Bari Food Cart PDX recently made Yelp's list of Top 100 Food Carts, which is how I first heard…read moreabout it. I think I may have also seen it on a YouTube foodie video.
My grandpa was from Bari, but he died when my mom was a little girl, and I don't really know much about Italian culture. So, when I read about panzerotti being a traditional street food, I was intrigued.
The first time I stopped by, I came just because I was in the neighborhood, without realizing that I wasn't even hungry until I was about to order. So, on that occasion, I just had a cannoli.
The food cart was a little bit hard to find, because it's sort of tucked back behind all the other carts in the food court. Once I found it, I was relieved that it looked cleaner than some of the others.
The owner was super friendly and warm, and it didn't take very long at all to receive my food (on either occasion).
The cannoli was filled with fresh ricotta and lemon juice, and the shell was just perfect-- crunchy, but not stale, and a little sweet, but barely. Definitely one of the most "authentic" cannoli I've had.
Next time, I came hungry, and ordered the Country Panzerotti, which is a fried dough shell stuffed with mozzarella, fresh/canned tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, basil, pesto, and chicken.
While the concept sounds similar to a calzone, the fried thin-crust crispy shell just brings it all to a whole new level.
Tomatoes are definitely one of my favorite foods-- I could eat them every single day, and usually do. So, the multiple kinds of delicious tomatoes really hit.
Everything here tasted super homemade to me. It was all was so fresh and bursting with flavor. It was definitely a hearty meal-- nothing light about it.
The portions were HUGE, and I was unable to finish them alone. I saw on Yelp that they've previously had mini panzerotti, and was hoping they would have them when I was here, but they did not.
I was only able to finish about a fourth to a third of my panzerotti before needing to put the rest away, and unfortunately, it was not as good reheated. The crispy shell had gone soggy from the fillings, which compromised the overall experience.
I would have a hard time justifying buying another full-size one by myself, since it's so much better fresh, and I can't finish it while it's fresh.
But the food here was soooo good, and if I had someone to split it with, or if they brought the mini panzerotti back, I would definitely come back again.