This week and next, we’re counting down our favorite new Portland restaurants of 2022. At No. 8: Jojo, a Pearl District restaurant from the popular Southeast Portland sandwich cart.
Whether they admit it or not, most food cart owners dream of one day opening a restaurant, especially when the weather turns cold.
That doesn’t mean they all know what to do when they get there.
Jojo, one of our favorite new food carts of 2019, was as well-positioned to make that brick-and-mortar leap as any cart since Güero, popular enough to not just land a prominent space — the former Daily Cafe at Northwest 13th Avenue and Kearney Street — but hang onto it through months of delays. Meanwhile, the cart’s widely followed social media accounts, filled with silly memes and serious fundraisers alike, ensured the house would be packed on opening day. And for those of us who spend a little too much time online, opening day at Jojo (the restaurant) resembled a convention for the subsection of Twitter where comedy, phở and Trail Blazers fandom intersect.
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Still, while fans and financing certainly help, they can’t guarantee lines that last beyond opening weekend. That the restaurant has been a hit is a credit to Jojo owner Justin Hintze and his team. Here in a wood-framed Pearl District dining room glammed up with disco balls, hanging plants and orange banquettes, Hintze built carefully around Jojo’s core menu of smash burgers, fried-chicken sandwiches and fluffy-crisp potato wedges, adding a few additions that already look like slam dunks.
What’s new on the roster? Try a separate “Vegan Edition” menu where golden fried Ota tofu gets to star in its role; a well-stocked bar with beer, wine, flavored sodas, boozy shakes, spicy margaritas and other crowd pleasers from bar manager Ashelee Wells; and desserts from pastry chef Christina Hoover inspired by the same convenience store aisles as Jojo’s savory side (that “chocolate hazelnut roulade” sure looks like a Ho Ho Cake to me). If you bought a round of popcorn tofu for your kids, don’t be surprised when you find yourself stealing the last few nuggets, with their perfect ratio of crunch to chew, and dipping it into Jojo’s house-made ranch, tasty sambal mayo and Alabama white mustard sauce.
When I first tried Jojo, the sky blue former Frito-Lay truck was parked at a a Sellwood-Moreland car wash, serving a namesake dish more often found tanning under a corner store heat lamp. But from that first crunchy bite, it was clear these weren’t your everyday grocery store ‘jos. As we learned, Hintze had spent months nerding out over Serious Eats blog posts, tinkering with dozens of recipes before settling on his double-fried jojo technique.
Smash burgers and fried-chicken sandwiches are treated with similar care. I have each firmly in their respective top 10 for Portland, and a recent meal at the restaurant, when an An Xuyen bakery bun tied things together admirably, might nudge both even higher. But the best part about the food might be the consistency. Sandwiches, jojos, popcorn tofu and Funfetti shakes all deliver maximum pleasure, even when you’re grabbing takeout. If you have a food-loving teenager in your life, surprise them with a birthday trip to Jojo. They’ll thank you someday.
What to order: A smash burger or fried-chicken sandwich and a shake, boozy or otherwise, plus a side of jojos.
Details: Jojo (the restaurant) is open for lunch and dinner seven days a week, with weekend brunch service coming soon at 902 N.W. 13th Ave., 971-331-4284, jojopdx.com.
Read more: Follow along with our guide to Portland’s best new restaurants of 2022
— Michael Russell; mrussell@oregonian.com
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