Karen Brooks eats, drinks and thinks about food for Portland Monthly, as the magazine's trend-spotting food critic. Karen's reviews and think pieces ferret out the restaurants, food carts, and maverick thinkers defining Portland's food voice. In 2017, Karen won one of the food world's most prestigious titles: the James Beard Craig Claiborne Distinguished Restaurant Reviewer Award. She's penned nine books on food and drink, and in 2020 guest-starred on Hulu's food series, Eater's Guide to the World.

Year in Review

Portland's 10 Biggest Restaurant Openings and Closings of 2017

We take stock of the whirlwind year in food.

12/27/2017 By Eat Beat Team

Breaking News

Downtown Food Cart Stars Ole Latte and Picnic to Join Forces on SE Clinton

Get ready for charitable coffee and amazing, from-scratch sandwiches.

12/13/2017 By Karen Brooks

Breaking News

Northwest Icon Sterling Coffee Roasters Relocates

The iconic coffee cubby upsizes to a 950-square-foot coffeehouse.

12/05/2017 By Karen Brooks

Word of Mouth

Forget Wine. Here's What Food Critic Karen Brooks Brings to a Party.

From geeky nut butters to cool chocolate bars, you're guaranteed another invite.

11/20/2017 By Karen Brooks

Review

Meh-diterranean Cruise

Jenn Louis’s Israeli-inspired dining room needs more heart and soul. (Great fries, though!)

11/20/2017 By Karen Brooks

News to Chew

Omertà Shutters, Doug Adams at the Woodsman Tavern, and More PDX Food News

… including a new Shalom Y’all in Southeast Industrial, a pizza-slinging bar from Modest Mouse, and Roe’s downtown opening date.

11/17/2017 By Benjamin Tepler

Mississippi/Williams: Food & Drink

Where to Eat & Drink in Portland's N Mississippi/Williams Neighborhood

Smoked chicken sandwiches, fancy brunch, cult coffee shops, and elephantine Fijian feasts—come hungry.

11/01/2017 Edited by Kelly Clarke By Staff

Breaking News

James Beard Award-Winning Chefs Greg and Gabi Denton to Open Bistro Agnes in Downtown’s SuperBite Space

Goodbye, wild microplates; hello, steak frites and profiteroles. In mid-January, the critically acclaimed chef-couple will embrace their culinary roots: soul-warming French bistro cooking.

11/01/2017 By Karen Brooks

Breaking News

Holy Triple Fat-Fried-Chicken! Southern Pop-Up Mae to Open Two Restaurants

Next spring, expect a homey, counter-service spot up front, and story-slinging, prix fixe fine dinners in the back.

10/25/2017 By Kelly Clarke

Eat Here Now

Where to Eat This Week: Oct 18–25

From silken tofu at Aviary to oozy stone fruit cobbler at Tanner Creek Tavern, these are the things you must eat and drink this week.

10/18/2017 By Eat Beat Team

Best Restaurants 2017

Portland’s Best New Restaurants of 2017

2017 was a wild, delicious year. These dining experiences defined the city's scene.

10/12/2017 Edited by Zach Dundas By Karen Brooks, Kelly Clarke, and Benjamin Tepler Photography by Stuart Mullenberg

Best Restaurants 2017: Eat Here Now

5 Portland Food Carts We Just Can't Quit

From crazy-creative scratch pastas to cult-worshipped pastrami, these are the year's standout carts.

10/12/2017 By Eat Beat Team

The Class of '07

So Many Great Portland Restaurants Opened in 2007. Are They Still Good?

These five spots would define the revolutionary decade that followed. But how do they hold up in 2017?

10/12/2017 By Benjamin Tepler, Ramona DeNies, Kelly Clarke, Zach Dundas, and Karen Brooks

Best Restaurants 2017: Ready Your Forks

5 Portland Restaurants We Can't Wait for in 2018

From Russian dumplings to elevated home-style Filipino, get ready to eat.

10/12/2017 By Kelly Clarke

Best Restaurants 2017: Chill Your Coffee

The Affogato Cubano at Fifty Licks Is One Sweet Buzz

Four shots of robust coffee meet homemade ice cream, deliciously.

10/12/2017 By Karen Brooks

Best Restaurants 2017: Get Your Laab On

Portland Monthly’s Dish of the Year 2017: Spicy Thai Laabs at Paadee

Langbaan’s big-sister restaurant turns into an Isaan outpost twice a week.

10/12/2017 By Karen Brooks

Best Restaurants 2017: Three Degrees of Naoko

3 Ways a Japanese Chef Created an Only-in-Portland Gem

Here’s how Naoko Tamura’s downtown spot went from dorky to destination.

10/12/2017 By Karen Brooks

Best Restaurants 2017: The Unrestaurants

3 Portland Pop-Ups That Shook Up Dining and Drinking in 2017

We visited the “outer rings of the vegetable planet,” among other strange places.

10/12/2017 By Karen Brooks and Benjamin Tepler

Best Restaurants 2017: Discover Nacho Theory

Portland Monthly’s 2017 Chefs of the Year: Tusk’s Sam Smith and Joshua McFadden

With Middle Eastern spices and farm-fresh rigor, Tusk’s co-owners make vegetables taste fresh again.

10/12/2017 By Karen Brooks

Best Restaurants 2017

Portland’s Best New Restaurants of 2017

2017 was a wild, delicious year. These dining experiences defined the city's scene.

10/12/2017 Edited by Zach Dundas By Karen Brooks, Kelly Clarke, and Benjamin Tepler Photography by Stuart Mullenberg