Lonchera Brother Express

As I’ve said before, when you have the real deal why would anyone ever go to a chain burrito place? Lonchera is another great example of that.
On my first rainy day visit to Cartlandia, I was impressed by the variety of carts down here. Philly cheese steaks, Voodoo Donuts, a Thai/​Italian place, gyros, Chinese, papusas and of course Mexican. Out of the places open on Sunday, this one had the most traffic, so it seemed like a logical choice. They have many options for meals including tortas, tacos, nachos, something called a Hawaiian torta and of course burritos. There’s many choices for meat as well but I just wanted some asada. And they pack it full of meat along with beans, rice, cilantro and lots of onions. The burrito and a drink were a total of $ 7 (including a .50 charge for using a card).
The burrito was grilled perfectly and the two salsas I was given were rather decent, one had a nice habanero/​lime kick and the other a little more mild but just as tasty. Lonchera gives you a pretty good value for the money, it fills you up quickly and that spiced up, salty meat was perfect. I need to wander down here more often and when the weather gets better, I can see making my rounds to several of the places here.
Bring cash, because most of the spots are cash only, although there is an ATM in the parking lot.
Enjoy.

Ordered 1 sope vegetarian mmm. They were accomodating and honored my request to not deep fry the sope. I opened the container and all i could see was shreded lettuce every where. I couldnt find the sope, after searching around i finally found it. It was large and round, like a sope should be but; it really was not a sope, it was just a large corn tortilla. Sopes are supposed to be formed in disc shape big or small: and supposed to have deep edges all the way around almost similar to a deep dish pizza. The sides and edges are supposed to be much thicker and and have a pronouced edge then the center of the sope. and im not an expert but ive eaten enough of them to know. On this one at Lonchera Brother Express, was not a sope at all but an over sized corn tortilla. Mashed beans, lettuce (tons of lettuce) tomatos, avocado slices. I requested no cheese because they use chedder, and i requested no cream. My corn tortilla with every thing on top tasted ok, nothing outstanding. An expensive sope $ 4.50. I also ordered chillis torreados. They were perfect for $ 1.50 you get 3 or 4 chillis and lots of grilled onion.
I will give them another try.

I am confused on why this cart is always busy… to each their own. I respect and am happy that they are doing well, but I will not ever be coming back to this cart.
Their carne asada meat in their tacos taste like straight up rubber. Just doesn’t take like high quality meat, or really even mediocre meat… and not that I’m expecting filet mignon or anything… it just doesn’t taste good at all to me. AT ALL. I gave the rest of my meat to my puppy that I brought along.
The wait is insane. I was waiting in line … and once I got to the front to order, the guy cooking flipped the open sign to close and I was really confused. This is at 12:30 mind you, right during lunch time. I ask the girl if they are open, she says yes, and I go, why did your sign get flipped, and she goes «oh,» flips it and then asks to take my order. The guy comes back and flips it back to closed. Whatever, I get it. It was weird. If you are too busy to take orders, then just say something instead of being weird about it and confusing your customers or potential customers.
Also she took my order incorrectly and then didn’t give me the right change back. I stood there just counting and counting the money given back to me to ensure I was doing the math right and that I wasn’t a crazy person.
The closed sign is still up mind you.
So people are lining up (because it’s smack dab in the middle of lunch time)… and no one from the cart is greeting them or explaining what the eff is going on and people look really confused and perturbed and some even just huffed and puffed and walked away.
Anyways, this place really irritated me and the food was super MEH, so I just won’t be returning.

I love this truck. Excellent authentic Mexican. I continually order the Carne Asada Burrito, because it’s so good. Servings are generous. Service is good. Expect a 10 minute wait at peak lunch time.

$ 1 tacos are a rarity in this town, and these are well-​worth every penny. Al pastor was better than the carne asada (more marinated and flavorful), but at these prices who cares? Just get a bunch of ‘em to go and live off them for the next 48 hours.
The other prices are reasonable, too — tortas and burritos for $ 5 – 6. Will be back to try them.

This was some of the worst food cart Mexican I’ve ever had. I ordered two meals one Nacho and one chicken enchilada meal. The chicken in both meals was very very dry and hard to swallow without water. Very little cheese on the both the nacho and enchilada. Very Blah food! Will never eat there again.

There are a ton of food carts with very unique offerings at Cartlandia but Lonchera is clearly the most popular. My only «problem» with this cart is that it is sometimes so busy that it takes longer than you would normally expect for a taco cart. That said, there are a ton of taco carts in this city and I’m inclined to say this is one of the best. Nothing particularly fancy or unique but everything is fresh, reasonably priced and delicious. In addition, the family (husband, wife and daughter) who run this place are some of the nicest people you will ever encounter. One time recently I watched a dipshit junky kid try to pass off a counterfeit bill to the wife. She checked it with a pen (I could see from 3 feet away it was fake) politely handed it back and said «sorry but this isn’t real so I can’t take it.» Not the way I would have handled it but it’s not in their DNA to be anything but nice.

Not just the best cart, but the best authentic Mexican food in all of Portland. Yes, for real! The burritos are huge and cheap and FILLED with at least an entire chicken breast. And fresh, flavorful chicken, too. Like it came off a rotisserie that morning. Good carnitas also, but I keep going back for that chicken. Really good green salsa with just the right amount of kick for this gringa.
You might wait a bit, but it’s worth it. There’s a reason they’re so busy!

So so good! The best burrito ever, fajita asana burrito! There is quite a long line that is the con, however, good and inexpensive food. This will definitely be a dinner staple. Support Local!

This is the ONLY Mexican food this Cali native will eat. Growing up with amazing Mexican food, I am very picky about which places I will eat at. This food cart is ALWAYS clean. The food is always delicious, and the staff is super-​friendly. I have never had a bad meal here and I’ve eaten here about 10 times. Everything is fresh and made to order. Feels like I’m having a little bit of home every time I eat here.

I have been to this cart several times, and they have my favorite tacos. So wonderful and only $ 1. Meat is flavorful and comes with cilantro and onion. I usually always at least grab one taco even if I choose another cart, they are that good. I really like there salsa too, this place is really worth trying!

I visit this cart all the time.
It’s always consistently delicious and service is fast.
I highly recommend the chorizo breakfast burrito. It’s definitely enough to share.
Their guacamole is also to die for.

There conquistador burritos have chile relleno inside them & they are soooo delicious!!!

I have nothing bad to say about this place. They have great food at great prices. Cart is kept nice and clean. Try the Conquistador Burrito with Al Pastor. If you like burritos then order this beast and be happier than you have ever been. It has the most amazing flavors going on. Best burrito you can find in Portland. It’s enough for two meals!

Amigo! I had an incident with my soda (delicious hecho en mexico litre coke) and he was helpful with me trying to clean up and gave me a replacement soda for free. I ordered the Pastor taco and it was great

I love this place so much. The cubanito torta is absurdly big and delicious. Its got like four kinds of meats, two cheeses and egg. Its perfect.

Omg, so good. The Chimichanga is totally delicious and easy to split. The truck is very clean, uniforms and they are very friendly.

I can’t give this place more than 2 stars because they are very slow and I get charred remains in my steak.
It’s one of the more popular food trucks here but maybe because the $ 1 tacos draw people in.
Be prepared to wait, and wait.

Good food, i love their carne asada burritos. Best burritos ive had so far in Pdx, and i have tried many many places. Theirs is so big, i usually only eat half before im stuffed. i love that they dont make their burritos super greasy.
Their tacos are also good and unlike other places that have a «$ 1 tacos day» theirs are always $ 1. Also their green sauce is Super Awesome!

I’ve been to this place many times, and the food is great.
I’m knocking a star, because the pricing at this place is confusing. They have a huge sign that says all tacos are a dollar, and the one time I bring my parents here, they charged me a $ 1.25 per taco. When we asked for a partial refund, the guy working there first said the dollar tacos is only a certain day (which the sign does not indicate), and then he tried saying it was only for a certain type of taco (which also, the sign does not indicate). Without too much hassle though, we got the refund. Other than that, every time I’ve been here the tacos have been a dollar… so I don’t understand why that happened.
The food: The tacos are my go to. I’ve had the carne asada burrito, and the torta as well which are also good, however, for the tacos being only a dollar and for how good they are, that’s what I usually get. I get at least spicy pork, one chicken, and one carne asada (I say «at least» because I will usually get more than three). The meat is juicy, tender and delicious. They also double wrap the taco using two corn-​tortillas, in case the tortilla tears from the juices. Don’t forget to ask for their sauces, the green and the red.
I much prefer this place over Por Que No? Taqueria, which single wraps their tacos and charge around three to four dollars for the same quality food.
(Check my review on Por Que No? Taqueria here:
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