After a whirlwind year of rapid cart expansions and the accumulation of a hungry, real-food-focused fanbase, the team behind the West Coast's first 100% Paleo food cart Cultured Caveman is putting the finishing touches on their first brick-and-mortar location. 

Owners Heather Hunter and Joe Ban successfully crowdfunded their first cart in 2012, and found repeat success with the community support of their Kenton neighborhood dining room (set to take over the former E-San Thai space the first week of June). For the uninitiated, Paleo is a modern food movement celebrating dishes with no gluten, no dairy, no added sugar, no processed foods, no soy, and no legumes—inspired by the healthy, fresh, and unprocessed diets of our Paleolithic ancestors. 

I got a sneak preview of the counter-service North Portland restaurant—decked out in 500 feet of reclaimed barn wood and plenty of Salted Chocolate Bacon Chunk Cookies—an in-house Paleo market stocked with grain-free goodies, hard-to-find paleo products, t-shirts, and beverages, and a dino-centric play area for the cavekids.

Thanks to the larger kitchen, fans of the Caveman's carts can expect shorter lines (as more and more food will be prepped at the restaurant location), a goal to shift to 100% organic produce across all outposts, and some major menu shake-ups at the brick-and-mortar—including family-sized bowls of meatballs and zucchini noodles, grass-fed lamb shepherd's pie topped with a parsnip, carrot, cauliflower mash, and the return of Cultured Caveman's grass-fed tallow-fried french fries. 

Fans of the cart's three locations (NE Alberta, SE Hawthorne, and SW Stark) need not fear—all will remain open with the debut of the new restaurant, which means you're never far from a healthy, grass-fed meal for the whole family. 

Check out the new space by clicking through to the photo above, and stop in the first week of June to see it for yourself—follow the cavefolk on Facebook for more opening day details. Once it debuts, expect Paleo nosh seven days a week, 10 am to 10 pm.

Cultured Caveman
8233 N Denver Ave