Every city has gyro trucks, and I am by no means knocking the gyro, but we wanted something different. One of the advantages of spending the weekend in the USA (Canada Day weekend) is that there is a bevy of Hispanic food. Add to that the surprisingly large amount of food trucks, especially compared to Vancouver, and the low prices we atleast had some direction.
After wandering through the Portland Saturday Market, and being overwhelmed by gyro's, beaver tails, etc. we proceeded to find the lonely looking El Pilón. The red trailer lured us in, and one of the owner's kids helped take our order.
We were both quite new to Colombian cuisine, but we were pioneers and ordered anyways. The prices were low enough that if we didn't like it, we wouldn't feel bad not finishing. The first item we order was the Meat Empanada ($2.00).
The outside of the freshly made empanada was crispy, and the size seemed on point given the price we paid. I was dissapointed in the flavour of the filling though, it was somewhat bland. Now this could be due to the fact that I was tasting mostly the crust (which was quite thin), or perhaps the Salsa, which was very tasty and fresh was meant to provide the additional kick. 
The second item we got was the Patacones with Meat ($4.60), which is there signature dish. This dish alone made makes me wonder why people in Vancouver pay so much for food out of a truck. It was really big, and had plenty of cheese and meat. The twice fried plantain base was predictably crispy and definitely our favorite of the two dishes. Once again the salsa was good to have, as I still didn't get a ton of flavor.
Overall the meal was a good start to our weekend in Portland. We went in knowing essentially nothing about the cuisine, and left happy. The price was right, and you could tell that this was a true family run business.
Summary
+ Cheap
+ Unique food
+ Fresh salsa
- Not a tonne of flavour without the salsa
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