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Months after closing his Brooklyn location, Pok Pok owner Andy Ricker is opening a new Pok Pok Wing in Southwest Portland. This will be the first Pok Pok in that neighborhood, taking over the former Humdinger Drive-In on SW Barbur. Ricker writes that the new location should open around the new year.
Pok Pok Wing is a brand centered around Ricker’s popular fish sauce wings, with a single location on SE Milwaukie. The wings were the product of Ricker and his first employee, Ich “Ike” Truong, who developed the recipe based on the wings found at Vietnamese roadside stands. The dish quickly garnered national attention at the original location, adding to the Thai restaurant’s famously long lines. Pok Pok Wing opened as a cart, leveling up to the SE Milwaukie restaurant in 2016.
Humdinger Drive-In has been open for 37 years, an institution in that neighborhood with black booths and endless expanses of framed family photos. According to Ricker’s post, owners Susie and Gordon Reimer decided to sell the drive-in due to “health issues.” Susie Reimer bought the business at 27 and has run it since as chef-owner.
• Pok Pok Wing [Official]
• Pok Pok Wing [Facebook]
• Andy Ricker [Instagram]
• Influential Thai Restaurant Pok Pok Brooklyn Is Closing [Eater NY]
• All previous Pok Pok Wing coverage [EPDX]
• Hard work never ends for Humdinger owner Susie Reimer [The Oregonian]
• Make Pok Pok’s Famous Wings at Home [Portland Monthly]