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BY WW ARTS & CULTURE Staff vs. Andrew Jankowski
When we asked our writers to weigh in on their favorite meals of the year, we noticed a trend: Lots of people had great things to say about OK Omens. Some raved about the restaurant itself, while others called out specific dishes as the best they’d had all year. Interim Arts & Culture editor Andrew Jankowski begs to differ. In the interest of a lively, spirited debate, we’ve decided to present both sides of the argument.
OK Omens saw a sea change in 2025. The restaurant tapped Portland native and seafood savant Joseph Papas as its chef. Over the summer, Papas highlighted the lowly mackerel, as a crudo and grilled. My fondest memory of fall is his novel treatment of rarely seen Pacific razor clams; the sweet clam meat lightly poached, coarsely chopped and served on the half shell in its own liquor with halved ground cherries. Lately, Pacific skate, a bycatch, has been served perfectly pan-fried. And Dungeness crab salad, anointed with crab fat dressing, is a must. A burger and Brent Braun’s wine list remain excellent holdovers. MICHAEL C. ZUSMAN.
Joseph Papas’ touch is light but deft, letting the seasonal, seafood-heavy ingredients speak for themselves. Each dish has interesting textures and bright flavors and is beautifully plated, but not in an Instagram-bait kind of way. This was especially true in the summer—fluke crudo was topped with yellow tomatillos, melon gelée, lime and marigold, or a corn ice cream was served with macerated blueberries. It also remains one of the best places in Portland to try German wines—and a true standout in a city with many great wine-focused restaurants. CAITLIN PANGARES.
Most people don’t go to OK Omens just for fries…but trust me when I say they should. One of the stars of the show is just sitting there quietly on the menu, like the shy kid at the party. These golden beauties made from Kennebec potatoes are double-fried, resulting in a salt-to-crunch-to-starch ratio that is perfection, and a perfect companion to its luxurious burger or the $1 happy hour oysters. Sure, there are so many impressive, inspired dishes to rave about in Portland’s food scene and I have eaten my fair share this year, but I still find myself dreaming about those fries. NEIL FERGUSON.
The best thing I ate all year was the beef with its marrow at OK Omens. Eating this dish with my bare hands made me finally understand the concept of zero-waste, nose-to-tail cuisine. The dish, consisting of an 8-inch horizontally sliced bone with gelatinous yellow-gold marrow, beef tartare with egg yolk, shallots, capers and black pepper, smeared over buttered, charred toast and squirted with Meyer lemon, hit all the right spots, caressing acid and fat, crunchy and silky, smoked and raw to a nearly orgasmic finish. TIM TRAN.
Glowing reviews of OK Omens leave me questioning reality. The oysters are fine (if capped at one dozen during happy hour) and the rest of the menu is edible enough, but the heaps of praise thrust upon it astounds me. I don’t care how fresh the ingredients are, how expansive the wine menu is, or how accomplished a chef is at any given place: If I spend $100 on dinner and have to hit Taco Bell on the way home to feel anything like full, it’s a failure. My last visit to OK Omens was so embarrassing that I thought I tanked a pair of 15-year friendships. I gather that our visit was early in Joseph Papas’ tenure, but on this night the kitchen was mercilessly backed up. Cocktail service, meanwhile, flowed smoothly enough until my friend, a veteran hostess, flagged that we were being liquored up to be hit with a high bill, so we needed to cut ourselves off. Nothing about dinner was memorable—someone had the burger, but none of the rest of us remember what we ate. We do remember the sticker shock of getting a $400 combined bill that included a 20% gratuity—we were told we could tip even more, but only if we really wanted to—and the feeling, as we reached for our wallets, that we’d been expertly finessed. My friends are up to their eyeballs in children, and don’t get a night off often, so it felt like a disastrous friend date. Was it possible that I had a $25 entree and a $55 bar tab? Sure, but I was still hungry and my buzz was thoroughly killed. Since Portland has no shortage of oyster buck-shuck nights, I don’t see myself returning to OK Omens. That just leaves room for the rest of you, I suppose. ANDREW JANKOWSKI.
EAT: OK Omens, 1758 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 503-231-9959, okomens.com 5–9:30 pm Tuesday–Sunday.
