If you are on Twitter in the Portland area there is a very good chance you have heard of Whiffies. And if you follow someone from the Portland area you have likely heard of Whiffies. Whiffies credits social media with a lot of their success. I consider Dale Chumbley to be an ambassador for Whiffies. He has done his fair share of spreading the word via Twitter, YouTube, and Flickr, and Whiffies is where I finally got to meet him, Darth Blazer, and others face to face. Surprisingly they have only been open a year a will celebrate their anniversary this Saturday but they seem to be such a part of Portland and Twitter that it seems much longer.
A whiffies fried (gently fried is how I describe it) pie is just pure deliciousness. They have two types of pies, savory and sweet, $4 and $3 respectively. The menus change nightly and they often announce what it is through Twitter. Imagine a Hostess fruit pie but doubled in size and made fresh. Now imagine Strawberry Rhubarb, Chocolate Chip, Marionberry, Bluberry, and much more. They also have savory pies but I have a sweet tooth so I haven’t tried those as I head there to look for dessert.
Tomorrow night they will have: Pie Champ 2.0 (a pie eating contest that last an hour), ping pong tourney, durian creme pies, strawberry rhubarb, new recipe banana creme pies. And they might debut a new homemade apple pie filling but definitely debuting new homemade peach filling. UPDATE: Whiffies says their likely menu for this Saturday is meatloaf pie, BBQ beef, vegan pot pie, pineapple glazed ham, peach, blueberry, banana creme, PB choc chip, durian creme. Um, your’re drooling on your keyboard.
I have been doing this site for 21 days and often look to Yelp! for reviews of a place. Whiffies has 112 reviews…for a company that has been open for a year, it’s incredible. Most places average between 12 and 20 after being open for years. That’s love. Whiffies has been featured on the Food Network, newspapers, websites, web shows, and everywhere else.
Fry it and they will come? Or is it, make a good product, connect with a talkative community, and see what happens? All I know is that there is no other business that I find in my Twitter stream so consistently. Even though I live in Beaverton I still drive 30 minutes to go eat with friends that I made online. Whiffies is more than a food cart, it’s a phenomenon.
Visit them sometime soon at:
SE 12th and SE Hawthorne Blvd
Portland, OR 97214
Open Tues-Sunday 11Am- 3AM
Follow them on Twitter to see what they are serving up any night.
Photos via Dale Chumbley, of 365 Things To Do In Vancover (WA) fame.
Show your love in the comments below…
2 thoughts on “Whiffies, Mmmm, Pie”