Skip to main content5919 SE 82nd Ave., 774-1468. Noon-2:30 am daily.
Whoever said there are no second acts in American life
never went to Lion's Eye's previous incarnation, Becken's Winning
Hand—though, frankly, one could hardly blame them. Wedged between a pawn
shop and a shoe cobbler on the far edges of Southeast 82nd Avenue, it
was just the sort of den of iniquity most of Portland would be happy to
never know existed. After a 2006 drug bust, ownership changed hands, as
did the name, and gradually, Lion's Eye transformed into the kind of
shabby, welcoming dive that wouldn't look out of place on, say, Alberta
Street. It wasn't a full-on makeover—the upholstery still has tears,
only slivers of daylight get through the windows and the less said about
the restrooms, the better—but a series of subtle changes, along with
more obvious ones, made the difference. Come now for the Sunday pool
tournaments, the homey back patio and expansive beer program; stay for
the countertop nut-dispensers, the thrift-store lamps fixed inside empty
whiskey bottles, local artwork and public sketchbooks, one of which
features a doodle of Alf smoking a joint. As for actual drugs, best look
elsewhere.
Happy hour: 3-7 pm daily.
Entertainment: Pool, jukebox, trivia night, board games, cornhole, pinball, TV.
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WWeek 2015