IMAGE: leahnash.com

When I lived in the Brooklyn neighborhood, the bar now known as Hound Dog’s Bar & Grill (4463 SE Milwaukie Ave., 232-3547) was a regulars-only dive where dreams went to die. Terry’s Inn had little to offer but microwave burritos and personality, and left much to be desired as a neighborhood hangout. But Hound Dog’s has potential. If anything, the overhauled cozy corner bar has too much going on: lottery machines, flat-screen TVs, Internet jukebox, smoking patio, excellent specials (including all-day drink deals that rotate every two hours, ending with “$4 bombs”) and a good-looking indoor grill. It’s not perfect—the decor is a little generic and overlit; the sweet Revenge From Mars pinball machine is too challenging—but Hound Dog’s is friendly and cheap. Most of all, it’s a neighborhood bar for folks who sorely needed one.