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• BARcelona Tapas Bar

Denise Perez, 39, and Carmen Perez, 44 at Barcelona Tapas Restaurant and Bar. (Neal Taflinger for The Star)

Amanda Martin, 22, at Barcelona Tapas Restaurant and Bar. (Neal Taflinger for The Star)

Ezequiel Jimenez, Fernando Ramirez, and Gerardo Becerra performing at BARcelona Tapas Bar. (Neal Taflinger for The Star)

Barcelona Tapas Restaurant and Bar, 201 N. Deleware St. For Bar Crawl. (Neal Taflinger for The Star)

9:24 p.m.

If you've heard tell of a fancy new tapas bar Downtown, you've heard of BARcelona. With its design inspirations taken from Spain's second city, BARcelona features wrought iron, decorative glass fixtures, and glazed-tile tabletops.

9:44 p.m.

A three-piece band blares from the far end of the room. The bassist, percussionist, and keyboardist (who I assume is standing in for the absentee horn section) are capable musicians, but the volume makes it nearly impossible to converse. The bass rattles the bar. One table full of women moves to the patio in search of respite. Six long-haired Latinas smile broadly as they shimmy to the beat.

Denise Perez doesn't mind the racket. "It's good," she says, grinning. Dancing has featured big in her life as long as she can remember, and she makes the rounds of the city's salsa nights. BARcelona is her Tuesday stop because she's friends with bandleader Fernando Ramirez.

10:05 p.m.

"Sorry, there's usually more people here," Amanda Martin says. I tell the 22-year-old bartender and student that I have a death touch, that nearly every bar is slow when I visit. I ask if the location has anything to do with it. BARcelona is in a no-man's-land on Delaware Street, a block south of Massachusetts Avenue and several blocks from the Meridian Street party district. She thinks that the recent property tax hike and attempts to save for the holidays are the main culprits. Martin says the bar's clientele is diverse, and I can see it, just not in the quantity I was expecting.

When I confirm Martin's name, she asks me to credit her as Amanda Dangerously. She says she is in the process of legally changing her name. I ask her how her parents feel about that. "My dad doesn't care, and my mom doesn't believe me," she says.

10:14 p.m.

The band takes a break, and more people leave. It doesn't look like a late crowd is coming, which is unfortunate. Save for the ghost-town feeling around the corner of Ohio and Delaware streets, BARcelona has a lot going for it. The design and menu are bold by Indy's standards, and the bar is "just-right" sized; not too big, not too small.

10:35 p.m.

Nelson Woods, 24, ambles in with friends Heather Ramirez, 19, Rocio Colmenero, 19, and Prentice Leavell, 22. They are here for salsa night -- the girls will dance, the guys will watch. I ask Woods where the crowd is. "It's still early," he says.

I must be getting old.