Thai Food Factory

$ 7 for a decent lunch isn’t too shabby. Great portion, nice staff, decent food. Ordered the chicken pineapple fried rice. Just an FYI, this is the Thai curry version, which is pretty pervasive. It wasn’t bad, but even the sweetness of the pineapple can’t cut through. There were a few cashews thrown in there as well. I might try one of the noodles dishes at another time.

Truly a quality food cart. For the sake of simplicity; food was absolutely delicious (I tried my favorite dish the Panang Curry and Pad See Ew, along with the Pineapple Fried Rice. Well balanced meat, vegetable and rice, generous portions, good flavor, and wholesome satisfaction after finishing the meal. The owner is quite wonderful, and a very welcoming person. I will most definitely come again and recommend to all who love good Thai food and good a customer experience

Synopsis: Its name is accurate: a somewhat dialed-​in but fairly flat experience. This is yet another dime-​a-​dozen Thai food carts. There is nothing special about this cart. It has the typical menu you’ll find at any Thai restaurant in Portland (save for the adventurous street-​food restaurants); it was fine, but definitely nothing to write home about.
We ended up with the glass noodle special with shrimp ($ 8 for shrimp, $ 7 for chicken or veggies) and the panang curry (same prices). We ordered it spicy. It wasn’t. To round out our price limit, we opted for the $ 4 golden rolls, accompanied by a house-​made sauce and include veggies and glass noodles. Our total was $ 19. (NOTE: The Tom Kha looked compelling; according to other Unilocalers, it is. I should have eaten that.)
The glass noodle menu item was OK; the panang curry was typical, meaning it was pretty good. Nothing was spicy. Nothing was amazing. It was… food. And then we had the golden rolls, which were reminiscent of a deep-​fried Costco purchase. There were no glass noodles; it wasn’t home-​made, and there was no sauce. That sort of sealed the deal as a less-​than-​stellar experience.
Scores:
Time: Like a factory is wont to do, we got our food in under 8 minutes. NOTE: We’re eating later now (starting at 1 PM) so we’re missing much of the lunch rush now. Total eat time was about 35 minutes.
Value-​2: You can get $ 7 noodles at a Thai restaurant around the corner. It will be better by a small margin. But you’ll have to tip better, maybe?
Gut check at 3pm: I wasn’t hungry. But it was two prior… Still, I didn’t have dinner until much later than 6, so it stuck with me well enough.
Sustainability-​2: They used Go Box. I’m sure everything else followed the fuck-​it-​buy-​cheap ethic of purchase.
Fear Factor-​3: While the cart is clean, it’s also called a «food factory,» which is a bit off-​putting. Nothing else was really scary.
Staying Power-​2: It’s non-​descript. But it’s been around for almost 5 years. So, we’re not going to rule it out. But we also don’t see any reason why it should stay. It’s just… ho hum.
Creativity-​1: [Robot voice] WELCOME TO THAI FOOD FACTORY WHERE WE SERVE ALL THE THINGS THAT EVERYONE ELSE SERVES.
I’m willing to give that soup another shot. And I fully recognise this review is based on only one visit, so I don’t want to sell anyone short. I’ll update accordingly if I visit again.

I love this place for the food AND the people. My go-​to is the Tom Kha (just $ 6 with tofu/​chicken, plus white or brown rice), it’s always delicious, rich, and made with FRESH veggies (no canned mushrooms here, yuck!). I’ve gotten the yellow curry a couple of times, and it was great – restaurant quality for real cheap. Portions are a good size and good value for the price. Plus, the people are always friendly and the service is quick (in fact, the young lady who works there acted embarrassed and apologize profusely when I had to wait more than 5 minutes – of course it’s worth the wait). Highly recommended if you’re looking for cheap, quick, yummy Thai for lunch.

Great food cart! I’ve had their pad thai and their curry, both delicious. It’s also affordable and you’re served quickly. Will definitely go back for lunch!

Portions are hefty and the panang curry is restaurant quality. They do a very nice job with a friendly disposition.

Wow, I don’t understand their low rating! It was only $ 6 for a perfect lunch-​sized portion, which is off to a great start. Their special was stir fried asparagus which was hearty and crisp (it was easily ¹⁄₃ of a bunch of asparagus), with halved button mushrooms, strips of carrots and chicken in a clean but flavorful garlic sauce. There was a smaller portion of rice w/​a lot more veggies, which always leaves me feeling better about lunch. The cutlets of chicken were thin and well-​cleaned of their fat. I was able to substitute brown rice for white, which was nutty, chewy and perfectly cooked. Their menu wasn’t huge, but had plenty of variety
To top it all of, there was super friendly service, and the cart employees worked quickly together as a team so I could make the most of my short lunch break. I’ll definitely be back to try more! Plus they offer the GoBox option, which isn’t a guarantee with the Thai food carts. I ran into an coworker getting lunch there who says he comes here almost every day and I see why; this is the downtown Asian takeout I’ve been looking for!

Came here and grabbed some pad thai. I got back to my desk and was immediately super disappointed. The pad thai tasted like paste. I LOVE pad thai but this one had no flavor and the noodles were overcooked — just, blegh.
I was so disappointed that I took it back and asked to get something else. I went with an easy staple of salad rolls instead which are pretty good, but I’ll probably not go back to this cart again after that experience.

This is one of my favorite carts right now. I’ve only had the pad kee mao, but it’s pretty great. Lots of veggies, and pretty tasty. The food also comes out super quick, even when there’s a bit of a line. Asking for extra spicy will really just get you extra pepper flakes, but I still like it.
There’s another $ 5 Thai cart I really like, but this place is occasionally worth the extra buck.

Not that good.

I had the Chicken Pad Thai, great value for $ 6.00. I thought they used a little too much Sweet chili sauce. They had a large crowd during the lunch rush. Buy six get one free. you need their card and it’s good for a month.

The yellow curry. THE YELLOW CURRY!
It’s MAGICAL!
Giant tupperware of yellow curry for cheap = happiness
Heads up for people who are not spiciness wimps like myself: I like my curry not too spicy and it was spot on.

I had a red tofu curry here today. It was a sizable amount with green peppers, carrots, onions and strips of fried tofu, but the actual curry flavor was a little weak and the sauce very watery. It is about the same price as the other thai carts so I don’t think it’s anything special.

Some of the best Thai ever.
Chicken Satay, Yellow Curry, and Pad Thai… OMG
Sweet service, huge portions for ¹⁄₃ the price.

Bland Pad Khee Mao, even though I asked for spicy. Decent chicken satay and friendly service, but the other places (e.g. E-​San) are superior on flavor.

We ordered the chicken skewer with side of rice for my daughter and it was good. Friendly service.

I cannot believe the high ratings here. My pad thai lunch cost me $ 7. I asked for spicy and when I brought it back to work, the noodles were bland and there was absolutely no flavor. Felt cheated. =(

Ordered chicken satay. Great price considering the taste and amount of food we got. Love the little salad on the side, the peanut sauce is very creamy and rich.

Thai iced tea for 1.50! If you like it sweet, you’ll love the one coming out of this little food truck across the street from Magpies and Finnigans.
I also ordered the fresh summer rolls. two for $ 3 gets you a snack so hearty it can almost be a meal. They were made to order, so factor in some time, but super fresh and super delicious with a side of fingeer lickin peanut sauce. A touch more cilantro would have made the summer rolls perfect for me.

TRULY AMAZING AND YUMMY!!! I have been getting my thai food here for lunch ever since they opened and the food is so good! I always get the cashew chicken stir fry because that was the first thing I ever ordered and it was so good I crave it and never venture to try anything else. So today I copied my friends order of the chicken, lemongrass and cilantro soup but add noodles and holy cow, it’s my new favorite item. It is extremely spicy for me and I am a big wuss when it comes to spice (usually I get things mild), but the flavor is so wonderful that even though my lips are burning and can’t stop eating it because it’s just so good!
On top of having delicious food, the cart is clean and obviously well taken care of. The people who run the cart are always extremely friendly and proffessional. This is truly a 5 star cart, hands down!