Karen Brooks eats, drinks and thinks about food for Portland Monthly, as the magazine's trend-spotting food critic at large. 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.

WORD OF MOUTH

A Communal Appalachian Feast and More to Check Out in March

Portland Monthly food critic Karen Brooks dishes on the restaurants, obsessions, and under-the-radar finds of the month.

03/01/2016 By Karen Brooks

REVIEW

High Chairs and Hard Core

Pizza Jerk rolls out a first: the punk-rock family pizza joint.

03/01/2016 By Karen Brooks

BREAKING NEWS

Vitaly and Kimberly Paley Will Dramatically Reimagine Historic Heathman Restaurant with Seafood-Centric Headwaters

New look, new direction, new seafood focus. Can the Paley’s Place team pull off another downtown hotel restaurant miracle blocks away from Imperial?

02/16/2016 By Karen Brooks

BREAKING NEWS

First Look and Menu Details for Ataula’s Sister Restaurant Chesa, Opening Next Week

Chef Jose Chesa gets serious with a design-savvy new dining room bursting with smoked paellas, modern tapas, and a major bar. Eat Beat has the first report.

02/16/2016 By Karen Brooks

BREAKING NEWS

The Scoop on Bar Casa Vale, the Upcoming Spanish Spot from Olympia Provisions' Nate Tilden

What to expect at the restaurant and bar kingpin’s new project: “big-ass flames, Spanish braises, and major sherries.”

02/09/2016 By Karen Brooks

BREAKING NEWS

Ken Forkish Reveals New Details about Trifecta Annex at Pine Street Market

Unusual pies from Forkish’s forthcoming pizza cookbook and crazy croissants will rise from a tiny space inside Portland’s first food hall. Here’s why they matter.

02/03/2016 By Karen Brooks

BREAKING NEWS

Salt & Straw Launching Soft Serve Ice Cream Concept, Wiz Bang Bar

It’s Dairy Queen turned upside down, Portland-style. Eat Beat has the first details on Kim and Tyler Malek’s new sit-down soft serve experience inside Pine Street Market, opening April 1.

01/28/2016 By Karen Brooks

COMFORT FOOD

The Wide World of Comfort (or, We’re All Gonna Die Anyway)

We scoured the city for the best warm-blanket dishes from across the globe. So go ahead, wrap your napkin around your shoulders like a Snuggie and dig in!

01/25/2016 Edited by Kelly Clarke By Karen Brooks, Ramona DeNies, Zach Dundas, Rachel Grozanick, Amy Martin, Fiona McCann, Marty Patail, Rachel Ritchie, Benjamin Tepler, and Tuck Woodstock

WORD OF MOUTH

Three Things You Must Eat This Month

Decadent-yet-healthy breakfasts, Spanish dessert breakthroughs, and dead-sexy chocolate bars.

01/25/2016 By Karen Brooks

RESTAURANT REVIEW

The Agony & the Ecstasy of Micah Edelstein’s Feisty Lamb

A one-woman restaurant bursts with heartfelt ideas and world flavors—if you can stick around long enough to taste them.

01/25/2016 By Karen Brooks

COMFORT FOOD

16 Ridiculously Comforting Dishes from Around the Globe

Search out your next rainy-day dish or guilty pleasure by comfort keyword: soothing, hearty, homey, gooey, or spicy.

01/25/2016 Edited by Kelly Clarke By Benjamin Tepler, Karen Brooks, Marty Patail, Tuck Woodstock, Rachel Ritchie, Ramona DeNies, and Zach Dundas

BREAKING NEWS

Portland’s Din Din Will Close in February

Courtney Sproule is hanging up her apron for now. We’ll miss her unusual blend of French cooking, seasonal intensity and changing monthly décor.

01/18/2016 By Karen Brooks and Benjamin Tepler

EAT THIS NOW

Where to Eat This Week

From spicy miso ramen at Departure to oysters at Olympia Oyster Bar, these are the things you must devour right now.

01/13/2016 By Eat Beat Team

FORECASTING 2016

We Predict: Portland’s Best Restaurants 2016

A charcoal-fired paella restaurant, a Southern Thai curry house, the city’s first food hall, and bold new small plates compete to be Portland’s next great breakout.

01/13/2016 By Karen Brooks

BREAKING FOOD NEWS

Either/Or’s Ro Tam Is Bringing Won Ton Noodle Soup to Sellwood

Traditional techniques, old-school crooners, and moody nights will come together in February at a tiny new shop from a dedicated brother-sister team.

01/04/2016 By Karen Brooks

Year in Review

Karen Brooks’s Best Portland Dishes 2015

Portland Monthly’s food critic on the dishes that defined the year.

12/29/2015 By Karen Brooks

YEAR IN REVIEW

The Biggest Openings and Closures of 2015

The Eat Beat team examines the year in Portland restaurants.

12/28/2015 By Benjamin Tepler, Karen Brooks, and Kelly Clarke

BREAKING FOOD NEWS

Nodoguro Relocating to Stray Birds Space in NE Portland

Come January, the inventive Japanese tasting menu restaurant will hold court in one of the city’s most hidden, magical spaces. (Get ready for the 21-course “super hardcore” dinners.)

12/22/2015 By Karen Brooks

WORD OF MOUTH

Two Coffee Shops and More to Check Out in January

Portland Monthly food critic Karen Brooks dishes on the restaurants, obsessions, and under-the-radar finds of the month.

12/21/2015 By Karen Brooks

REVIEW

Does Muscadine Make Portland’s Best Fried Chicken?

Laura Rhoman’s tiny Northeast Portland eatery delivers a genuine taste of the South, Nashville hot birds to true grits.

12/21/2015 By Karen Brooks