133 N. Carrolton Ave. (Mid-City) 504.484.0999. Tuesday through Sunday: 7am to 10pm. Credit Cards. We've been suckered in by Galatoire's alcohol tsunami and Antoine's mosaic tile floor, yet the value -- economic, social and psychological -- of a small, divy-type restaurant remains. The Fiesta Latina Bar and Grill is a cozy new restaurant that specializes in greasy Latin American dishes cooked by Hondurans (the spare ribs are great, they also have raw oysters and breakfast). Half the restaurant is dedicated to table dining while a raised back bar makes for good bird's-eye people watching. Excellent jukebox (U.S. and Latin), cheap margaritas, tangy micheladas (Mexican beer, sauce, salt and lime). The feeling is loose and unpredictable with a sprinkling of the world-is-gone-to-shit drunkenness. In short, it's authentico. You can't call the Fiesta Latina Bar and Grill a full-blown dive the way you'd call The Abbey a dive, but it has the friendliness and humanity of a dive, and sometimes that's all you need. Video Poker.
