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The Leaky Roof (1538 SW Jefferson St., 222-3745, theleakyroof.com) may be across from Lincoln High School, but its patrons are distinctly longer of tooth and eyebrow. The bar serves its once-blue-collar Goose Hollow crowd with triflingly cheap happy-hour food ($4.95 for a one-third-pound burger, 3-6 pm) and costlier dinners, including an excellent lamb shepherd's pie ($14.50) so spiced it's almost curried. The website promises "the largest selection of Irish whiskey available in Portland," and while we can't verify the claim, the list doesn't disappoint, with 24 marks and vintages of uisce beatha in its tiny hearth-and-hardwood space. Dirt-cheap, triple-shot whiskey flights are available, including a resolutely obscure tour of Éireann ($12) featuring mild Knappogue Castle, hot Tyrconnell and sweetly balanced Tullamore Dew; and the chance to taste a lineup from Jameson ($17) and Bushmills ($12). Single young women should be prepared, however, for the gallantries of silver foxes. As we arrived, a middle-aged gentleman was busy distributing a $500 tip among the friendly female bar staff. Later on, my drinking companion—when left briefly alone while I ordered from the bar—was politely asked by two men in their 60s whether she'd join them for supper. Noble Éire may be an island, but no man is.
WWeek 2015