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The Tidbit Food Farm food cart pod on SE 28th and Division Street was burglarized on Wednesday night, marking the fifth food cart burglary in the last two weeks.
Portland Mercado, Carts on Foster, Cartlandia and the NE 42nd Ave. Carts have all been the victim of recent robberies.
Will Hernandez of the hot dog cart Dog Town says this was the second break-in at the pod this week. The first time, only Garden Monsters was broken into, with thieves taking cash and an iPad. This time, several food carts were victimized, including Scout Beer, Dog Town, Garden Monsters and Tortoise + Hare.
"The stupid thing is that between everybody, I don't think we lost that much," Hernandez says. He says the thieves took a flip phone from Hawaiian cart Namu, and at Dog Town, only Halloween candy and $10 in tips were stolen.
"They stole the Reese's," Hernandez says. "They didn't want any Whoppers."
Hernandez says the biggest inconvenience is that they pried open his door to get in. Because of the break-ins at the Mercado and other pods, tracking down a new food cart door was especially difficult.
He says the break-ins are coming at an especially difficult time for food carts, as they're currently in their slow season. Yesterday, Tortoise + Hare was closed all day. Hernandez says he lost money by having to close the cart early to go pick up the door.
"It's frustrating because my neighbors made four times what I did last night," he says. "It could've been worse. I wasted some time and money, but I'll be all right."
Willamette Week