen. Lopez opened the bright red food truck in downtown Warrenton with Josh Colby in 2019. The menu offers wraps filled with grilled mahi, grilled shrimp or seasonal local catch. The shrimp ceviche ($12) is a fresh choice made with lime-marinated shrimp, cilantro, tomato and onion, and your choice of heat, from none to habanero. Lopez and Colby emphasize fresh ingredients in their dishes. Their bowls are filled with gallo pinto, picado and queso frito and have different options for meat. Like many food trucks along the North Coast, Tres Bro’s beautifully blends their own personal flavors and traditional dishes with local ingredients like the shrimp or grilled mahi. The truck has vegetarian options and offers a long list of sides to pair with a main dish, like avocado, queso frito or pinto beans.

Guadalajara Combo

1140 Marlin Ave., Warrenton

Guadalajara Combo is the place to go if you’re in the mood for an outstanding burrito. The menu offers a variety of options from breakfast burritos with chorizo, egg, pico de gallo and jalapenos, to fish or shrimp burritos with fresh avocado and lime. Tacos, tostadas, enchiladas and quesadillas are also available. If you plan on getting one of their burritos, keep in mind you probably won’t have room for anything else.

Taqueria Pelayos

420 17th St, Astoria • 30 SE Anchor Ave., Warrenton • 1313 S Roosevelt Drive, Seaside • facebook.com/taqueriapelayos/

Taqueria Pelayos offers authentic flavors and big portions at a low cost. All three locations in Astoria, Warrenton and Seaside are run by the family who opened the first Taqueria Pelayos food truck on the North Coast. The food trucks have built up a strong reputation throughout Clatsop County for quality food. If you’re looking for traditional Mexican food like tamales, tacos or burritos, this place is the real deal. The carne asada tacos are perfectly simple with cilantro and onions, best dipped or covered in green salsa. They also have a hamburger and cheese steak sandwich. The truck is a great place to stop for breakfast. A section of the menu is dedicated to dishes with eggs, bacon, ham, steak and of course, huevos rancheros.

Riverside Fish & Chips

35915 N U.S. Highway 101, Nehalem • facebook.com/riversidefishnchips/

Riverside Fish & Chips food cart is located behind the Nehalem Riverside Trading Co. on the Nehalem River. If riverside views and a peaceful seafood dinner are what you’re looking for, this is the place. The menu offers fish and chips, but also fresh fish tacos and grilled cheese sandwiches. The truck often has long wait times, but visitors find it to be worth the wait to try Riverside’s crunchy and delicately seasoned chips. The best part is their outdoor picnic table seating with a perfect view of the river. The trading company is an antique shop that is fun to browse while waiting for your order. Riverside is best for a sunny day or when you’re in the mood to eat outdoors, but it’s just as popular to pick-up some of their food for your coastal road trip.

Enola’s Ship Out

92351 Lewis and Clark Road, Astoria • facebook.com/ShipOutinc/

At Enola’s Ship Out, prepare for not only a freshly made meal, but a big one. Ship Out’s food truck is the place to stop if fried seafood is what you’re craving. The classic halibut or cod fish and chips are a fan favorite, but prawns, calamari, scallops or oysters and chips are other versions of the classic coastal dish. There are many fish and chips places to try on the North Coast, but Enola’s is one of the best. The batter is light and crispy, deep fried to the perfect shade of toasty brown. Lightly squeeze some fresh lemon juice over the top of the chips, and try some of their tartar sauce as a dip for the full experience. Owner Enola Baeten was a long-time employee of The Ship Inn on Astoria’s waterfront before it closed. Now she’s praised for her high quality and delicious seafood, from locals and visitors. The fresh food doesn’t stop when it comes to their classic All American Burger, either. Stacked high with toppings including Tillamook cheddar and wrapped together in a toasted pub bun, it’ll make your eyes feel bigger than your stomach.

Bucket Bites

490 W. Marine Drive, Astoria • facebook.com/BucketBitesAstoria

Located off of Marine Drive, Bucket Bites is one of the first food trucks you’ll see on your way into Astoria, and one of the first you’ll want to try. Their tasty, hand-crimped pasties and pies are so popular they often sell out. Pasties are a traditional Cornish English food filled with meat and vegetables, wrapped in a crescent shaped pastry. Some of their staple pasties are the Uncle Oggie, filled with slow roasted beef with diced potatoes, rutabaga and onion, or the Slater, filled with a house blend of ground beef, pork and bacon, alongside diced potatoes, sharp cheddar cheese and minced caramelized onions. If you’re looking for something sweeter, the Figlandian Gardener will most likely win you over just by reading the ingredients. The dish is filled with sliced honeycrisp apples and savory fig, walnut chutney and gooey brie cheese. Other fillings you might find are cherry tomatoes and mozzarella, sweet pears and toffee, or fresh local berries. They’re also known for their Squatch Egg, a hard boiled egg wrapped in freshly ground sausage and rolled in panko, then fried until crispy. It’s served with their Bucket Sauce, a peach and jalapeno mustard.

El Azadero

490 W. Marine Drive, Astoria

El Azadero is a beloved spot for Mexican food and flavor, all at an affordable price. The small street-style tacos come with a protein option of fish, beef or pork, and many customers opt to try one of each. A unique protein option they offer is lengua, which is beef tongue, that can go in a taco or a burrito. They also offer tortas, a veggie burrito and a bean and cheese burrito as meatless options.

Food carts at Astoria City Hall

Sasquatch Sandwich Shop

Also located next to Hamilton Market off Avenue U, Seaside • facebook.com/Sasquatchsandwichshop

Looking for a hearty sandwich? Sasquatch Sandwich Shop’s sandwiches — made from scratch — should check all your boxes. The Sasquatch Reuben has rave reviews and packs a punch with every bite of pastrami, Swiss cheese and pickled cabbage. Russian dressing and their homemade toasted marble rye bread are the finishing touches. Their pillow-soft homemade bread is what makes every sandwich on the menu a big hit. Curried chicken, prosciutto or crispy pork belly are features of their many unique options. Every sandwich comes with a side of spicy kimchi slaw, pickled cucumber salad or macaroni salad.

Surf 2 Soul

facebook.com/Surf2Souloregon

Despite being in a coastal town, Surf 2 Soul doesn’t shy away from the heart and flavor of southern food. What’s better than cornmeal-breaded shrimp atop creamy, cheesy grits, or some perfectly crispy fried chicken dunked in gravy? Their shrimp ‘poboy and salmon crab cake roll sandwiches welcome fresh seafood options to the menu. The mac and cheese is garnished with green onion to add a mild, fresh crunch. Surf 2 Soul’s creamy, cheesy meals are the remedy for the end of a long day or a nagging craving for comfort food.

Roll and Bowl

facebook.com/rollandbowl

Handmade sushi rolls and steaming bowls of ramen are made with love at Roll and Bowl. Shiitake mushrooms and fresh vegetables float around in Hojicha tea broth, made fresh daily, in their miso mushroom ramen bowl. For a complete flavor palette, add some house made kimchi or seaweed salad to your meal. The albacore tataki nigiri sushi comes laid over rice and brushed with white shoyu soy sauce. For a protein-free option try the tsukemono handroll, filled with an assortment of pickled vegetables. Delicious Japanese flavors swirl together at Roll and Bowl in their ramen, sushi and poke.

Good Bowl

facebook.com/goodbowlz

A good bowl of fresh, simple ingredients is exactly what you’ll find at this food truck. The bowls have beans, rice, locally sourced vegetables, coleslaw, cilantro pesto and various organic cheeses. The food truck offer tacos with a choice of chicken or veggies, and a side of rice, beans and cheese. The menu changes throughout the year. In cooler months the food truck serve soups and stuffed baked potatoes. They also have vegan options.

Food carts at Reach Break Brewing courtyard 

On Tots 

facebook.com/ontots

On Tots, located in the courtyard next to Reach Break Brewing, is one of the newest food carts in Astoria. Emily and Jordan Gagnon, a young couple from Astoria and Ridgefield, Washington, took over the established food cart serving seasoned Tater Tots with various entrees and toppings. The couple introduced themselves to Astoria last year, setting up shop twice in the parking lot outside Buoy Beer Co.’s beer hall at the former Video Horizons.

When they took over the food cart, they inherited a route of festivals to serve and put a down payment in August to join a massive new food cart pod in southeast Portland. The couple traveled to events from Renaissance festivals to book fairs. Last Christmas season, they took up residence at the Oregon Zoo during ZooLights. But when the coronavirus pandemic canceled public gatherings, and the new pod was held up, the Gagnons instead moved On Tots to Astoria. “During these crazy times we’re living in right now, to have a true community for support is definitely going to be really awesome,” Jordan Gagnon said.

— Edward Stratton

Mai Tong Thai Food

facebook.com/maitongthaifood

A wide selection of Thai favorites, from stir fry and garden wraps to fresh shrimp salad and pad see ew, are what makes Mai Tong Thai Food a favorite place to stop in Astoria. Parked outside Reach Break Brewing, the food truck is in one of Astoria’s best outdoor eating areas. Fresh, local ingredients go into every dish, and all main dishes are gluten-free. Sweet basil and fiery chili sauce make for a vibrant, fresh Thai flavor in the spicy basil stir fry, the perfect dish for a warm day. Make sure to complete your meal with a traditional Thai iced tea or their seasonal sweet sticky rice with mango.