If only Jim Croce were still alive and living in East Boston

He might be composing a little ditty about a brawl at an East Boston restaurant last month that left one man with a slash wound across his face, another man with bruises all over and a third man with half of his ear bitten off.

The Boston Licensing Board decides Thursday what action, if any, to take against Mama Blanca, 1045 Saratoga St., for the May 1 melee, which may have started when one man thought a regular was putting the moves on a waitress - who turned out to be his girlfriend. The regular, who attended a hearing today, said he was just exchanging some pleasantries with the waitress.

The man said that he was jumped by the other guy outside, and that the guy took out a knife and swung it at him, missing him on the first try, then connecting with his forehead on the second. His friend jumped in and when it was over, the original alleged combatant was missing half an ear, the victim of a bite, according to Lt. Det. Eric Eversley. Eversley, reading from a report on the incident, did not say whether the ear piece was recovered.

Licensing Board Chairwoman Nicole Murati Ferrer said she was concerned that after restaurant security booted two men who seemed to be on the verge of a fight inside, they didn't go outside to make sure nothing happened - which it then did. A restaurant manager said what happens outside his doors isn't his concern - Ferrer told him that under the rules of the licensing board, it most certainly is.

Boston Police cited the restaurant for, among other things, mayhem.