A small food cart tucked at 2788 NW Thurman Street has become one of Northwest Portland's most talked-about lunch stops, serving Mexico City-style tacos de canasta, pambazos and aguas frescas to a steady stream of regulars, hikers and delivery customers. The cart, called A Comer, has operated at the site near Lower Macleay Park for two years, after chef-owner Margarita Martinez started it as a farmers market stand back in 2022.
A Comer draws customers from well beyond its immediate neighborhood, pulling in regulars from Beaverton, Hillsboro, Vancouver and Portland, according to the Portland Mercury. The cart's name is a Spanish idiom meaning “let's eat,” and its tagline, “sabor mexicano de la jefita,” translates loosely to the Mexican flavor of the boss lady — a nod to Martinez herself, since jefita means boss lady. Before launching the cart, Martinez owned a street food stand in Mexico City, where she sold pambazos, sandwiches of chorizo and potatoes dipped in guajillo chile sauce and griddled, then dressed with sour cream, cotija cheese and lettuce, per the same account. She later worked as a cook at several Mexican restaurants in Portland, and family friends have said her food recalls traditional Mexico City flavors.
A Family Business Built Through Hardship
Martinez's path to opening A Comer wasn't a straight line. She was diagnosed with breast cancer during the pandemic and went into remission after chemotherapy, the Mercury reports; the cart opened as a food truck only after she recovered. Today, her children Eduardo, Isabel and Erik Estrada all help run the operation alongside her, handling the physically demanding tasks and working to meet her taste standards.
Erik Estrada told the Mercury that the family keeps working daily despite the challenges of cancer, and that their main focus remains providing good food to Portland residents. He said A Comer aimed to offer his mother's sazón, or personal touch, bringing that signature flavor to a new audience far from the Mexico City stand where she got her start.
Tacos de Canasta Rooted in Decades of Tradition
The cart's signature dish, tacos de canasta — literally basket tacos — carries a culinary history that stretches back to 1950s Mexico. According to Wikipedia, the dish originated in San Vicente Xiloxochitla, Tlaxcala, before spreading into a ubiquitous Mexico City street-food staple; Wikipedia says tacos sudados were eaten after a day’s work in the fields. The traditional method, as described by the MICHELIN Guide, involves layering tortillas in a lined vessel and letting condensation from their grease soften them. A Comer's version is prepared with chile oil and steamed until soft, then topped with a cabbage-carrot slaw, with fillings including pork belly, chorizo-potato, a soy option or beans.
The menu extends well beyond tacos de canasta. Tlacoyos, stuffed with mashed beans or cheese, arrive topped with cactus salad, queso fresco, sour cream and tomatillo salsa, and can be made vegan simply by removing the cheese and sour cream. Flautas come stuffed with shredded chicken or chorizo-potato. A Comer also offers four house salsas — smoky, house tomato, hot habanero and tomatillo-avocado — plus rotating aguas frescas that have included cucumber-lime, mango and taro horchata.
Recognition and a Prime Location Near Forest Park
The acclaim has piled up this year. The Portland Mercury named A Comer one of the city's top 20 food carts in its 2026 food issue, and OregonLive separately selected it as one of Portland's top 10 new food carts of the year, according to OregonLive, which based its list on culinary quality across the metro area's new carts.
Location likely helps too. A Comer's spot sits adjacent to Lower Macleay Park, one of the primary entry points Portlanders use to access Forest Park and its 30-mile Wildwood Trail along Balch Creek, according to Hikespeak. Nearby, the historic Thurman Street Bridge spans Balch Gulch; built in 1905 for the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition to open access to Willamette Heights, it's recognized as the oldest intact bridge span in Oregon, per the City of Portland. The NW Thurman corridor has long hosted Mexican dining spots, including a Cha Cha Cha Taqueria location that Hoodline reported opened at 2390 NW Thurman Street in 2020.
Reaching Customers Beyond the Cart Window
For customers who can't make it to Thurman Street in person, A Comer offers online ordering and delivery through Grubhub and DoorDash. The cart operates Tuesday through Friday from 11 am to 6 pm and Saturday from 11 am to 4 pm, and posts updates on Instagram at @acomerpdx.
