Pad Kee Mao Thai Food

Friendly, quick service, good prices, but the food was just ho hum. Had the pad thai with tofu — medium — but it was way hotter than a medium and the complexity of flavors just wasn’t there. Also had the pad kee mao with tofu — medium — and it was completely lacking in any spice! Was bummed by the inconsistency of the spice levels. Next time I have a hankering for quick food cart thai in the area, I’ll go to Noy Viet Lao.

there’s a LOT of thai food in Portland… this is the best I’ve had. I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve ever ordered here and recommend it to anyone asking for Thai in SW Portland.

Got the pad thai and spring rolls. The pad thai was okay, not a lot of chicken and all the noodles were stuck together making it difficult to eat. Unfortunately I got here as the school was letting out for lunch so it was a bit crowded, maybe the rush had something to do with the food?
The spring rolls were pretty good as well.

Food truck decorum can baffle me. After ordering, do you linger by the register or find a seat? What if the seat is far away? What if the line is too long? In retrospect, the answer seems obvious: it doesn’t matter. As I waited to eat at the Pao Kee Mao food truck however, surrounded by chatty high school students, I wondered, «Am I being a dweeb?»
Luckily, I did not dwell on that pressing question for long because my food was ready in seven minutes: a Thai Iced Coffee ($ 3) and Chicken Pumpkin Curry ($ 7). Originally, I was going to order a small coffee but the cashier tipped me off to the 50 cent charge on credit cards for purchases under $ 10. Good service!
The curry is delicious. It’s spicy enough to get your nose runny and the pumpkin taste is subtle. I’m not sure if it was the cook’s intent, but the bell peppers were crunchy. Raw or cooked though, bell peppers taste good so I’m not complaining. Random bites of the curry, however, tasted like soap and the curry to rice ratio was 6:1. And the iced coffee, while also very good, occasionally tasted grounds-​y.
Pao Kee Mao is tucked between competitors ‘Zeek’s Cheese Grill’ and ‘Taco City’ in the Hillsdale Food Park. They seem to share an open seating area with benches, tables, and umbrellas. When I went, on a late Monday afternoon, Pad Kee Mao was the only one open. I can’t speak to why it’s a better pick than its neighbors. I can say it was cheap, quick, delicious, and worth a visit.

Delicious, inexpensive, and fast service. Arguably better than any of the Thai restaurants in the Portland area. The workers are kind and have always gotten my order right — no matter how complicated! I love their pork potsticker appetizer and yellow curry. The yellow curry is delicious mixed with Sriracha!

Life changing $ 6 Chicken Pad See Ew (medium spicy). My favorite culinary experience when I visited Portland. The experience of standing in the cold in late-​November on the streets of Portland, sharing a plate of steamy spicy savory noodles with a dear companion is not one to to be missed.

Love this for cart! I go here all the time and have gotten almost every dish, and I can definitely say that it’s done of the best Thai food in sw. Curry, Tom yum, pad kee mow, pad see ew, pad Thai are the best!

Five star food cart food. To start with I think their potstickers may be the best in town, restaurant or cart.
We had the classic pad Thai and the drunken noodles. Both were excellent. The whole meal for the two us was under $ 20.

Delicious and fast. They have a crazy cheap side of veggies too.

I love the Hillsdale food carts, they are quiet and understated. They are under some beautiful trees with tons of seating and a natural play area for kids. We find ourselves here for dinner at least once a month. The Mexican cart always smells so good, but I always end up eating here.
I really enjoy the food here because it is fresh and not overly oily. We enjoy the pineapple rice with big chunks of pineapple and cashews. The basil chicken has also become a favorite. This dish is traditionally made with ground meat, but their version has slices of moist chicken. It’s like the best stir fry you’ve ever had. There’s a little sweet and a little heat. We also tried the Pad Thai on our last visit and I enjoyed it. I used to love Pad Thai, but now I find myself hating that greasy red sauce. This one felt fresh and not greasy. It was really tasty with a squeeze of lime. My only complaint was that I would not be able to eat the container myself. It’s a little too savory to be your entire meal, but if you split that and something else with a friend you are all set.
This place is definitely worth a try if you want fresh, hot, delicious, thai food.

Pretty good sized for a food cart. Tons of choices. Bubble tea on a hot day, oh yeah. Also nice for some spring rolls if you chose to cart hop.

I ordered the eggplant stir-​fry, and it was so good I ordered it again 2 days later! The salad rolls were a bit on the small side, and the peanut sauce was way too sweet. Good service. One downer was the $ .50 charge for cards, but it was still worth it :)

YUM! Great food, great price! And bonus that there are actually places to sit in this great food cart pod in Hillsdale. Love it!

Pretty good Thai food. Could use a few more veggies in the yakisoba, but overall it was a good value for the price. The choices are slim on our side of town and this was better then most. We will be going here again.

Finally walked up here to see what all the hype was about. I ordered a Veggie Pad Thai and it was just ok. Nothing special about it. Probably wouldn’t go here again. Much better Thai food carts and restaurants in town.

The pad see ewe was so good! Best I’ve had in a long time! The food cart pod is a really nice environment, too. Pleasant: trees, picnic tables. I went on a Saturday. I would guess that weekday lunches would be packed with Wilson High School kids.

I had the Mr. Miyagi Chicken sandwich. Are you kidding me? It was the best damn chicken sandwich I’ve ever had… and the chips were piled high. All for like $ 7 or $ 8. Great find. Keep up the great work. I will be back.
Dan M.

Keep in mind I am not a food cart fan. Meaning thats an automatic best 4 possible.
The OMG is OMG delicious. Its a egg roll with Crab and cream cheese. They gave me a sweet and sour sauce but that just confused the flavor. It was like the intermezzo between rolls to clear the palette. I also had the yellow curry. Love the creative way they sliced the carrots and potatoes. Its just a positive visual taste effect. Now here is where they lost a star feom me. The curry was a little soupy. I prefer just a little thicker curry. They gave me a small amount of rice which was slightly over cooked. Both of those things combined add up to a star for me. Remember though four is the best I will give a food cart. The flavors were great and the service was pretty quick considering four of us ordered meals. I would recommend this Wilson High School food cart area. All the carts were friendly. All stated they had daily specials. They all accepted all credit cards. Parking is a slight issue. There is a tented seating area. It seems to capture the wind rather than shelter you from it. The food is worth it.

This place rocks! The service is always prompt and friendly. It’s right by Wilson high school but the food is seriously scrumptious. She has an extensive menu for a food cart and nothing has ever let me down. I’m a big fan of the mango curry, she uses fresh chilies if you ask for it spicy! For $ 6 you really can’t beat it.

A damn fine pad se ew! Looking forward to trying more here and reporting back. It’s in the Hillsdale food pod court thing which is awesome in itself.