The guac made by La Barra had impressed us at the Guactacular by being as simple and fresh tasting as it could possibly be, with no pretentious fripperies like bacon, pineapple, or corn kernels.

Like many small places without teams of attorneys, La Barra has been hanging on tenterhooks waiting for its liquor license, as reported by Grub Street. Recently, as we've reported, lots of places limping along with no liquor license had been allowing BYOB, which is a very powerful lure to diners, allowing wine fanciers, for example, to bring bottles that would be far more expensive if they were on a restaurant's wine list. Now, it seems the State Liquor Authority has added to its arcane list of rules the admonition that restaurants that have a BYOB policy prior to the acquisition of the actual liquor license will have more difficulty securing the license, as reported by Crain's. The ostensible reason is that the SLA claims it's losing revenue from BYOB places. Like the DOH, the SLA acts like a bunch of swashbuckling pirates, and one is always slightly suspicious that the whole process is corrupt. How does the SLA get away with such an anti-consumerist policy?

Anyway, we arrived at the tiny (10 counter seats, a couple of tables) La Barra on a Thursday evening to find it devoid of customers. The place started out as a cevicheria, along the lines of a Sushi Samba or a Mercadito, and the owners must have look enviously across the street, where crowds swill shots of tequila from a list of 30 varieties. It wasn't to happen. Recently, La Barra revamped its menu to include a broad range of Mexican specialties, still in tapas-bar-size portions. Somehow, these little dishes are not quite as fun if you're not liquored up.

We eagerly scanned the new menu, and sampled dishes in each of the categories, which  now ran to Ceviches, Soups, Salads, Tostadas, Empanadas, Tamales, Tacos, and Desserts. Unfortunately, in its abject state, La Barra was not able to provide everything on its menu.

The guacamole was as fab as ever, though there was lots more guacamole than could be scooped with the small collection of chips. The best dish of all was a wonderful gazpacho, pink with fresh tomatoes and heavily inflected with raw garlic, and served properly chilled. Yowee! The fish taco was lackluster, possibly because of a plethora of rice and beans also included within the single corn tortilla. We should have poured the rice and beans out, and made a side dish of them, we thought later.

The octopus from the ceviche list proved a generous serving, glossed with a thin brown sauce that may or may not have contained balsamic vinegar. The house salad was a magnificent heap of good greens, with some fresh mango thrown in, perfect for summer. We also loved the tamales, which came wrapped in banana leaves, but were so small that a single bite might dispatch both tamales in the two-piece serving. Please make them bigger, La Barra.

Anyway, so there we sat, enjoying the sharply and pleasingly flavored little dishes, but prohibited by the SLA from either bringing in booze or buying some from the restaurant, which seems to be foundering without it. 250 Broome Street, 212-260-1607