Pok Pok

Pok Pok is a nationally celebrated Northern Thai street-food restaurant on SE Division Street in Southeast Portland, Oregon, founded by chef Andy Ricker after extensive research trips through Thailand. The restaurant launched the careers of Thai regional cooking in American dining culture and transformed Portland's culinary identity when it opened in 2005. Ricker's approach centers on authentic Northern Thai and Isaan recipes rarely encountered outside Thailand, executed with imported ingredients and techniques learned directly from Thai cooks. The dining experience is casual—guests order at the window and eat in an open-air courtyard strung with lights—yet the food is rigorously researched and crafted. Ike's Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings, named after the night-market vendor who inspired them, are the restaurant's most famous preparation: twice-fried chicken wings marinated in fish sauce and palm sugar, sticky, funky, and addictive. Papaya Pok Pok, a hand-pounded green papaya salad with fermented land crab, represents the kitchen's commitment to regional specificity. The drinking vinegar program—fresh-pressed juice-and-vinegar shrubs mixed with soda—became a national trend after Pok Pok popularized them. Ricker has received multiple James Beard Award nominations and won the Outstanding Chef award in 2011, one of the most prestigious recognitions in American food. The restaurant does not take reservations; weekend waits of 45 to 90 minutes are common. Going on a weekday evening or arriving at opening significantly reduces waiting time. Pok Pok's Portland location remains the original and is considered the truest expression of Ricker's vision, even as the brand expanded to other cities.