If you find yourself thinking about Taco Bell while wolfing down a G.O.A.T. taco at Matt’s BBQ Tacos, The Oregonian’s 2019 Cart of the Year, don’t worry, owner Matt Vicedomini won’t be offended. In fact, the unholy union of smoked brisket and pulled pork wrapped in mismatched cheese-stuffed tortillas, one flour, one corn, is something of an homage.
“I was thinking about Taco Bell’s Cheesy Gordita Crunch, the hard shell with cheese in the middle, the crunchy gordita outside. ” Vicedomini confirms. “I’ve been eating Cheesy Gordita Crunches since I was 15. I’ve probably eaten more of those than all the fancy food in Portland.”
It’s true. Talking with Vicedomini about food means frequent digressions into his favorite fast food chains (Taco Bell, obviously) or vegan tacos (Mis Tacones, a weekend-only cart found at the Food Fight! vegan grocery store, 11155 N.E. Halsey St.). But the G.O.A.T. (in the Michael Jordan, “Greatest Of All Time” sense) owes a bigger debt to Guy Fieri, the “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives” host who left his Flavor Town man cave in 2017 to try a similarly over-the-top dish at Vicedomini’s other cart, Matt’s BBQ in North Portland.
“It’s the Whole Shebamwich in taco form,” Vicedomini says, referencing the towering, multi-meat sandwich spiked with a bone-in pork rib that Fieri braved on Triple D.
But that sandwich is a stunt, an Instagram-baiting monstrosity that “you can’t even really eat,” admits Vicedomini, a Long Island native who first learned the smoked meat trade in Australia. The taco, on the other hand, is a masterpiece. And it might not even be the main draw at Matt’s BBQ Tacos.
That would be the breakfast tacos, a slam dunk combination of Texas-style smoked brisket or sweet glazed pork belly sharing space in greasy-good flour tortillas with eggs scrambled to order, roast potatoes and finely grated Tillamook cheddar. At their best, the tacos combine some of the city’s best barbecue, smoked behind the cart in the original Matt’s BBQ smoker, with a subtle crunch from the crispy home-fried potatoes (when those potatoes are soft, as they were on our most recent visit, the tacos are still very good; Vicedomini says he might be switching to fried potatoes soon to keep that consistent crunchy texture).
Nodding to the cart’s Austin inspiration, Matt’s cart-made flour tortillas are made with lard, which gluten-free corn tortillas come from Matt’s BBQ’s neighbor at the Prost Marketplace pod, Little Conejo. There’s always a vegetarian option, typically smoked portobello mushrooms, while the post-11 a.m. lunch menu is mostly egg-free, save for a migas taco spiked with crunchy little tortilla chips. Sauces are made at a commissary kitchen behind Eem, Vicedomini, Eric Nelson and Earl Ninsom’s Thai-food-meets-Texas-barbecue restaurant.
If you want to try Matt’s BBQ Tacos in its current cart form (and, at least so far, without significant lines), you might want to act fast. Vicedomini is already scouting out a brick-and-mortar, a place where he can serve those breakfast tacos all day alongside a lineup of fresh juices like the ones at Veracruz All Natural in Austin.
Between Matt’s BBQ Tacos, La Osita (one of The Oregonian’s best new carts of 2018), Bullard (Doug Adams’ ode to Texas) and standbys such as Pepper Box Cafe, Podnah’s brunch and Stella Taco, Portland suddenly has a respectable breakfast taco lineup. Add another great taco or two and we might soon take Austin’s breakfast taco crown the way we took their slogan. Keep Portland Taco’d.
8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday, 3207 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd., 503-956-7455
-- Michael Russell @tdmrussell
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