âWhat can I get nice people today?â This is Muhamed Mujcic-Mufko, owner of 4-4-2, a new Bosnian soccer bar heâs opened up in his old Taste of Europe market space on Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard. Mujcic-Mufko is a white-haired, cheery-eyed, consummate hostâhe looks a bit like a shorter, Bosnian Ted Dansonâwho is both genuine and genuinely shticky in his comforts. In his charismatic, heavily accented idiom, everyone is ânice,â the food is the âbest in townâ and each couple consists of a âyoung ladyâ and a âlucky guy.â Of course, 4-4-2 is also Portlandâs lone soccer bar, and three dedicated flat-screens adorn the walls alongside the flags of favored teams, from FC Bayern to the Timbersâ green and yellow; the barâs stock clientele is mostly drawn from the ranks of the American Soccer Fan, which is to say: foreigners, hippies and ex-expatriates. Some of us, however, come in simply for the hospitality and the bar food. My favorite is the peka sandwich ($8.75), which sports wafer-sliced meat so smoked and cured as to be beefâs own thundering answer to bacon. Dear Lord. MATTHEW KORFHAGE.
What to drink: Draft beer served in true half-liter mugs.
Happy hour: $3.75 draft pints, $4 well drinks 3-7 pm Monday-Thursday.
Entertainment: Soccer.
WWeek 2015