Good Eats: Scappoose food carts coming soon

The construction site off Southwest Old Portland road will soon be home to a variety of dining options for Scappoose and St. Helens.

The owners of the Big Food Cart and Brew food cart pod in St. Helens have broken ground on a project that would bring a new food cart pod to Scappoose.

Ground has broken on the project at the property, which is located at the end of South West Old Portland Road near Highway 30, right next to the “Welcome to Scappoose” totem pole.

Nick Hurliman and his longtime friends and business partners, Jeff Schultz and Matt McHugh, want to expand their food cart network into the Scappoose. Hurliman Schultz and McHugh have been friends and partners for more than ten years, and when the opportunity presented itself, they took advantage.

“We had an opportunity to start with the property in St. Helens behind the bowling alley. We’ve got that, you know, we’d say, thriving with food entrepreneurs; it’s a great little environment,” Hurliman said. “Just a good hangout on a lot of days. We’d always been kind of looking to do something similar in Scappoose, and when we found that property, that seemed to be like the perfect fit!”

Hurliman said they envision 11 food carts at the Scappoose location, along with a 2,100 square foot “lodge” in the middle that will feature a sports bar-like feel, with adult drinks and TVs. The hope would be to host events and live music for the community.

“We have young families and things; I have four kids, so having food choices when you go out to eat somewhere, you know, 11 choices, having that kind of selection, nobody has to agree,” Hurliman said.

Hurliman and his friends are passionate about food and are excited to bring more dining options to the area and a place where friends and family can come together.

In addition to the larger building, there will be a covered outdoor space and a more open area to host other activities. For example, Hurliman said they have already been in touch with a local cornhole league about potentially having a night during the week when the cornhole league happens at the cart pod.

While Hurliman primarily acts as a property manager and owner at the St. Helens location, he also is the founder and owner of the Hawaiian Plate food cart. In Scappoose, Hurliman doesn’t plan on having his own food cart in the pod this time. Instead will focus on the management and the bar component.

Growing excitement

The cart pod is not expected to open until next spring, but Hurliman said they have already garnered interest from potential vendors. They have been taking pre-applications at Hurliman’s accounting office, Hurliman CPA.

“We’re shooting for a spring opening, nine months out roughly. Through the winter, we’ll kind of finalize our list,” Hurliman said. “There’s been a lot of displacement in some of the Portland market. Some of those places got built up, or it’s tough; they’ve struggled with break-ins and stuff like that, too, so there’s been a lot of going out of town in all directions.

As of right now, Hurliman said there are around five carts that have already expressed interest. Hurliman is putting out the feelers as the plans for the opening day become more precise. Portrait Homes Northwest, a local construction company, is the general contractor on the project.

As the vision comes together, Hurliman sees this development as a big opportunity for the community to see not only more food options but chances to use the pod as a hub in the community.

“When you look at the diversity of food, we just don’t have a lot of diversity in our food offerings in Scappoose. And it makes it hard for newcomers, as well as the longtime people,” Hurliman said. “Just to get some more food choice in the community will be huge. And just to be another gathering place, you know? What we’ve talked about a lot is, ‘We can be the spot where everybody could grab dinner before the sporting events at the high school.’”

Hurliman hopes there will be all types of cuisine at the pod, from Indian food to Thai, to gyros. For the foodies of Columbia County, next spring can’t come fast enough.

“It’s going to be exciting. I get pumped up talking about it,” Hurliman said.

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