Social Media Star the Korean Mama Shares Her Essential Beaverton Restaurants
The many faces of the Korean Mama.
Jane Kim is her own kind of social media star. Better known as the Korean Mama, Kim has earned over a million followers between TikTok and Instagram with her earnest charm and cheerful refrain of “I’m so hungry!” As her adult son Ed Kim films, the Korean Mama scours the city and its suburbs, digging into bowls of noodles and platters of barbecue, sampling boba teas and leche flan, and giving her often positive reviews. (More than a few local restaurants have her videos pinned at the top of their own Instagram feeds.)
Though they live in Portland these days, the Kims spent most of Ed’s childhood in Beaverton, and TKM is still an authority on the burb’s best Korean short rib soup and meaty pho—cheeseburgers, too.
Always Spring Restaurant
Jane regularly shops at Beaverton’s G Mart and will often pop upstairs to one of her favorite restaurants, Always Spring, for takeout. Her go-to is yukgaejang, a spicy soup with shredded beef, a ton of green onions, and bracken fiddleheads, which Ed used to forage in the hills for their own home-cooking. The Korean short-rib-and-cabbage soup ugeoji galbi tang is another staple—“the best in town,” Jane says.
3975 SW 114th Ave, Beaverton
Phở Nguyên
Though technically in Portland, Pho̦’ Nguyên is just yards from the Beaverton border, and it’s an all-time fave of the Kims. “Our favorite pho spot in literally all of Portland,” says the Korean Mama. “It’s the same family and staff that have been there for years, and they always recognize us,” adds Ed, known online as the Korean Son. Unsurprisingly, steaming bowls of broth and rice noodles are the play. Jane likes hers loaded up with beef: round steak, flank, tripe, and especially tendon, her favorite. “If I get meatballs,” she says, “I give them to Ed.”
4795 SW 77th Ave, Portland
Koreana Restaurant
This cozy, wood-lined restaurant has been a Kim family haunt since the ’90s. And it holds up. TKM loves the galbi, giving it a 10 out of 10 for its perfect marinade: not too sweet, not too salty. But on a recent trip they were surprised by the meat jun, a Korean dish (yukjeon) popularized in Hawaii made with thin slices egg-battered and fried beef. Koreana’s version came recommended by a couple from Hawaii who are fans of the Korean Mama.
9955 SW Beaverton Hillsdale Hwy, Beaverton
Charburger
This classic counter-service burger joint stacks flame-broiled, quarter-pound patties and American cheese up to four layers tall atop a bed of crispy iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, and pickles. It’s a special spot for the family, as Jane and her late husband used to own the business—Ed remembers doing homework in the back while his parents served fries and fresh-fruit milkshakes. Today the milkshakes are gone, and new ownership has added Japanese touches to the menu. But the Kims go for the classic cheeseburger. Mom says that “the burgers are still really good,” though maybe not as good as when she was running things.
6050 SW Hall Blvd, Beaverton
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