In Restaurant Roundup, Em Chan shares some local restaurants' latest updates. Have a question for a restaurant you'd like Chan to look into? You can send her your inquiries at echan@gannett.com .
Angry Dumpling
Angry Dumpling is the a handmade dumpling food truck located in south Salem, next to James Heating & Air Conditioning. The cart opened in March and offered two types of handmade dumplings, spam musubi and fried rice.
Business owner Min Wei runs the cart with her mom, Xiujuan Burnett. Wei said she has a lot of passion for providing authentic Chinese food to customers, especially as one of the only operations to handmake dumplings. Angry Dumplings is her first food business and she said she enjoys it.
Dumplings, called jiao zi in Mandarin, are a food she and her mom would make for special events while growing up. They make hundreds of dumplings in the morning, then boil them per order for customers. The current dumplings available are in beef and pork and can be made in orders of 5, 10, 15 and 20.
A recently added item on the menu are the Chinse wraps. They are made with a flour batter, similar to a burrito, Wei said. There are currently two options, meat and sausage, and they have vegetables, chili sauce, ketchup and mayo on them. She said more items will be added to the menu soon, and she is open to suggestions. Almost all the items on the menu are under $10.
Angry Dumpling is not on any food delivery apps, but for those wanting to order ahead, they can message the Facebook page for pick-up. For more on the food truck, check out the Facebook page .
Hours: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., weekdays
Address: 1935 Davcor St. SE
The Back Porch
The Back Porch is West Salem's newest restaurant, having opened over Father's Day weekend. It is located in the former Azul's Tacos space.
The barbecue sandwich shop is owned by long-time friends Caleb Warner and Krissy McCurry. The restaurant's name was inspired by the large back porch, plus fond memories of having family and friends get together on porches. The two said they hope to bring that easy-going, relaxed ambiance for folks enjoying their food at the restaurant. To stand out from the other barbecue restaurants, they primarily offer barbecue sandwiches . Sometimes there will be rotating specials like racks of ribs, Warner said. Their barbecue is not one particular style, but primarily Southern-inspired and in McCurry's own style .
The two have been friends since middle school, and in the last few years they had the idea of opening a restaurant together. Warner graduated from the Linn-Benton Community College culinary program and has worked as a chef for over a decade. McCurry does not have a formal cooking background, but has enjoyed smoking meat and has experience running a business, as her husband owns S. C. A. Detailing. With Warner's culinary background and McCurry's business expertise, the two thought it would be a good combination.
Warner and McCurry were looking restaurant space at the beginning of the year. Warner said it was actually Azul's Tacos co-owner Tino Land who told Warner the space was available to rent if they were interested. A deal to rent the space was secured in February , followed by months of renovations and repainting.
The restaurant is decorated with nerdy and nostalgic posters, comic books and decor. The two friends have loved comic books, video games and fantasy book series franchises like Lord of the Rings, and have bits of their collections on display. They wanted the space to be family-friendly and fun, they said.
The sandwiches are also named using nerdy references, like The Shredder. The sandwich name shares the same name as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles character and is a shredded pork sandwich. Other notables on the menu are the "Booyah Brisket" and "The Philosopher," a smoked chicken thighs sandwich. All the sandwich combos are priced between $13 and $20 and come with a side and a drink.
Other items include smoked chicken wings, loaded fries, smoked stuffed sweet potatoes and a rotating weekly special. There is also a kids' menu, with dino nuggets and cheeseburger, with sliders coming soon.
For more from the restaurant, check out the Facebook page .
Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday to Saturday
Address: 1142 Edgewater St. NW
Butter Sugar Coffee/Raven's Society
Butter Sugar Coffee/Raven's Society is a combination drive-thru coffee stand and tea plus oddities shop in Independence that quietly opened at the beginning of the year.
Owner Alex Andrade said she had been working in the cannabis industry but wanted to pivot into something more family-friendly. She owned the building, which previously was a boutique, but its business was "wiped out" due to the COVID pandemic. A drive-thru coffee stand seemed the best way to repurpose the building, she said.
Besides coffee, the cafe offers energy drinks, Italian sodas, tea, pastries, oats, croissant sandwiches, biscuits and gravy and more. Andrade said because the pandemic eliminated a few breakfast places in the area, she wanted to offer items for folks who may be missing them in the mornings. They are also offered on DoorDash .
Raven's Society is a shop that shares its space inside, primarily selling tea and botanicals. Other items include oddities, books, handmade goods, CBD products, and jewelry. Andrade said it made sense to have a tea/botanicals business as coffee is commonly offered alongside each other.
On Saturdays, vendors are welcome to set up a space on the lawn or parking area on the property , Andrade said. She does not charge them as she wants to encourage others to have business, too.
For more on the combination cafe and shop, check out the Facebook page.
Hours: 6:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Saturday
Address: 319 S 10th St., Independence
Em Chan covers food and dining at the Statesman Journal. You can reach her at echan@gannett.com and follow her on X @ catchuptoemily.
This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Restaurant Roundup: New West Salem barbecue sandwich shop, dumpling food truck and more
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