Matt Vicedomini runs his smoker in a parking lot on North Lombard, and on a Tuesday at noon, there’s already a line. It moves quickly because Matt moves quickly — he’s the kind of guy who seems to be in three places at once, wrapping brisket, counting napkins, checking the bun situation. He doesn’t make small talk so much as short, efficient exchanges. But regulars get a nod, and if you come enough times, you get a name.
Matt’s BBQ opened as a cart in 2015, eventually settling at its current spot in St. Johns. The operation is still a cart, technically — a compact trailer with a serious offset smoker attached — but the footfall it gets on weekends rivals plenty of brick-and-mortar spots in the city. There are a handful of picnic tables outside. You eat standing up or find a ledge. That’s fine. Nobody’s coming here for the ambience.
The brisket is the reason people drive across town. Vicedomini trained in Texas, spent time around the Hill Country tradition, and brought that framework back to Portland without trying to reinvent it. The fat cap is rendered down just enough. The bark is real bark — dark, peppery, with a bite before the smoke hits. A half-pound runs around $16, which is reasonable for what you’re getting. The burnt ends, when they’re available, disappear fast; there’s no system for calling ahead, so show up early or accept that they’re gone.
The sausage is housemade and worth ordering even if you came only for the brisket. It snaps when you cut it, which sounds like a small thing but tells you everything about how it was cooked. The pulled pork is reliable and not overly sauced — Vicedomini sides with the people who believe the meat should carry itself. A two-meat plate with two sides lands around $22 to $25 depending on the day.
Sides are straightforward: coleslaw that cuts the richness without being aggressively vinegary, beans with brisket folded in, potato salad that doesn’t try to be clever. None of it is phoned in, and none of it is trying to win a separate competition from the meat.
St. Johns is the neighborhood that’s had a complicated relationship with development for years — longtime residents, newer arrivals, ongoing debates about what the place is becoming. Matt’s BBQ sits comfortably in that mix. You’ll see construction workers eating next to people who drove over from Mississippi Avenue. There are families with kids who figured out that a parking-lot picnic table works fine for lunch. Vicedomini doesn’t seem interested in curating who shows up. He’s interested in the brisket.
The cart is open Wednesday through Sunday, typically from 11 a.m. until the meat runs out. That can mean 2 p.m. on a slow day, or it can mean they’re gone by 12:30 on a Saturday. The safest play is to go before noon. Follow them on social media if you want a heads-up on specials or days they’re rolling the smoker particularly hard.
There are plenty of places in Portland where you can get a decent plate of barbecue. Matt’s is where you get a good one, from someone who has been doing this long enough to stop worrying about impressing anyone.
