Matt’s BBQ and Mole Mole Mexican Cuisine, Portland, Oregon Click Golden Barbie Link

We left Crescent City after an early breakfast at the Fisherman’s Restaurant, hooked east, and drove up I-5 to Portland. Everything was great, with little traffic and interesting scenery the entire way. We’d planned on easing over to our airport area motel, dropping our impedimenta, and then driving over to Matt’s BBQ for dinner. I was excited to try it. Back in 2019, Daniel Vaughn, the Texas Monthly brisket guru, pronounced Matt’s the best Texas style brisket outside the Lone Star State. Then we hit Portland. The traffic was truly appalling. After multiple GPS-suggested route changes to save six or seven minutes, after which our arrival time would recede ever further, we changed our plan, and detoured to Matt’s at 4233 Mississippi Avenue in the Mississippi Marketplace.

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The Mississippi Marketplace is a food court, a belt of food truck-type k

It’s also known as the Prost! Marketplace, as it should be since Prost! has the bathroom. The Marketplace is in a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood. Mississippi Avenue used to be the commercial area for Portland’s black community, Albina, but has changed dramatically over the past few decades.

We walked in and approached Matt’s spot

and checked over the menu. Learning that Matt’s had sold out of turkey, Nancy moved oof and scouted the other Marketplace options before settling on another booth, Mole Mole.

There she ordered two tacos, a chicken and a fish,

and an order of guacamole. Nancy reported enthusiastically that the tortillas were excellent, and from her Operation Smile missions in Latin America, Nancy knows tortillas. These struck the chord of authenticity. The fillings were fine — the arugula on the fish taco was a hit — and the guacamole added value as it usually does. All in all, Nancy was very pleased with her meal.

Meanwhile, I stayed at Matt’s and ordered a half pound of moist (fatty) brisket and, since they were out of jalapeño cheddar sausage, I ordered a regular sausage. I beguiled the short wait by strolling over to the nearest spot serving beer for a Silver City Hazy IPA. It hit the spot, the spot that desperately needs a hit after five hours on the interstate and an hour of stop and go in Portland.

My order was ready and I settled in to one of the long tables.  

That’s some delicious brisket. I asked for fatty and this was indeed fatty and full of flavor, excellent brisket. It is not, however, the best brisket outside Texas, at least not any more. So many places have sprung up cooking brisket the Aaron Franklin way that in some ways Matt’s is just another spot. Of course, “just another Aaron Franlin-style spot” is a great thing to have in your city. Rejoice and glad, Portland.

The sausage was another hot link, and a solid one.

Just look at that grind! And it was seasoned nicely indeed. I liked it a lot, but frankly, after the sausage revelations at Hootenanny’s and Southern Soul a couple weeks before, it’ll be a while before a sausage bowls me over.

You noticed the pickled cucumber and pickled onions on the tray, and they were a fine addition. With a food as rich as fatty brisket, you really want something sharp and tart to balance things, and these were just the ticket. They are so much better than plopping a treacly sauce on innocent meat and ruining it. And that was a good potato salad, not overdressed and not overcooked. Like all potato salads, it really could use some celery, but it was good withal.

After a good dinner, we walked around the neighborhood for a while in the desperate hope that the traffic would dissipate. It was a nice walk, with some interesting houses.

The traffic remained obdurate but, now fueled, we were ready to plunge once more unto the breach and made it to our hotel. We had a good night’s sleep as memories of gigantic trees, beautiful lakes, lovely dinners, and visions of sugarplums danced in our heads. It was a lovely trip, and I highly recommend that you plan a trip to Ashland, Crater Lake, and Crescent City, all capped with a visit to Matt’s and Mole Mole. Just avoid rush hour.

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And while you’re at it, click “follow” on our front page to receive blog posts in your email box. Or bookmark us and check in from time to time. We’re on Instagram  (johntannerbbq) and X/Twitter (johntannerbbq1). If you’re planning a trip, you can “Search” the name of the destination city, state, or country for good restaurants (in Europe, often close to sites, like the Louvre, Prague Castle, Vienna’s Old City, or the Van Gogh Museum, that you’ll want to visit in any event.  We welcome comments and questions, and eagerly seek suggestions of places to eat and stories to cover.