Our annual Best New Restaurants issue is a bit like a wine vintage: every year is different, defined by random forces, the quirks and flavor predilections of the moment, and, always, the notion of place. Last year, a wine bar craze hit Portland. Before that, the city’s anti-fine-dining mode was in force, rife with hidden, backroom tasting menu concepts. This year? Asian flavors, wild to traditional, ruled the day, animating our Restaurant of the Year, Rising Star, and Trend of the Year—a blossoming of underappreciated or underrepresented cuisines around the city. Meanwhile, a scotch destination set a new bar for eating while drinking, vegan fine dining got serious, Texas planted a meaty flag downtown, and two bakeries made our list. This was not a year for showy blockbusters, but a delicious vintage indeed.

PICTURED ABOVE: Gado Gado's Chinese-Indonesian fare is electrifying Portland's food scene

In This Feature:

Eem is Portland Monthly’s 2019 Restaurant of the Year

Meaty, spicy-sweet, and ridiculously fun, Thai tiki barbecue is what we need in 2019.

10/18/2019 By Karen Brooks

Radical Thinking, Southeast Asian Rarities, and Heart Make Gado Gado Our Rising Star Restaurant 2019

Come for the salty-funky smoked pork shank, stay for the Capt’n Crunch–covered pandan waffle puffs.

10/18/2019 By Benjamin Tepler

Portland Monthly’s Restaurateur of the Year 2019 is Akkapong “Earl” Ninsom

How the man behind Eem, Hat Yai, and Langaan rocketed from a rookie Thai cook to Portland’s most influential food player.

10/18/2019 By Karen Brooks

Berlu Serves the Most Unpretentious Pretentious Tasting Menu in Town

Chef Vince Nguyen’s Zen-modernist menus find beauty in everyday things.

10/18/2019 By Karen Brooks

Scotch Lodge Is Portland Monthly’s Bar of the Year 2019

At Tommy Klus’s whiskey den, a daring menu lives up to the (rare, illuminating, transcendent) booze.

10/18/2019 By Ramona DeNies

Bullard’s Doug Adams Is More Than Fried Chicken

The celeb chef finds his own brand of Lone Star–meets–Beaver State cooking at his meaty hotel restaurant.

10/18/2019 By Benjamin Tepler

At JinJu Patisserie, a Pair of Korean-Born Vegas Expats Find Portland’s Sweet Spot

Butter-bomb croissants to lime yuzu bonbons, this place is a keeper.

10/18/2019 By Karen Brooks

Locavore Upstart Farm Spirit Has Evolved into a Legit Vegan Fine Dining Destination

There’s nothing else quite like it in America.

10/18/2019 By Karen Brooks

Bella’s Italian Bakery and Market Is a Stealth Red Sauce Haven

The Lents bakery—a destination for killer cannoli and sfogliatelle—also does weekly pizza and lasagna nights.

10/18/2019 By Benjamin Tepler

2019’s Cart Standouts Were All About the Meat and Potatoes

The year belonged to Austin barbecue, Tex-Mex tacos, and chicken n’ jojos.

10/18/2019 By Kelly Clarke, Benjamin Tepler, and Ramona DeNies

Seven Spots Expanding Portland’s Food Map

In 2019, Guam, Burma, the Philippines, and other nations got more room at the table.

10/18/2019 By Karen Brooks, Kelly Clarke, and Marty Patail

Best New Restaurants 2019: Keep Your Eye on These Runners-Up

Yonder and Erizo just missed the cut for our list of the year’s Best New Restaurants, but we’ll be back to see what happens at these high-profile spots.

10/18/2019 By Karen Brooks and Ramona DeNies