The Landmarks We Lost

The year felt like an extended last call.

Pok Pok Changed Portland. But Its Era Was Over Before the Pandemic Toppled the Thai Food Empire.

Before the Michelin star, before the James Beard Award and the Restaurant of the Year plaudits and the bestselling cookbook, not to mention an empire that stretched to four states and four quadrants of Portland, Pok Pok began 15 years ago as a wee chicken shack.

Andy Ricker Is Closing Pok Pok’s Last Remaining Restaurants, Bringing an End to One of Portland’s Preeminent Food Empires

The phrase “end of an era” has been perhaps overused the last few months, but in this case, it’s especially appropriate: Pok Pok is no more.

Pok Pok Will Permanently Close Most of Its Restaurants in Portland

Pok Pok, the iconic restaurant that introduced Portland to the cuisine of Northern Thailand when it opened on Division Street in 2005, is permanently closing nearly all of its locations in the city, save its flagship dining room and Pok Pok Wing in Southeast Portland.

What Should Be Shake Shack’s Portland-Specific Menu Item?

Now, when the state’s first Shake Shack eventually opens in Southwest Portland, it’s debatable whether it would make the local top 10. Still, whenever I find myself in a city with a Shake Shack—New York, obviously, but also Philadelphia and Austin—I rarely pass it up.

The Most Important Portland Culture News of the Week, From Best to Worst

I’m a loner, Dottie. A rebel.

A New Project from Pok Pok’s Andy Ricker Opens in Northwest Portland This Month

Ping Yang Pow will be Ricker’s first non-Pok Pok project since his Division Street noodle house, Sen Yai, closed in 2016.

Wings/ Chicken