December 2025 Updates on Portland Restaurants and Brewers

Here’s an update on the most delicious news out there:

Oregonian’s ‘10 Best New Restaurants’

Critic Michael Russell has picked his favorite restaurants that opened between 2024 and 2025. They include the Filipino cafe-bakery Balong, the pizza and cider bar Bauman’s on Oak, the Italian restaurant Fantino, North Vietnamese restaurant The Paper Bridge, and more. [Oregonian]

• Related: At the top of this best list is L’Echelle, which was named the Oregonian’s 2025 Restaurant of the Year. The French bistro was on its way to opening before the tragic death of chef Naomi Pomeroy. Her longtime collaborator and friends have created a place that’s “casual, candlelit, effortlessly elegant.” [Oregonian]

Best Barbecue in Oregon

There’s steep competition these days, but Podnah’s Pit has the best barbecue in the state, according to the national food website Tasting Table. It won a similar honor from the Food Network in 2023. [Tasting Table via Oregonian]

Oregon Wins at an International Brewers’ Competition

In The Brussels Beer Challenge, two Oregon brewers brought home medals. Hood River’s pFriem Family Brewers won a gold (for a Helles German-style lager beer), two silver medals (for a flavored fruit beer and for a pale ale), and a bronze (for their IPA). McMinnville-based Heater Allen Brewing won a silver medal for a Märzen lager and bronze for a Helles lager. [Oregonian]

Portland Restaurant Fuses Portuguese and Japanese Cuisine

Upscale restaurant Terra Mae, which opened a year ago, pairs Portuguese and Japanese cuisine. It may seem like an unlikely combo, but there’s a historical precedent for it. Willamette Week reviewer Tim Tran recommends their take on “a well-beloved classic in Portuguese households: alcatra ($27), [which is] a humble beef stew dish originally … from Terceira Island in the Azores.” [Willamette Week]