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.

BREAKING NEWS

Inside Portland’s First Food Hall, Pine Street Market

The first details emerge on an ambitious, indoor food-and-drink pod opening downtown this fall.

01/14/2015 By Karen Brooks

Roundup

The Portland 21: Karen Brooks’ Favorite Dishes of 2014

Portland Monthly’s food critic reveals the foods and flavors of the year.

01/07/2015 By Karen Brooks

WORD OF MOUTH

3 Things You Must Eat in Portland this January

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

01/05/2015 By Karen Brooks

RESTAURANT REVIEW

Slow Burn

Mole flights. Suitcase mescals. That goat barbacoa. Xico keeps getting hotter.

01/05/2015 By Karen Brooks

BREAKING NEWS

Holdfast Finds a New Home in Southeast Portland

In January, Portland’s modernist experiment will take its talent and runaway success story to the front room of Fausse Piste Winery, four nights a week.

12/17/2014 By Karen Brooks

HIT LIST

10 Last-Minute Holiday Gifts for Foodies

The perfect gift for every kind of foodie, (almost) all for under $50

12/17/2014 With Rachel Ritchie and Karen Brooks By Benjamin Tepler

FOOD EVENT SPOTLIGHT

Departure Chef Gregory Gourdet Taps his Haitian Roots

Top Chef’s fierce competitor takes a deep dive into the dishes of his youth on December 21.

12/16/2014 By Karen Brooks

BEST RESTAURANTS

Portland Monthly's Best Restaurants Dinner Series

Portland Monthly hands out awards to three top restaurants in a year of great eating. Behind the scenes at a trio of rollicking ceremonial dinners at Langbaan, Ataula, and Nodoguro.

12/10/2014 Photography by Rachel Ritchie and Karen Brooks By Benjamin Tepler

BREAKING NEWS

Menu Sneak Peek: Boke Bowl West’s Playful Dim Sum Brunch

Portland’s ramen experimenters juggle the creative and the classic in their new “Boke Sum” menu, rolling out on carts this weekend.

12/09/2014 By Karen Brooks

WORD OF MOUTH

Food Critic Karen Brooks Dishes On What to Eat, Right Now.

Portland Monthly's restaurant guru shares her obsessions and under-the-radar finds of the month.

12/01/2014 By Karen Brooks

HIT LIST

Cozy Up with Portland's Best Hot Chocolate

Unfiltered passion, really good chocolate, no apologies. Get ready to rethink the fireside drink with these five haute mugs.

12/01/2014 By Karen Brooks

WINTER BUCKET LIST

14 Things You Must Eat and Drink This Winter

From flaming cocktails to Sichuan hot pot, we've got more than a dozen tips for giving your appetite a big, warm hug.

12/01/2014 By Benjamin Tepler and Tuck Woodstock Edited by Kelly Clarke

FOOD AND DRINK EVENTS

Eat Beat Weekly Planner

James Beard Public Market Open House at OMSI, Madrid Chocolatería Pop Up at the Meadow, La Fête du Macaron at Bar Vivant, and more upcoming food and drink events around Portland!

11/26/2014 By Benjamin Tepler