Verde Cocina

Tried this place during the Portland farmers market. I did have to wait a bit in line but totally worth the wait. They make the corn tortillas and grill fresh veggies right in front of you. It’s amazing. I got the chilaquiles with fresh mango juice. It did not disappoint. It was the most unique chilaquiles I’ve had… But in a good way. They were covered with fresh kale, cabbage and other greens and yummy authentic Mexican cheese. The mango juice was great as well. Totally recommend!

First, I did not have any of their alcoholic drinks, maybe I should have … They have a decent happy hour menu where the portions are one serving and half off the regular menu price. So now for the food, it’s not bad, it’s definitely very fresh tasting and they use local veggies but it didn’t remind me of Mexican food that I’m used to. I was happy to be able to order some vegan food (tofu with veggies) for the mole dish I had, it was good, but it wasn’t great. The ambience was very family-​friendly and less out-​with-​friends-​friendly, sadly. The chairs were incredibly uncomfortable! Remember to ask for a booth or regular wood chairs; the metal chairs suck. It was hard to sit up straight and they hurt the back of my legs.
Service: When I first walked in and sat down before the hostess podium (I was waiting for my bf), the host asked me if I had been helped, from which I replied that I was waiting for someone, he looked at me like I was a low piece of poop, it was weird. I just didn’t like the vibe I got from him. Anyway, we were seated and had a different server who was way nicer!
I recommend trying other Mexican places before going here.

I met family while traveling who live nearby and recommended this place for breakfast. I ordered the paleo breakfast with bacon chunks, lots of grilled veggies and added fried eggs. I would have given this five stars but my plate was flooded with juice from the veggies. Nobody else in my group who ordered the paleo breakfast had this issue. The bacon chunks were the most delicious pork belly. They were so flavorful and I gobbled up every last piece. Plan a trip to the Portland State Farmers’ Market and come hungry. It was a fun morning adventure!

The male server is very rude and condescending. I took some clients out for lunch and he made them feel very uncomfortable. Will speak with management about his bags joe.

I’m a big eater. I like big servings and big flavors, so the fact that half of what they called huevos rancheros ended up in the trash is decidedly unlike me. I ordered at the Pioneer Square Farmer’s Market, and although it was well after opening, they weren’t ready for customers. That’s fine, but then tell me rather than taking my money and then leaving me standing around for ten minutes. Their menu says that huevos rancheros is two over easy eggs on top of homemade tortillas with freshly grilled veggies, white bean mash, cheese, and ranchero sauce. Yum, right? Except that the bean mash isn’t mash at all. It’s whole garbanzos, which is just weird and kinda gross. And my over easy eggs? Cooked about twice as long as they should have been, one with a broken yolk, and the other cooked so hard that no yolk drizzled out at all. These were more than over hard. And the veggies? Not crispy, caramelized deliciousness that comes from grilling, but rather steamed under a dome with no flavor at all. And the tortillas were a thick, gloppy mess. I didn’t taste anything at all from the ranchero sauce and had to add my own hot sauce to get any flavor at all. Honestly, if I had eaten this on site instead of walking a few blocks to sit down, I would have asked for my $ 8 back. This all makes me pretty sad because I love that they use fresh, local produce. It all looked beautiful, but the execution was one problem after another.

BYOBT!!!
Build your own bacon tacos!
Instructions
Order a side of bacon. Best in town.
Order a side of guacamole. Best in town.
Order a side of house made, fresh tortillas. Best in town.
Assemble and devour!
That is all you need to know.
Verde Cocina La Perla kicks ass and balls!

Same goodness of ingredients, corn GMO free, organic, local and fresh everything! Same as any of the VC stores. I always go to the one in the Pearl and love it. Now we’re here outdoors in the South Park Blocks, PSU farmers market enjoying our breakfast quesadilla with big chunks of chorizo sausage, cojita cheese, fresh green beans, carrots, cabbage, onion and zuchinni on crispy & hot tortillas made only minutes ago.
Got to shop now at some of my favorite local farmers. Tomatoes have been in season a few weeks now and I’m making fire roasted tomato soup today.

Great Mexican food at a reasonable price and really nice environment. Service was EXCELLENT! I got the pork enchilada special and it was delicious! Great recommendation from the waitress! They get 5 stars from me for being excellent at what they are going for and having very unique and delectable dishes.

De lo más desagradable el servicio pésimo 40 minutos esperando la comida! Cuando sólo tenían 2 mesas! Y la mesera que nos atendió de lo más incompetente! Tenía que buscarle la cara para pedirle más café :(

Stopped by for lunch recently with some colleagues from work.
I had the special — a pork tamale, with a salad on top, and a sunny-​side-​up egg, and verde green salsa.
It was good. The ingredients were high quality — particularly good cheese, and the egg was a nice touch.
But like so many places in the Pearl, the prices were just so high. And the portion size was just OK — fine for a lunch, but certainly not exactly enough to take some home for later. My final impression was «yea, that was fine, but I probably won’t be back».
Honestly I’d probably just as soon go to Chipotle down the street for a larger burrito for half the price. But if you want to try something new, give Verde Cocina a shot — maybe you’ll find it to be more special than I.

chilaquiles. thats it. just get that! can feed two people for breakfast easily!

With the amount of people that surrounded their stand at the farmers market, I expected better than mediocre food. I had the buenos dias breakfast, which sounded mouth-​wateringly delicious… Eggs, mixed veggies, salsa, and bacon, all atop garbanzo bean mash. It was decent, bacon was the best part (as it is THICK, almost pork belly-​like); but the garbanzo bean mash was really just garbanzo beans, no mash about it. The eggs were scrambled, nothing special.
I guess what irked me was that the woman taking the order seemed rather impatient and perturbed by all her customers, far from friendly.

I got a heaping plate of sauteed vegetables smothered with mole sauce and tofu, topped with a fried egg and freshly made tortillas. The tofu was perfectly cooked. lightly fried on the outside and semi firm inside. I could barely finish my plate but didn’t feel heavy or gross afterwards.

Gluten-​free kitchen! The delicious verde bowl with chorizo was perfect.

To be sure, Verde Cocina is not your typical Mexican spot. It is Mexican food done farmers market fusion style. Appropriate since Verde Cocina has a stand at the Saturday Portland Farmers Market at PSU.
I had just got off a bus from Seattle just before the farmers market was closing. I decided to walk up a few blocks to the market to get some grub. My stomach was not feeling well, so I was looking for something that was a bit lighter on my stomach.
I noticed a few market goers were eating some huge plates of Mexican food. Except they didn’t look like your usual Mexican fare. So I headed for Verde Cocina to see what they are about. There I saw some huge mobile grills cooking up tons of vegetables. It became clear that this was a decidedly Portlander Mexican spot.
The food here including the tortillas are gluten free. Items on the menu include Mexican breakfast fare like huevos rancheros for the early part of the day as well as more typical lunch fare like quesadillas and gringas. They offer vegetarian and meat versions of these items. Though the pricing is understandably higher if you want meat. Prices range from $ 8 – 12 here, so it is a bit more pricey than eating at one of the food trucks on Alder down the street.
I decided to give the gringas con mole a try. They were out of braised pork, so I decided to get a chorizo version ($ 9) instead.
The plate I received was a huge heap of food. Though the size of it was large, the food was kind to my stomach. It had a lot of veggies that you wouldn’t associate to Mexican food like carrots, garbanzo beans and kale. The mole sauce went well with the chorizo. But I feel that the farm fresh veggies are what makes this dish shine.
If you are particular about Mexican food being traditional and authentic, look elsewhere. Though if you want to try a different take on Mexican, give the Verde Cocina stand a try while at the Portland Farmers Market. It will make you rethink your thoughts on how Mexican food is prepared.

So delicious!
The tortillas are insanely good. The vegan options are delicious. The food is fresh and not heavy. So good!

AWESOME, awesome place.
While vacationing in Portland my friend and I heard great things about the farmers market, so after running a 5k in the morning, our hungry stomachs ventured through the bustling market. As a Midwesterner with access to numerous mediocre farmers market, I was blown away by the support of the community this market had. Everyone, I mean everyone had a bag stuffed of fresh veggies from local producers. And while that may be the whole idea of a farmers market, I all too often see only a trickle of people buying a few peaches or tomatoes in the farmers markets around home.
After perusing the vendors and buying some fresh produce, I was ready for a meal and verde cocina caught my eye immediately. I saw fresh tortillas being pressed and veggies cooking on an open grill with wonderful aromas hitting my nose as I walked by. I knew I needed some of that food in my stomach pronto! My friend and I opted to split an order of the «gringas», which was an awesome decision! It had a great texture from the mix of garbanzo beans, crunchy veggies, all made better with the complex flavors from the mole sauce. All-​in-​all, just the lunch I was in search of.

Heuvos Rancheros? Yes please.
What better way to start a Saturday with freshly made tortillas and grilled veggies, great eggs, delicious (and hot) salsa? Tack on some fresh agua, that’s how! If this doesn’t sound appetizing, they serve the «Buenos Dias» with bacon.
Friendly staff, and a cute kid. Definitely check it out!

All the ingredients are fresh, all of the service is friendly. But the pork? That was flavourless. And the kale and chard on my quesadilla? Interesting, but sure as fuck ain’t Mexican.
It has a lot of potential. My appropriately named Gringa Molé looked distinctly Portland, with the pile of greens over the delicious molé sauce. The problem was, there wasn’t enough sauce for the meat, and the meat was unmarinated and watery-​tasting. The vegetables were boiled-​tasting, with hardly even a taste of salt.
Really, the whole dish could have been helped a long way by just a little bit of spice or marinade.
Again, I just want to say the service was friendly, even if the food wasn’t to my taste.

As my husband and I were walking through the Farmers Market looking for something good to eat, we couldn’t help but hear the sizzle coming from this stand. As we got closer we saw TONS of fresh veggies grilling on a giant flat grill, a woman making fresh corn tortillas, and someone else grilling fresh salmon steaks and other meats. We got in line immediately.
We’ve been a few times now and are absolutely pleased with the food. It’s not weighed down my grease and cheese. It’s healthy, fresh, and the pile of grilled veggies, fruits, and protein that are stacked on your plate will definitely fill you up in a good-​for-​you kind of way.
Everytime we go back the line seems to be longer but it’s worth the wait! Love love love.

This PSU Farmers Market Food Stand is really changing the face of Mexican food in Portland. Maybe in California it’s about grande greasy burritos filled with a pound of artery-​clogging meat, but in Portland it’s about health and environmentally conscious Mexican food — hand-​pressed corn tortillas, fresh grilled assorted vegetables, and time-​honed sauces. We had the gringos, but the star of the plate wasn’t the pork in the tortilla, but everything around it… grilled apples, kale & bean salad, warm tortillas and mole. Refreshing, rather than gut busting.