Garden Monsters On Division

I frequent garden monsters once a week and drive 20 mins one way to do so. I love salads and have eaten at every salad spot in Portland. Their macho taco large salad with avocado added and chicken is addictive and a huge portion. Their seasoning blend makes the chicken ultra flavorful and the way they prep it keeps it tender and juicy. The ingredients are always fresh and clean, I’ve never had sad wilty ingredients like some other places around town. TBH I usually snack on the chicken on the way home 😁 because I literally can’t get enough. Placing an order is super easy. I just wish the food cart seating had some more heat lamps so I could stay and eat rather than drive all the way back to SW Portland during the colder months or had more locations to choose from- but that’s a me problem.

I tried a build your own salad and it ended up coming to $17-$18. After seeing the price, I was sure that would be the first and last time I gave them my business. However, when I tried the salad I was absolutely blown away. They don’t skimp on the toppings and the quality of everything was A+. The vegan cesar in particular was 10/10. Unfortunately for my bank account, I’m anticipating many many more visits to Garden Monster in my future.

I had The Oregon Trail salad (full disclosure, I did order it with the double serving of grilled chicken as the protein, but I asked for the chicken on the side, so that the photograph would essentially be representative of the un-tossed, "Skip the protein and save $3" version, which would be vegetarian, but could easily be made vegan via substitutions). The greens were fresh and crisp, the quantities of toppings were well-balanced, and were high-quality. The vinaigrette dressing was very mild / light compared to most others I have had, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing - it allowed the other ingredients to shine, whereas often, a dressing can overpower a salad. The grilled chicken was good, and I have always enjoyed fancy / bougie salad toppings. It was possibly a tiny bit pricey for even a fancy salad, but not absurdly so; I do plan to return to try other menu items - likely the build your own salads and wraps. If they are good, I will probably bump the rating up to five stars. Garden Monsters has multiple locations, SE Division and NE Alberta in Portland and SW Rose Biggie in Beaverton. They specialize in salads, bowls and wraps, have plant-based proteins available, such as veggie chicken, soy curls and organic tofu and they also have numerous vegetarian and vegan toppings. Essentially, it appears that they can (very capably) cater to vegetarian, vegan, omnivore, and possibly even gluten free diets - I saw it mentioned (I believe online) that they have a grill that doesn't touch animal products, but I don't know about a completely gluten-free preparation area, so I would definitely still recommend calling ahead to ask about gluten practices, if you have Celiac disease (as I am certain is standard procedure for those who suffer from it). I also read online that all of the to-go packaging they provide is 100% biodegradable. If you like my photo, and would like to see more local Portland-area food, feel free to check out my foodie Instagram at IG: jonathan.grubb and follow me for more foodventure ideas!

😎 Salads can be cool! My wife got the Oregon Trail with chicken. I got mine with artichoke hearts. ❤️ I got good portions of the ingredients. I like how you can add good stuff to the salad. It is cheap but in my opinion it's worth it especially for its size. A Fred Meyer salad can be $8 with 4 topings and half the size so I choose Garden Monster hands down. The food cart area is nice too. Seating with umbrellas. Beer and coffee next door. A salad is not just a salad by the way to all out there that poopoo food salad carts. We will go back to try some of the other salads. It was a nice outing on Division.

Garden Monsters is one of my all-time favorite food carts, and the only place that makes me feel like I can eat salad everyday. The macho taco is amazing, and during the winter I get it as a monster munch wrap. Some people seem concerned about prices, but honestly, I find it to be great portions. Just a mini monster size fills me up. The flavors and textures are incredible, I don't have any complaints about them. On top of it all, they have punch cards = free salads.