The City Attorney's office says that although the Babalu Mambo Room flouted (flouted, I say!) state law by operating without a license for nearly a month after the state pulled their liquor license, according to state liquor board records, the city will not attempt to block the bar from reopening.

The state revoked Babalu's liquor license in April as part of a settlement after the bar was busted for selling $99 TV dinners in an apparent attempt to skirt the state's regulation on food service in bars. After the state pulled the bar's license, liquor board records indicate enforcement agents visited Babalu at least three times over a three week period and found that the bar was still operating. The liquor board delivered a letter to the bar late last month telling Babalu's owner they could either close up shop or surrender their liquor. The bar is currently closed, although a sign on the door says Babalu has shut down for HVAC maintenance.

While Babalu's allegedly unlicensed operation might bring the wrath of the Washington State Liquor Control Board, City Attorney Pete Holmes' spokeswoman Kimberly Mills says the city doesn't consider Babalu to be a public nuisance or public safety issue, so the city's newly-formed five-person liquor license review panel won't seek to block the bar's application for a new license.

We're working to find out more about who's on this new five person panel—which Mills says hasn't opposed a single license application since the group was formed earlier this year—and we'll report back later today when we get more info.

Also: what say you, Wallingford? Is Babalu a nuisance?