Fremont Garage turns old auto shop into food cart plaza
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Coming to Northeast Fremont this Memorial Day. Rendering: Courtesy of Catherine Faye Interiors
A 100-year-old automotive garage has been transformed into a food cart pod and community plaza on a popular stretch of Northeast Fremont.
The big picture: Once home to Barrett Automotive, Fremont Garage is opening just before Memorial Day and will host nearly a dozen food carts in a revamped, racing-themed space designed to feel less like a parking lot and more like a neighborhood "town square," general manager Tyler Caffal told Axios.
- "People long for more public gathering places," he said.
The lineup so far includes eight carts — Poblano Pepper, Best Shawarma, Wolf's Head Burgers, Sakura Yakitori, Que Bacano and Namo Buddha Indian Cuisine — a full-service indoor bar, children's play area and heated outdoor seating.
- The mix of vendors was designed to avoid overlapping cuisines and prevent competition with neighboring brick and mortars, said Caffal, who spent over a decade working in New York hospitality.
- Plus: The block next to Fremont Garage will pilot a seasonal public plaza with closed street space starting in July.
Zoom in: Portland's food cart scene has evolved in recent years from just a cluster of carts in a parking lot.
- Fremont Garage's owner-developer Daniel Silvey, of DBS Group, said tighter city rules around sewer and "gray water" infrastructure have fueled demand for professionally managed pods with permanent utility hookups.
- Pods like The Heist, Hinterland, Hillsboro Station and The Zipper also inspired the project, Silvey said.
The growing popularity of these more-permanent, theme-driven food cart developments function as neighborhood gathering spaces as much as dining destinations, he added.
The bottom line: Regardless of how prolific food carts are here, Portlanders still have an appetite for them.
- Fremont Garage received more than 500 neighborhood survey responses when the owners asked what the pod should include.
- "Portland is a naturally curious city when it comes to food," Caffall said, adding that we "love to see how many different types of food go with beer."