Tamale Boy headquarters moves out of Portland over crimeTamale Boy owner Jaime Soltero, Jr. opened his first food truck in 2010 in Portland. Headquartered in North Portland, Tamale Boy also has a NE Portland location and a suburban Happy Valley location. Pre-pandemic the national average profit margin for restaurants was a slim 6.2%.

Now, with increasing energy, food and labor costs it is even harder to turn a profit. Soltero describes operating in Portland, Oregon today as a “constant battle”. He told the Portland Business Journal he will relocate Tamale Boy’s headquarters from North Portland to Tigard where he said leaders were helpful, welcoming and responsive in contrast to Portland’s leaders. Downtown Portland food cart owner Mayumi Sato’s Veggie Bowl cart was robbed last summer and had several break ins over a period of a couple of months along with her food cart neighbor.

This was the last straw for Sato. After 25 years of operating in downtown Portland, she decided to close up her food cart and leave downtown. She says she’ll pour her energy into her suburban Happy Valley location instead. Old Town Portland business Mimi’s Fresh Tees owner, Kamelah Adams told KATU that the biggest challenge to her business is safety. “I have several customers saying they don’t feel safe coming down here.