Dirty Lettuce
Vegan restaurant in Portland, Oregon, U.S.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dirty Lettuce is a Black-owned vegan restaurant serving Southern, Cajun, and Creole cuisine in Portland, Oregon.[1] Alkebulan Moroski began operating as a food cart in 2020 and opened a brick and mortar restaurant in 2021.
| Dirty Lettuce | |
|---|---|
| |
 The restaurant's exterior in 2025 | |
 Interactive map of Dirty Lettuce | |
| Restaurant information | |
| Established | 2020 |
| Owner | Alkebulan Moroski |
| Food type | |
| Location | 4727 Northeast Fremont Street, Portland, Multnomah, Oregon, 97213, United States |
| Coordinates | 45.5484°N 122.6144°W |
| Website | dirtylettuce |
Description
Dirty Lettuce serves vegan Southern,[2] Cajun,[3] and Creole cuisine,[4] including soul food[5] and plant-based "meats" such as seitan barbecue ribs and Ota tofu fried "chicken".[6] Sides include fried okra,[7] jambalaya, macaroni and cheese,[8] sour cream and onion mashed potatoes, Southern-style leaf vegetables, a Nachitoches meat pie, bowls similar to KFC's Famous Bowl,[9][10] shrimp-and-grit fritters, candied yams, and corn muffins.[3]
History
With assistance from his mother Kim,[11] Alkebulan Moroski began operating Dirty Lettuce as a food cart in northeast Portland's Shady Pines pod (5240 Northeast 42nd Avenue)[9][12] in early 2020.[13] He opened a brick and mortar restaurant on Northeast Fremont in the Cully neighborhood (at the Rose City Park border) in May 2021,[13] and planned to continue operating the food cart as of March.[14] However, Shady Pines closed in late 2021.[15]
Reception
According to The Oregonian's Michael Russell, Dirty Lettuce was among the "new generation" of vegan restaurants which saw a "pandemic-era explosion".[16][17] He called the restaurant a "rising star" of Shady Pines.[18] Similarly, Willamette Week's Shannon Gormley called Dirty Lettuce the "biggest breakout success" of Shady Pines, Portland's only vegan food pod until closing.[15][19] She also described restaurant as one of several local "breakout" vegan establishments opened in 2020.[20] Dirty Lettuce was a runner-up in the Best Soul Food category of Willamette Week's annual 'Best of Portland' readers' poll in 2024.[21] It won in the same category in 2025.[22]
Waz Wu included Dirty Lettuce in Eater Portland's 2021 lists of the city's fifteen "essential" vegan and vegetarian restaurants and thirteen vegan food carts in the metropolitan area.[7][23] The website's Ron Scott and Nathan Williams included the restaurant in a 2022 list of thirteen restaurants for "serious" soul in the Portland metropolitan area.[24] Brenna Houck included Dirty Lettuce in a 2025 list of Portland's eighteen best vegan and vegetarian restaurants.[25]
