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3217 N Williams Ave., 282-2800, peoplespig.com. Lunch and dinner daily.
Pit master Cliff Allen ran a downtown food cart for five years before the owner of the Tropicana soul-food joint on North Williams Avenue retired. There's no beef on premises, where the meat is smoked in an ancient pit. People's menu is limited to three meats—ribs, pork shoulder and smoked fried chicken—and you only need one. That's not the ribs, trapped in flat and sugary sauce, and not the smoked fried chicken, an idea that seems stupidly brilliant until you try it. But that pork shoulder is a revelation. Call it pig brisket: These thick slabs of shoulder have a beautiful crust of charred fat to lock in the juices and are cut with the grain to give the muscle a pleasantly fibrous texture. It's more than reason enough to go. Pair it with the excellent greens and call it good.
Check out Willamette Week's 2016 Cheap Eats guide here.
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