2 Oregon restaurants featured alongside The New York Times’ 2026 favorites

2 Oregon restaurants featured alongside The New York Times’ 2026 favorites

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — For the third consecutive year, The New York Times has named two Oregon eateries alongside the best in the U.S.

The daily newspaper released The Restaurant List 2026 on Tuesday, recognizing dining spots across the nation that gave food reporters “that feeling” — whatever that may be. Portland’s OK Chicken and Khao Soi was one of those 50 spots.

 $1.1 billion from Nike co-founder will build Oregon’s first women’s hospital 

The New York Times marked the business as “new,” among multiple others that have opened since the publication released last year’s restaurant list. OK Chicken and Khao Soi debuted on 3226 SE Division St. earlier in January.

“This Northern Thai spot has big culinary shoes to fill,” the Times wrote. “It occupies the rambling indoor-outdoor space once home to Andy Ricker’s Pok Pok, a restaurant that helped change the conversation around Thai food in the United States. With the local restaurant mini-mogul Earl Ninsom (of Langbaan renown) at the helm and the chef Patrick Delsid running the kitchen, OK Chicken is more than up to the task.”

The restaurant’s namesake dishes are must-orders, in addition to its gai yang chicken and alcoholic slushies, according to the newspaper.

NYT also highlighted Carlton’s Hayward among the nation’s top eateries. Located on 209 North Kutch St., the dining spot’s brick-and-mortar location opened just last year.

Owner and Chef Kari Shaughnessy previously operated the restaurant out of McMinnville’s Mac Market. The standalone business offers a seasonal menu, with the Times naming spot prawn agnolotti and black cod katsu among recent dishes.

 Meet the wealthiest person in Oregon, according to latest Forbes report 

“Building a restaurant and pushing forward a dream is no easy task,” Shaughnessy wrote in response to NYT’s list. “What I have learned is this whole small-town restaurant thing can be so so gratifying. It gives us more purpose and keeps us grounded in a way I never expected. Hayward would not be what it is without this community. It is that simple.”

In 2025, the Times list featured Portland’s The Paper Bridge and Eugene’s Yardy Rum Bar. The Rose City’s L’Orange and Yaowarat were named the prior year, and three Oregon restaurants were recognized in 2023.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.