Lardo Portland Oregon - Meat-filled Sandwiches [Review]

What began as a food truck in southeast Portland is now a sandwich shop with four locations (2 Portland, 1 Lake Oswego and 1 Las Vegas). Chef Rick Gencarelli moved to Portland in 2009, where he opened Lardo as a food cart a year later. Today, this joint is a smash-mouth deli experience with an emphasis on pork.

The term “lardo” refers to a type of salume made by curing strips of fatback with rosemary, herbs, and spices – so you could say that this shop lives up to its name.

Lardo’s is the place to go if you want a massive, meat-filled sandwich. The over-the-top sandwich menu features double patty burgers with bacon; pork meatball Banh Mi; and a secret menu item where the sandwich can be placed “over fries.”.

Lardo also has a wide variety of rotating beers on tap, which currently features several IPAs and ciders. Guests can also order premium cocktails, the perfect way to wash down all the meat.

We visited the Lardo location at 1212 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland, OR. This location has a beautiful covered outdoor patio.

We tried the Pork Meatball Banhmi (pickled vegetables, sriracha mayo, cilantro, cucumber); Turkey Cubano (house smoked turkey; swiss; turkey thigh mojo; pickles; serrano goddess); and Kumar Burger (American Cheese, pickles, griddled onions, smoked burger sauce). They were all pretty substantial hand-helds that were flavourful and delicious.