The Daily Meal has dropped its list of the 101 Best Restaurants in America for 2012, and Portland's familiar suspects made the cut: Beast (#69), Le Pigeon (#62), and Pok Pok are all named among the country's best. Most impressively, Andy Ricker's Thai spot (which makes the list for the first time) nearly broke the top 10 — coming in at #12 — and represents the highest-ranked restaurant in the Pacific Northwest. Possible reason for PDX's strong showing: It should be noted that PoMo's Karen Brooks was among the industry experts on the judging panel. [Daily Meal]
