Garden Monsters

This place is so good! Never thought I could love salads this much, but I do and it’s because of Garden Monsters. The portions are huge and the flavors are great. I usually just get the bare minimum since it’s the cheapest; adding meat or different sauces cost extra. I love coming here and will always come back.

Food truck is rarely open when I go there even though its regular business hours. Usually out of vegan ranch dressings. When they’re open and have sw vegan ranch it’s good.

Not the best salad in portland

Garden Monsters is awesome! They have a very friendly staff, and delicious food. Being vegan is not a problem, they have tons of meat alternatives. My favorite thing on the menu is there version of the taco salad, I get the vegan version with soy curls and it’s amazing! I would recommend this to anyone!

I love garden monsters. Such a great way to get your fill of veggies and some protein without feeling bogged down around lunch. During the summer garden monsters is one of my go-​to carts and is super great at being accommodating for folks with different diets, so I highly recommend bringing some out of town diet strict pals here. The total Portland experience without having to worry too much.
Wish I could give them like 3.8 stars, but that’s mainly because I’m not patient enough to wait around more than 20 minutes for a salad to be made. I work on the street and would love to make garden monsters my go to lunch break spot, but it just takes waaaay too long! But if you’ve got time to kill, order a salad, grab a beer, and sit in the sun while you wait… for like ever.
Kyle I think it might be time to hire some more friends to help you out! (I’m sure cart space is limited but You have a great thing going, don’t make the turn around time your downfall!

This was the worst salad experience of my life. Due to all the greasy and fatty food I had been eating while visiting Portland, I was really craving a fresh, nourishing salad. I was pretty hungry by the time we got here since we had just finished a hike and had already failed at an attempt to go to a different healthy place.
When I think salad, I think «quick». I mean, how much time do you really need to order and prepare a salad? Apparently it takes enough time where you can pretty much walk a dog, pay the bills, mow the lawn, and brew a cup of coffee. (Not that I did any of this… I was just standing in line with a hangry look on my face.)
When it was finally time for us to order the salads, the worker stopped us and said she had to work on someone else’s order because he or she had a flight to catch. The line was not even super long. We already had been waiting a while so at this point, my friend grabbed us a mac n cheese from a different food truck and we FINISHED it while waiting to order.
When I finally got the salad, I was so disappointed. I forgot to ask for the dressing on the side so it turned out to be more of a dressing soup than salad. I ordered the avocado ranch dressing and it was just way too creamy. The salad did not have much of a taste to it and although it was fresh, it did not fulfill my desire for a hearty and crunchy salad.
I suggest going to the cheese shop next to it. The mac n cheese there was quick and delicious.

Forgot my chicken. Small portion can’t believe I paid 9 bucks for something I could have gotten from Safeway.
Happy to say the owner followed up and made it right.

4 stars for this one.
–amazing flavor and super tasty
–quick and friendly service
–kinda spendy ($ 9.50) for how much you get.
–I recommend the steak and potatoes

There still aren’t a lot of places dedicated to salads in PDX, but this place makes up for the deficit with the heartiest salads ever known. The food is super fresh and the recipes perfected — I just hope they don’t move.

The only think I don’t like about this place is it’s .3 miles further away than it used to be. But it moved six months ago so I shouldn’t hold that against them.
Salads are awesome. I’ve always loved salads. But the Monsters know some folks are skeptical so straight away YOU CAN GET STEAK ON THESE SALADS!!! Hallelujah mofos!!!
My favorite is the macho taco, but the caesar is pretty awesome. As is the Paul Bunyan and the cobb. Everything’s awesome. Go eat a salad.

I’m not really a big salad person… but sometimes you just need your greens. So when the family took a trip to Portland (and Portland has way too much good food for a city of its size) we started trying everything. My wife wanted some greens to counter all the voodoo doughnuts, Salt and Straw ice cream, and Pine Street biscuits.
Luckily this place was pretty close. We got a Hercules with beef. Loads of fresh veggies, great tasting dressing, and solid beef. It is a salad that I would be happy to eat for lunch on a daily basis (if they would open up in Chicago).

When I hear the term garden monsters it harkens back to a time in my youth when grumpy old ladies would holler at me for running through their petunias or messing up their perfect yard bark. I mean, if gardens aren’t for running around in, what the hell are they for?
Nowadays it stands for a food cart serving up a slew of tasty tossed salads. Variations on Caesar, taco, Greek, cobb and steak salads with a multitude of add-​ons ranging from meat to tofu to vegan chick’n, as well as avocado, bacon, etc. You can build your own from scratch or work with one they offer, while maybe adding on some avo or something. The size is right, the price is right, and the salads themselves are tasty. As a bonus, the dude can work with any sort of dietary restriction or intolerance, so vegan, gluten free, and paleo are all accommodated here. And don’t scoff at the vegan chick’n — it is the closest thing to chicken besides chicken, and as a recovering carnivore, I can vouch for that.
Dude who runs the cart is friendly. There’s a covered area with picnic tables for seating, and a beer cart next door if you want to go healthy/​unhealthy at the same time.
I’m all about more tasty salad options in Portland. There are few, and they’re often specific or overpriced. With Garden Monsters, you can get pretty much precisely what you want.
Oh and they’re tasty salads too.

I give myself a ‘paleo’ day every once in a while to counteract my love of bread and cheese. Garden Monsters is one of the best places in Portland to feed myself on those days.
The Paul Bunyan ($ 10) is pretty darn great and features grass fed steak, romaine & Iceberg lettuce, red potatoes, red peppers, red onion, garlic croutons and house made bleu cheese dressing. Add avocado for $ 1. Every single to-​go container, bowl, cup, lid and utensil they give you is 100% compostable. The staff are as friendly as they are handsome. What’s not to love?
This food cart pod has free live music Thursdays and Sundays. Grab a $ 4 pint of IPA from the place next door to Monsters («Hoppy Camper») for the ultimate experience, yo. Or go crazy and get a vegan cheese plate from their other neighbor (aptly named «The Cheese Plate»)…

It’s Monday, as in «I’ll start my diet Monday», Or maybe you’ve noticed liven’ the sexy #FoodPorn life has taken away some of your own personal sexiness. I feel you my friend.
Who gets excited about a salad? Not me. I get that those people are out there, but for me eating a salad is a service I suffer through for the good of my body. This ‘lil food cart puts out one serious salad. A filling salad! A salad you can be proud to call a meal! I had «The Hercules”($ 9.50), and if I could hazard a guess I do believe Kevin Sorbo would be proud. I had it with the grass fed steak, I was pleased to see that it was cut in big thick chunks. There was no lack of toppings. Black Olives, Feta, Red Onion, Green Peppers, Shredded Carrots, Pepperoncinis, Sliced Cucumber, Diced Roma Tomatoes, and Pita Chips were thrown in big satisfying handfuls. The dressing, which is made in cart, was perfect. Not leaving my salad sopping wet or leaving me hoping for more. This, is a salad I can get excited about.
Normally when that feeling rolls around that I need to have a salad I head to New Seasons or Whole Foods for the salad bar. Turns out, I can’t be trusted to pull together a good salad. I end up throwing everything on and paying over $ 10 for a salad with way too much going on (oh and how did that mac and cheese from the hot bar get in there?). For less money and more protein I would much rather head to Garden Monsters and let them do it right.
They have something for everyone. Paleo, GF, Vegan. Veggie, Meat fanatics, everyone! They’ll even turn that salad into a wrap if you’re on the go, or just prefer things burrito style. It’s a solid choice for when those salad days roll around. Don’t begrudgingly give into some boring salad! Have your #FoodPorn and eat it too without worrying about that waistline at Garden Monsters.

Grilled meat or go vegan with freshly tossed up and dressed up salads in cardboard brown boxes!
It was more or less $ 10 for a box of salad. I feel like 10 bucks for a salad is the norm these days… so the price is fair?
Ordering up the Paul Bunyan salad with grilled steak and light blue cheese dressing, hit the spot for the afternoon and sunny day!
Garden monsters is a food truck with a shared and communal patio. With shade, it is definitely convenient for lounging and enjoying the leisurely day.

I’m seriously addicted to garden monsters. I always get the Macho Taco done vegan (add vegan «chicken»). I can’t bring myself to order anything else because it is the perfect salad. The ingredients are all fresh and go well together but let’s talk about the true star of this salad … the vegan ranch dressing ! You won’t find this vegan dressing anywhere else because it is the owner’s very own recipe. My boyfriend orders different salads with meat in them and he is always satisfied but who cares I don’t eat meat so I can’t have a taste.
The owner and staff are extremely friendly and know how to handle a crowd. I’ve never been disappointed with my Macho taco, it is always as great as I remember it so I return and Order the exact same thing… Over and over… fast forward… repeat.

Read about how this cart was one of the top new places in pdx, so went there with a lot of expectations. Came back slightly disappointed I must say. Had the Paul
Bunyan salad with the avocado dressing which was slightly underwhelming. Te quantity if te salad and chicken was more than adequate. For the price I thought the salad would be a bit more innovative though.

Stopped by this group of food trucks and signage out front immediately caught my eye: Garden Monsters is rated the 3^rd best food truck in Portland? They must be good then. I was a little confused and underwhelmed to realize they sold salads.
But Kyle greeted us warmly, walked us through the menu, and made some recommendations. We went with his favorite, the Paul Bunyan with grass fed steak. Salad is brought out to us and served in those cute brown folding takeout boxes. The salad consists of Romaine & Iceberg Lettuce, Seasoned & Roasted Baby Reds, Red Peppers, Red Onion, Garlic Croutons, and his grandman’s bleu cheese dressing. In short, it’s amazing.
It’s «just a salad» but it’s packed with flavor. I’ve never thought to put the steak and potatoes IN the salad, but it works. The bleu cheese dressing is divine, and there was a plentiful amount of what seemed to be crumbled pecorino in there as well?
Cute food truck, friendly staff, and a product that is flavorful AND healthy. Good location, too.

Nearly a year after my first post on this cart, and Kyle’s cart is thriving! Great spring weather has resulted in record weekend sales here.
Additional menu items have been added, including a Macho Taco Soup and «Breakfast Monsters» (salads or wraps with eggs).
The «King of Clubs» salad ($ 6) sounded too good to pass up. A mix of Romaine and iceberg lettuce, diced Roma tomatoes, black olives, Tillamook cheddar, garlic croutons, and house-​made honey mustard dressing. Meat eaters can add bacon and choice of turkey or chicken for $ 3 more. Adding chicken and bacon just ups the heartiness.
A good-​sized portion for the money spent. Panda happy and satisfied.

I finally had a chance to try these salads that everyone rants and raves about. I mean, it’s a salad how good can it be? Well, that is exactly what the owner was going after. Making an impressive and satisfying salad and he nailed it.
We ordered the Paul Bunyan and it was loaded with potatoes, peppers, lettuce (obviously) and steak. Not just any steak, it was grass fed steak, and they were huge chunks. He doesn’t skimp on anything.
So now I’m the one ranting and raving about these salads telling everyone they must try them out.