Best Restaurants 2016

Portland’s Best New Restaurants of 2016 Dynamic change, new players, and deliciously bold concepts executed with serious attention to detail: here are the 12 places that define Portland’s food scene right now.

In this issue:

Arts & Culture

B-Sides

Portlander Katy Davidson Is One of the Finest Songwriters of Her Generation

And now she’s reviving her beloved indie-pop outfit Dear Nora.

10/18/2016 By Casey Jarman

The Essentials

Portland Cello Project’s 10th Anniversary + An Oral History of Death: November’s Pop Culture Hot List

The concert, book, and festival you can’t miss this month.

10/10/2016 By Fiona McCann

Old Portland

Remember the Hungry Tiger: An Excerpt from Martha Grover’s New Memoir

In this passage from The End of My Career, the local zinester recalls an Old Portland haunt.

10/10/2016 By Martha Grover

Film

A Powerful New HBO Documentary Explores Internet Spook Slenderman

Two Wisconsin girls tried to kill their friend—and blamed an Internet meme. Should they be tried as adults? Filmmaker Irene Taylor Brodsky examines the case.

10/10/2016 By Fiona McCann

Eat & Drink

Best Restaurants 2016

Portland’s Best New Restaurants of 2016

Dynamic change, new players, and deliciously bold concepts executed with serious attention to detail: here are the 12 places that define Portland’s food scene right now.

10/10/2016 By Karen Brooks, Kelly Clarke, and Benjamin Tepler

Best Restaurants 2016: Bucket List

30 Portland Restaurants for the Ultimate Local Dining Bucket List

Hope you’re hungry. Here are 30 top picks from Portland Monthly editors.

10/10/2016 By Kelly Clarke, Karen Brooks, and Benjamin Tepler

Best Restaurants 2016: Carts We Heart

Portland’s 5 Best New Food Carts of 2016

Montreal-style pastrami to smoldering coconut curry, these are our new favorites from the fast-paced world of cart cooking.

10/10/2016 By Kelly Clarke and Benjamin Tepler

Best Restaurants 2016: Repeat Offenders

Four Portland Dishes We Ate Over and Over and Over Again in 2016

Fried catfish to porridge (no, really), we just can’t get enough.

10/10/2016 By Benjamin Tepler, Karen Brooks, and Kelly Clarke

Best Restaurants 2016: Brunch Bliss

Three Exceptional New Portland Brunches—Without Lines

Only chumps wait for their waffles.

10/10/2016 By Karen Brooks and Zach Dundas

Best Restaurants 2016: Night Out

Portland’s Best New Spots for a Night Out

From a stronghold of natural wine to a bitters-fueled Bali Ha’i, here are four places to eat, drink, and be merry well after dark.

10/10/2016 By Benjamin Tepler, Kelly Clarke, and Ramona DeNies

Best Restaurants: On the Verge

Four Intriguing Portland Restaurants Opening Soon

From lavish Russian tea service to pakora-fried chicken, these spots should light up our winter.

10/10/2016 By Kelly Clarke, Karen Brooks, and Ramona DeNies

Best Restaurants 2016: Pizza Punk

Portland’s Best Pizza Spot That Almost Flamed Out: Pizza Jerk

Tommy Habetz didn’t let a major fire stop him from making top-notch pizza.

10/10/2016 By Kelly Clarke

Best Restaurants 2016: Thai Twist

Portland’s Best Spot For Terrific Southern Thai: Hat Yai

Langbaan’s mastermind captures the intense flavors of the Thai/Malayasian border with his casual new restaurant.

10/10/2016 By Benjamin Tepler

Best Restaurants 2016: Casual Korean

Portland’s Coolest New Restaurant: Han Oak

Salt-baked pork belly bo ssam to thumping ’80s hip-hop, Peter Cho’s casual Korean spot is the place to be right now.

10/10/2016 By Benjamin Tepler

Best Restaurants 2016: Southern Comfort

Portland’s Best Appalachian Supper Club: Mae

Three days a week, Maya Lovelace transplants a new vision of Southern comfort.

10/10/2016 By Kelly Clarke

Best Restaurants 2016: Ramen Rapture

Portland’s Best Real-Deal Ramen: Marukin

Mark it down: in 2016, we finally got certifiably amazing Tokyo-style ramen.

10/10/2016 By Benjamin Tepler

Best Restaurants 2016: Vegan Nirvana

Portland’s Best Plant-Based, Genuinely Fancy Restaurant: Farm Spirit

At his stylish Buckman spot, gung-ho vegetable lover Aaron Adams declares his own farm-powered city-state.

10/10/2016 By Kelly Clarke

Best Restaurants 2016: Catalan Modernism

Portland’s Best Spot for Real Barcelona Paella (and Xurros): Chesa

Where Catalan modernism meets the ultimate X(urros) factor.

10/10/2016 By Karen Brooks

Best Restaurants 2016: Supahardcore

Portland’s Best “Supahardcore” Japanese: Nodoguro

From pop-up beginnings to a new Zen-vintage space on Belmont, the champion of “Supahardcore” Japanese doubles down.

10/10/2016 By Karen Brooks

Best Restaurants 2016: Peru + Portland

Portland’s Best Flamboyant Peruvian Cuisine: Paiche

Peruvian seafood meets Portland farm finds, to wild effect.

10/10/2016 By Kelly Clarke

Best Restaurants 2016: Pumped-Up Korean

Portland Monthly’s Rising Star Restaurant of 2016: Revelry

Seattle stars and local nightlife talent bring us pumped-up Korean and throwback hip-hop.

10/10/2016 By Karen Brooks

Best Restaurants 2016: Mideast Remix

Portland Monthly’s Rising Star Restaurant of 2016: Tusk

With a beautiful room and beautiful food, a Mideast-meets-Portland restaurant turns heads with the most unlikely of stars: salads.

10/10/2016 By Karen Brooks

Editor's Note

Why Do Portland Restaurants Pride Themselves on Inconvenience?

Not that we’ve got anything against secret prix fixe dinners served in the dishwashing station.

10/10/2016 By Zach Dundas

News & City Life

Light a Fire 2016: Best New Nonprofit

Curriculum of Cuisine Teaches Portland’s High School Kids Healthy Choices

The new nonprofit puts real chefs into local classrooms.

10/10/2016 By Ben Tepler

Light a Fire 2016: Caring for the Planet

How the Freshwater Trust Protects America’s Waterways with Surgical Precision

The river-stewarding organization is one of Oregon’s most important environmental nonprofits.

10/10/2016 By Ramona DeNies

The Shakedown

What’s the Deal with Kate Brown?

After lucking into the gig, Oregon’s governor runs for reals.

10/10/2016 By Marty Patail

Top Nonprofits

Meet Our 2016 Light a Fire Winners

Celebrating the nonprofits that make Portland a better place to live, love, give, and grow.

10/10/2016 Edited by Marty Patail By Kelly Clarke, Claire Colby, Eden Dawn, Ramona DeNies, Lisa Dunn, Rebecca Jacobson, Fiona McCann, Benjamin Tepler, and Regina Winkle-Bryan

Light a Fire 2016: Lifetime Achievement

How George Thorn Guides Portland Arts Organizations to Sustainability

The behind-the-scenes master knows how to pull the strings.

10/10/2016 By Fiona McCann

Light a Fire 2016: Emerging Leader

Born in Mexico, 28-Year-Old Cristina Delgado Devotes Herself to Washington County’s Latina Girls

“I have a similar background to many of the Chicas,” says the Adelante Mujeres staffer.

10/10/2016 By Claire Colby

Light a Fire 2016: Extraordinary Executive Director

At Bridge Meadows, Derenda Schubert Leads an Innovative Portland Housing Community

The Portsmouth neighborhood community was designed to create a “big family.”

10/10/2016 By Lisa Dunn

Light a Fire 2016: Extraordinary Volunteer

Meet the Volunteer Tattoo Remover Changing Young People’s Lives

Lesley Segal—internal medicine doctor by day—has spent 14 years at Outside In’s Project Erase tattoo removal program.

10/10/2016 By Eden Dawn

Light a Fire 2016: Most with the Least

How the Portland Community ToolBank Helps Nonprofits Build a Better City

From playgrounds for children to ramps for disabled veterans, the one-employee organization helps nonprofits get projects done.

10/10/2016 By Marty Patail

Light a Fire 2016: Exceptional Pro Bono Contribution

This Global Branding Agency Helps Portland Street Kids Become Designers

AKQA provides materials, expertise, and guidance. The kids do the rest.

10/10/2016 By Lisa Dunn

Light a Fire 2016: Keeping Us Healthy

Cascade AIDS Project Serves More Than 400 People Each Month

In 30 years, CAP has blossomed into a 60-staffer juggernaut, with services ranging from HIV testing to housing and job placement.

10/10/2016 By Kelly Clarke

Light a Fire 2016: Extraordinary Board Member

How SMART Board Member Elizabeth Large Helps Create Confident Readers

Start Making a Reader Today pairs adult volunteers with in-need students.

10/10/2016 By Claire Colby

Light a Fire 2016: Game-Changing Project

Friends of Nadaka Unites a Gresham Neighborhood to Create a Park

Complete with bird walks, play spaces, and a community garden—and soon Gresham’s first handicapped-accessible swing.

10/10/2016 By Regina Winkle-Bryan

Light a Fire 2016: Inspiring Creativity

Artists Repertory Transforms Its Home into an Incubator for the Future of Local Theater

While still producing shows that give you “all the feels.”

10/10/2016 By Rebecca Jacobson

Politics

The Battle of ‘86: How Oregon’s Last Great Election Came Down to One Fatal Mistake

Thirty years ago, Neil Goldschmidt took on Norma Paulus for governor—and the race became a turning point for politics in Oregon.

10/10/2016 By Brent Walth

Long Story Short

This Portland Podcast Gives a Megaphone to People of Color in the Food Industry

On Racist Sandwich, Soleil Ho and Zahir Janmohamed dive into food, race, and lemon bars.

10/10/2016 By Rebecca Jacobson

Urban Planning

Was the Springwater Corridor Doomed to Controversy From the Start?

The path was built for the people. And they came—just not how anyone planned.

10/10/2016 By Ramona DeNies

Imaginary Oregons

The Northwest Has Always Fantasized about Starting Its Own Country

From Cascadia to Ecotopia, welcome to all the Oregons that could have been.

10/10/2016 By Marty Patail

Politics

Steve Novick vs. Chloe Eudaly: Portland’s Alterna-Election

The city council race is earnest, geeky, and quintessentially Portland.

10/10/2016 By Zach Dundas

PDX Index

Why Voting by Mail Is Better Than Any Other Way of Voting

Oregon stages a quiet revolution.

10/10/2016 By Michelle Porter

Style & Shopping

Style

Can This Portlander Help Fashion Businesses Get Off the Ground?

With Laptops & Smalltalk, Brittany Sierra becomes a coach for local fashion entrepreneurs.

10/10/2016 By Eden Dawn

Winning Finds

Women’s Boxing Gloves to American West–Style Gin, November’s Best Local Goods

Oregon makers get it done.

10/10/2016 By Eden Dawn

Dispatch

Columbia Sportswear Takes on Gore-Tex

Can a Portland company topple the industry juggernaut?

10/10/2016 By Benjamin Tepler

Travel & Outdoors

Getaways

This Mexican Paradise Is a Four-Hour Nonstop Flight from PDX

With farm dinners, chic rooftop bars, and an art-studded bike path, Los Cabos mellows out.

10/10/2016 By Hannah Wallace