Credit: Lisa Congdon

Information for Food Cart Owners

Updated Sept. 12, 2023 3 min read

At Travel Portland, we know visitors are excited to explore our acclaimed food cart scene, but often don’t know where to start. To help, we’ve created two free tools to help them find you: 

• Food Cart Finder – Our “Food Carts” article features a searchable directory that lets visitors discover food carts by cuisine, trademark dishes and dietary needs.
• Near Me Now – This map-based tool highlights fun spots near a visitor’s current location, including food carts and food cart pods. 

If you operate a food cart in Portland with a permanent or semi-permanent location, we would be delighted to include you in both tools at no charge. Refer to the information below for next steps and frequently asked questions.

Next Steps 

The next step you should take depends on your current status in Google Maps. Which one of these situations applies to you? 

Possibility 1:

My cart is listed on Google Maps and I have claimed my business listing. 

Awesome! Check to see if your cart appears in our Food Cart Finder.

If it does, check your listing. If you think we’ve miscategorized your cart, email us at community.engagement@travelportland.com to let us know. All the other information we display is pulled from your Google Maps listing, which you can manage through Google My Business. 

If it doesn’t, email us at community.engagement@travelportland.com with the name of your cart, a brief description of what you serve and links to your website or social media feeds (if you have them), and we’ll add you straight away!

But wait, there’s more! Travel Portland has partnered with Portland startup Locl, whose free online tools can show you how to optimize your Google Maps listing, improve your presence in mobile web searches and find out exactly how much business your listing is driving. Travel Portland is covering the cost of this program through 2021 for all visitor-facing businesses, including yours!

Possibility 2:

My cart can be found on Google Maps, but I have not claimed my business listing. 

First, attempt to claim your listing through Google Maps: 

1. On your computer, open Google Maps. 
2. In the search bar, enter the name of your business. 
3. Click your business name in the search results. 
4. Click Claim this business   > Manage now. 
5. Select a verification option, and follow the on-screen steps. 

Once you’ve claimed your listing you’ll be able to manage your cart’s details via Google My Business. Then, if your cart is not already listed in our Food Cart Finder, let us know by emailing community.engagement@travelportland.com and we’ll add you.

Possibility 3 :

My cart is not listed on Google Maps. 

Do you have a permanent or semi-permanent location for your cart, e.g., somewhere you can be found on a consistent basis? If so, attempt to add your business to Google Maps by following these instructions. 

Once your business has been listed, you should be able to claim that listing and manage it through Google My Business. Once you have this up and running, let us know by emailing us community.engagement@travelportland.com and we’ll add your cart to the Food Cart Finder.