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.

HIT LIST

10 Awesome Chocolate Bars for the Holidays

We snapped open bars from Portland and beyond to answer your stocking stuffer prayers. Or keep them for yourself. We won’t tell.

12/15/2015 By Karen Brooks

READ 'EM AND EAT

The Best Local Cookbooks of 2015

From groundbreaking charcuterie tomes to giftable picnic handbooks, these are the year’s must-read Portland recipe collections.

12/15/2015 By Benjamin Tepler, Karen Brooks, and Kelly Clarke

PORTLAND BUCKET LIST

Are You a Real Portlander?

Have you sprinted up Tabor? Gone commando at the World Naked Bike Ride? Consumed *all* the beer? Take our quiz to find out if you’re (nearly) native—or just got off the bus.

12/11/2015 Edited by Marty Patail With Karen Brooks, Ramona DeNies, Allison Jones, Fiona McCann, Rachel Ritchie, and Benjamin Tepler

EAT HERE NOW

Where to Eat This Week

From creamy, masa-steeped hot chocolate at Portland Mercado to a final Middle East brunch at Levant, these are the things you must consume this week.

12/07/2015 By Eat Beat Team

INTERVIEW

Q&A with Roger Porter: Eating Words Is a Feast of Reading

A new anthology of food writing, coedited by former Portland food critic Roger J. Porter, is an epic collection of food tales by familiar and surprising writers.

12/04/2015 By Karen Brooks

BREAKING NEWS

Sneak Peek at Hat Yai, Langbaan’s Upcoming Sister Restaurant

It’s a curry house, a Southern Thai fried chicken joint, and the most intriguing restaurant on Portland’s horizon. As Hat Yai readies to open, Eat Beat has the first look at menu and chef details.

12/01/2015 By Karen Brooks

BEAN SCENE

Four Reasons to Sip at Coffeehouse Northwest

Northwest Portland’s premier coffee shop unveils a holiday menu worth celebrating. Glug eggnog latte with extra purpose on Thanksgiving morning, when all “pay what you like” proceeds go to charity.

11/24/2015 By Karen Brooks