Hey, Susan -

You might know this, but I wanted to point out there are farmer's markets during the weekdays, too. One is on Wed in downtown, and there are two on Thurs - one in the Pearl & one in SE.

They are a bit smaller than the Saturday, but just as great. Cherries, raspberries, green beans & blueberries are hitting their stride.

Locations/times here:
http://www.portlandfarmersmarket.org/

I think it also has a lot to do with the real estate market. The county health dept has been flexible enough to allow carts to exist, but it is also private property owners who have been willing to rent spots to cart owners. In downtown, there are a lot of parking lots that have carts at their edges - a way to squeeze extra income out of their lot. My guess is on the east side (esp in North PDX), many land owners are waiting to develop their land when the real estate market grows again and in the interim, have found that carts are a great temporary way to earn $.

Perhaps the sushi restaurant your friend went to is Koji (in Lloyd Center area at NE 15th and Weidler). Weidler is to the north of Lloyd Center Mall and runs parallel to NE Broadway.

http://www.koji.com/locations.htm

There is also one downtown & a few other places. Koji has decent sushi, but I think it's worth going there more for their other entrees. Good Japanese food.

yes, exactly - it is messy, and so I wanted to be sure the person was prepared. They do a nice handwashing type thing though. The main problem with the couccous for the vegetarian meal was it was just that - coucscous & a scattering of veggies. I had couscous with my salmon, but I was able to use my salmon to scoop up the couscous. I remember the vegetarian seemed like she gave up about half way through her meal, not finishing her plate, and I suspect it was frustration from trying to scoop up couscous grains with her fingers! I have heard they will give you utensils if you ask. Citysearch has a ton of reviews about Marrakesh, and they're a real mixed bag - people LOVE it or HATE their experience.

Hawthorne Cutlery (I think that's the name) at around 32nd & Hawthorne is recommended. I haven't been yet (keep forgetting to take my knives out of the house with me!), but here's a link to another local foodie discussion about this:

http://www.portlandfood.org/lofiversi...

I went with a large group for a birthday party. It was fun. However, the website isn't clear - it shows that you can order ala carte items. If you go on a belly dancing night, however, you have to order a full meal (which inclues tea, 2 appetizers, choice of main & dessert, I think). The full meal was around $20-25, I think, which was disappointing to those who had looked the website & planed to order only an entree for half the price.

It was limited to vegetarians - one of the appetizers has meat in it, and the vegetarian entree was couscous of some sort (kind of a rip off for $20+). Plus, be aware you eat with your hands, so it was funny watching the vegetarian eat couscous! What a challenge! I had salmon, which was decent. It was fun overall - festive & different. I don't know if I'd go again, but it was fun to experience.

oh and look up the Willamette Week's cheap eats guide online - they usually list some of the food carts there.

Sounds like you're a Portlander since you mention Alberta - so many of these Seattle recs won't really help ya! The secret in Portland - especially in downtown - is that some of the best most affordable food comes out of these carts. Many folks start a cart business and later open a restaurant. Downtown, the cart owners do not have as high overhead costs as restaurant owners (rent!), so what you may pay $7-9 for in a walk-in restaurant, you can get the same (if not better) for $5 or less at a walk-up cart. There is a whole row of them downtown on SW 5th - I forget the cross street, but if you head north on 5th, they are past Washington, but before Burnside. You can find almost any type of food you could think of in this one block strip - from Russian to Mexican to Thai to sausages! My favorite is the No Fish Go Fish cart kitty corner to Pioneer Place mall - $5 for a soup (3 different kinds everyday) and 2 "fish" sandwiches (cornmeal fish-shaped filled sandwiches) - the cart guy, John is awesome! (check out their website www.nofishgofish.com - they list the soup menu for the week, so you can decide what day to go!).

Huh... I have been to this place several times before and usually had a great experience. It's always been very busy and entirely full when I've been there (at dinner time), so sometimes there was a bit of a wait, but understandable at it is a small place. That's too bad -what was their reason for not accepting your Entertainment card? Did they say? Did it not apply to certain hours or what? What time of day were you there?

Hmmn... I ride the train to Seattle pretty often. There is Zeitgeist, which is really more of a coffee shop, but I like the atmosphere there. You could get some good coffee and probably a pastry or bagel there - I don't know if you were thinking more of a hearty breakfast. If you walk out of the lower train station entrance and up the street, Zeitgeist is on your left.

For a lunch spot between Seattle & Canadian border, I would recommend stopping in Bellingham as it is about the halfway point, plus is one of the nicest towns north of Seattle. As well, I-5 runs right through it, so it will be easy to get on and off. I lived there for college, and haven't been back there in almost a year (actually I'm going this weekend!), so I know there are many new places. For tried and true, I would recommend Colophon Cafe - great sandwiches/soups- it's located in the Old Fairhaven area of Bellingham which is a really nice part of town. There are numerous other restaurants in that area, too, and shops/bookstores/coffee shops, so I am sure you will find something there. http://www.colophoncafe.com/ Also, if you really want to stretch your legs, I recommend checking out some of Bellingham's great parks - Boulevard Park, the Chuckanut Drive area (you can drive this route between Mt Vernon and Bellingham instead of I-5), and Larrabee are my favorite places & all have amazing scenery - the bay and such.