Lickity Split

Specs: vegan or meat meatballs, polenta or bread, green chili or marinara sauce. My preference: vegan ‘meat’balls over polenta, with marinara sauce: amazing. Without doubt, one of the better cart options in town. Tasty, clean, friendly, and of course… lickity split.

Greate taste. Can’t emphasize that enough. Also good for a chilly day! Great pice for a meatball sandwich for sure. Recommended.

I love this food cart! I go there at least once a week, and I prefer to get the vegan balls on polenta with both sauces it is to die for! Over the winter they had the most amazing pumpkin cookies that i couldn’t stay away from.
If your vegan you will love this cart!

Lickity Split was not my first Portland food cart experience, but my first after moving to Portland. This cute little ladybug cart setup across from the apartment building we moved into. Our move was fueled by these meatballs.
After we moved in, and I started working downtown surrounded by 4 different pods, I still find myself considering a walk home at lunch, just for meatballs.
My favorite is a mix. The pork and vegan meatballs, with the red and green sauces over the bed of polenta. I’ll always opt for the real cheese however. The vegan cheese is a tad too vegan for me. Yum!
Found out last night that our 1yr old son loves the meatballs too. It’s a good cart for all ages.
The woman who runs the cart is always very friendly, and gives a discount if you bring your own container.

Where have you gone? Months ago I went with kody to visit you and were blown away by your delicious flavors, ample portion, and long line. Truly a wonderful little cart that I hope will reappear. Can someone tell me if I’m just out of the loop?
The pork meatballs with a mix of the marinara AND green chili is the way to go. Missing out on the polenta would be like going to the Louvre and skipping old you know who. Ok, maybe that is an overstatement. But trust me, that’s what you need to use as your base.
I hope to return for round two soon!

Top-​notch food and super-​affordable. I recommend the combination of the marinara and green chile sauce. They pair amazingly! I can’t wait for them to add pasta to the winter menu.
Bring your own dish for a 25¢ discount.

well worth the money.
we had 1 vegan with polenta/​marinara/​vegan cheese and 1 vegan on panini/​marinara/​vegan cheese.
both were big portions and delicious.
though WHEN i go back, i will personally opt for the panini.
and MAYBE i’ll someday get brave enough to try the green chili.
shelly is super nice and approves of you bringing your own containers/​utensils/​etc.
you even get 25 cents off if you do!

A great, simple, well-​priced lunch. Only a couple of options, that somehow work so well together. I’ve only had the pork balls, but I hear the vegan balls are delicious too… Highly recommended!

Lickity Split is my new favorite cart. I eat at carts often and Shelly was a real standout in the cart world when she worked at Whole Bowl; always a smiling friendly face, remembering customer’s names and preferences. People liked going there because both her and the food made them feel good. Her service would still be a standout at a fine restaurant. Once she started a new venture with her SO, many of us regulars were happy to try out her new cart. It was super yummy and a much better start than I imagined possible. Plus, it keeps improving, because they solicit and listen to customer feedback. For example, the first review mentioned panino for $ 3.25, but customers said this was yummy, but not filling enough, so now it is much bigger and $ 4.50 and worth every penny, because I ate a while ago and I’m still full.
They have all the right ingredients: excellent service, delicious, healthy food, sustainable practices and making a difference. On the latter, profits beyond their own living wages will go to improving the area’s supply of locally grown food.
Some days I like the marinara sauce, other days the yummy spicy chili sauce… both so good. The same with the polenta versus the panini, and the Tillamook cheese versus the vegan cheese. I stick vegan on the meatballs, but have tried the pork once and both kinds are super yummy. They also have a cucumber-​basil lemonade that is delicious and refreshing.
They are only a block from where I work and I’m already a regular, but the truth is I’d still be a regular if they were 20 blocks away.

With how busy this place seems I’m really surprised that I’m the first to review it. Markus and I waited in line, which was good to have the wait so we could plan our combination:
Meatballs: veggie or pork
Sauce: marinara or green chile
Base: panino ($ 3.25) or polenta with sun-​dried tomatoes ($ 4.50)
Topping: cheese, vegan cheese or sun-​dried tomatoes
Add a cup of basil lemonade for $ 2.50
Awesome pork meatballs! Just awesome. And really cheap, which was even more true when I used the two-​for-​one coupon they’ve been passing out. This place is a steal!