The People's Pig

TGIFT - THANK GOD ITS FIRST TUESDAY (AKA: food truck day at work). Truck arrived at the building at 10 am and fired up the grills....the advertising aromas from the cookery seeped it's way into the office building and put my stomach into a frenzy for pork. I got the porchetta and was completely satisfied...that lemony after-taste is fantastic.
I have to say that one of my favorite things about ordering food from Portland food carts is meeting those people behind those tiny little counters that they serve from. Great guys at The People's Pig :)

I love the pork sandwich here. Always moist and flavorful and huge. There are a ton of food cart choices but if you are a pork lover like me give this a try. It has a nice Italian style and the fresh sourdough bread finishes it off nicely.

I usually take it down a couple of blocks to the square outside Ringside Fish Market. It might be called directors square and there are benches to sit on.

I asked the man at the window (Cliff) what was the thing to eat at his cart. He said that by far it was the Porchetta sandwich. Ok then, that's what I would need to get. The Porchetta sandwich is pork with pork and pork with arugula, lemon, roasted garlic and fennel pollen on a bun. Their porchetta was tender and moist. I love the smoked flavor. Each bite had different flavors from the elements that were included in the porchetta. The arugula added a wonderful bitter taste. I personally loved the whole garlic cloves that were cooked with the meat. Really yummy. Definitely a place I would be a regular at if I were a local. I'll have to bookmark their brick and mortar location to try in the future.

First, know this:
Porchetta /por'ket:a/ is a savory, fatty, and moist boneless pork roast of Italian culinary tradition.

Think of how accurate this is as you bite in to one of the porchetta sandwiches at The People's Pork. I got the one with cabbage and apples, which is the ultimate comfort food for today's freezing temperatures. The bread was all soft, chewy and buttery.

The sandwiches are a bit steep at $8, but there is a lot of pork and fillings. Choose between the cabbage and apples, arugula or maybe even some other options not on the menu (I think). They also have Soprassata listed on the menu. Someone report back on that one.

the PEOPLE's PIG rocks !!

their PORCHETTA is everything you could hope for in a sandwich. the peppery arugula and tart dressing (lemony enough to pucker your whole face) are great foils to the rich (and very moist) roast pork. the (lightly toasted) crusty roll was perfect.

my impression (and to be honest i devoured my sandwich with too much enthusiasm to have studied it in much detail) was that it was more of a roasted pork shoulder than a loin wrapped in pork belly but whatever cuts they used it was mighty, mighty goooooood !!!

power to the pig !!!

As I surveyed the food cart choices at the 10th & Alder lot, my eyes fell upon the People's Pig sign, and I knew there really was no other choice. I'm Filipino, I was honor-bound to try this cart; I just can't disappoint my people like that. All you other food stands can porchettabout it.

See what I did there? Yeah, that's a stupid porchetta pun. That's about as dumb as the sandwich was delicious. I'm salivating just thinking about those ciabatta buns hugging some tangy tart meaty-moist porchetta with arugula greens in a lemony marinade.

I have to stop now because I'm getting hungrier the more I write about it. Suffice to say, that sandwich was the kickoff to a kickass weekend, so big ups to the People's Pig for setting the bar high. (Do people still say "big ups" nowadays? It's probably just the hunger giving me linguistic flashbacks.)

The toasted roll (from Fleur de Lis) was perfect. The roasted pork (almost too much) was wonderful. Arugula/Lemon flavors were great. The problem?? It needed a bit of mustard, maybe a few onions and it would have absolutely be fan-worthy, possibly "WooHoo!". They change the additions everyday so maybe some of the other "sides" work better.

If you've got a dedicated, obligatory carnivore, they'll love it. I though it was, A-OK.

It was another chilly day in Portland, and as I was walking up and down the lot of food stands by 10th Ave trying to get warm, I caught an irresistible scent as I passed by The People's Pig. I stopped and stood in front of the stand and its giant chalkboard listing the sandwiches for that day.

Everything looked great, but the porchetta sandwich was the sandwich I needed to get. As I waited, I watched the owner working on another sandwich. The way he put everything together --how he carved the meat, how he tossed spices together, how he sliced the bread -- he nurtured the sandwich to its full tasty potential. He worked like an artist and I was entranced by how much care he put into his meaty masterpiece.

Once he finished up with my sandwich, I had worked up quite an appetite and was ready to eat. I found a place to sit in the park across the street and carefully unwrapped the sandwich, slowly releasing the fragrant lemon and garlic aroma. It was certainly love at first bite. The bread was spot on, the subtle flavors -- the citrus, the hint of spice -- complemented the thick cut of juicy porchetta. It was a good sandwich for sure. I could have used a bit more meat, but I don't know if that's because I'm just a pig when it comes to pigs.

I had my first porchetta here at The People's Pig food cart. The whole sandwich was put together in sunset have harmony with all the ingredients it blew my mind how good it was. I am always stingy and skeptical when it comes to food cart prices. $10 for a sandwich wrapped in paper and that's it? And I have to sit on the sidewalk to eat it? How can people make such good food in a dingy little food cart? It still puzzles me.

The pork was freshly grilled to order. We had to wait a little bit because he had to make my order since the lunch rush was over and he probably won't continuously grilling pork for the lunch rush, I think he took the extra time to make mine good!! It was served on a warm ciabatta bun and arugula, sliced in half to reveal the juicy goodness all contained inside the sandwich. The pork was the perfect balance between lean and fatty meat and tastes smokey good and flavorful. Very meaty sandwich.

There's a small wooden plank next to the cart where you can sit and eat. This food carting thing in Portland is such a fun experience! The friendly people, the crazy amount of food pods all over the city, the greenery, I can't wait to come back!

The pork, arugula, and lemon sandwich still has me drooling almost two weeks after I ate it. I need to recreate it at home ASAP.

Great service, decent prices, and good quality food.