The purpose of this study was to clarify the association between dietary patterns and cognitive function in a community-dwelling population in Japan. A total of 388 volunteers (60 years and older) who participated in the Iwaki Health Promotion Project 2011 were recruited. Diet was assessed with a validated, self-administered brief-type diet history questionnaire. Dietary patterns were extracted from 52 predefined food groups by principal component analysis. The Mini-Mental State Examination was also used to measure global cognitive status. Three dietary patterns were identified as follows: "Healthy," "Noodle," and "Alcohol and accompaniment." Compared with the low tertile of the "Alcohol and accompaniment" pattern, only the middle tertile was independently related to an increased risk of poor cognitive function. In conclusions, present study failed to substantiate dose-dependent associations between dietary patterns and the risk of poor cognitive function. Further studies with longitudinal observations are warranted.