Merendero Estela

"Merendero Estela, a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it vermillion cart with covered picnic tables, makes the case that Portland needs more Honduran restaurants. Located along a stretch of 82nd populated by used car lots and vape shops, this is the spot for baleadas, plush flour tortillas made à la minute, filled and folded with refried beans, cotija cheese, and crema. But what makes us regulars is the winning combo, pollo con tajadas. Calling this dish fried chicken and plantains doesn’t really do this pile of green banana chips and burnished thighs blanketed in cabbage, red pickled onions, and a creamy mayo-based sauce justice." - krista garcia

"Merendero Estela, a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it vermillion cart with covered picnic tables, makes the case that Portland needs more Honduran restaurants. Located along a stretch of 82nd populated by used car lots and vape shops, this is the spot for baleadas, plush flour tortillas made à la minute, filled and folded with refried beans, cotija cheese, and crema. But what makes us a regular is the winning combo, pollo con tajadas. Calling this dish fried chicken and plantains doesn’t really do this pile of green banana chips and burnished thighs blanketed in cabbage, red pickled onions, and a creamy mayo-based sauce justice." - Krista Garcia

"Merendero Estela, a Honduran food cart just a few blocks north of Cartlandia, specializes in pollo con tajadas, a.k.a. “chicken with very green bananas,” an underwhelming name for a princely basket of fried chicken and sliced tostones, nestled next to a bed of shredded cabbage and pink pickled onions. For something simpler, the cart’s baleadas — soft, handmade flour tortillas folded over refried beans, cotija, and crema — are hard to beat." - Krista Garcia