It’s lunchtime at the French Quarter, a Southwest Portland food cart pod, but Mi Fiesta Garibaldi is the only cart serving lunch.

Mostly that’s because it’s Monday, when few French Quarter food carts are open. But it’s not the only reason. Nearby, a sign taped to the window at beer and wine cart Bird in Hand reads “7/5 (Fri.) Closed for Heatwave.”

In the Portland area, where officials say four people have died during the current stretch of record-setting heat, thousands of food cart owners and employees spent the weekend weighing the safety of going to work inside hot metal boxes where the temperature can often be 10 or more degrees higher than it is outside. That will continue Tuesday, when the high could reach 105 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

Inside the Mi Fiesta Garibaldi cart, Esther Hernandez pulled out a phone and checks the weather. It’s 92 degrees outside, meaning it’s about 102 degrees in the truck.

“When we don’t have business, we go down there,” Hernandez said, pointing to a shady area next to the truck. “Otherwise we just drink cold water.”

Mi Fiesta Garibaldi, a classic lonchera-style food truck that first opened seven years ago at Portland International Airport, has been at The French Quarter for the past five. The truck has a grill and a steam table, but no air conditioning. Instead, Hernandez and husband Edgar Aguilar open the skylights in the roof, sending some additional air through the truck.

As we talk, Aguilar steps away from the grill to take a swig of ice water from an insulated bottle. Two construction workers approach the window to collect their order, requesting green salsa for their tacos.

As hot as it’s been the past few days, Hernandez and Aguilar haven’t had to close outright, as they did last year. Instead, they’ve curtailed their hours, serving their usual enchiladas, chilaquiles and huevos rancheros in the morning, and tacos, burritos and burgers at lunch.

On Monday, Mi Fiesta Garibaldi closed at 2 p.m. On Tuesday, Hernandez and Aguilar plan to close at 1 p.m., given the forecast. The cart would typically stay open until 7 p.m.

“When the days are like this we close earlier,” Hernandez said. “Because it’s not worth it working in those conditions.”

— Michael Russell; mrussell@oregonian.com

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