Sandinista

Pretty unfriendly staff, at 5pm, Staff moved us on from a table that was reserved for 7pm, on the plus side they have a nice selection of beers

Looking for somewhere we could both get a table, a chat and some good food on a Friday seemed like a near impossible feat when Kate W. and I wanted to catch up recently. However, she had a stroke of genius and suggested Sandinista — tapas, great music and dedicated seats for those wanting to eat.
The atmosphere hadn’t quite hit those peak Friday night levels when we arrived at around 6pm, so perched ourselves at the bar with a bottle of wine. The service was quick and friendly, with plenty of back and forth between staff and customers. The tables started to book up around 6.45pm so we put our names down for 7pm; we came for tapas and there was no way we were missing tapas!
Once we were seated, it didn’t take us long to decide what to have: chilli nachos; patatas con alioli; beef meatballs; marinated rump steak; and chicken wings with romesco sauce. The food came quickly and consistently, with a small wait for dishes such as the steak, which came pink and was obviously cooked with care. Aside from the steak, the chilli nachos were a personal favourite, with just the right amount of heat and a little bit of ‘hands on’ action.
We still had room for dessert so opted for the dark chocolate mousse with shortbread — but it arrived with no shortbread! When we bought it up with the waitress, she apologised; as it’s homemade, they didn’t have any available. A fair reason but £5.25 for just a chocolate pudding (not too dissimilar to angel delight)? I’ll stick to the savoury in future.
I’m pleased to have revisited for food rather than my usual mixture of wine and margaritas. Sandinista may have been here for a while but they haven’t forgotten their roots in good food, good wine and great music.

I really do love it here! Another amazing selection of tapas including meatballs, chilli nachos, chicken wings, rump steak and garlic potatoes! Washed down with a bottle of two of wine — not much more to say I think my previous reviews (plural)!

Ventured here recently on our almost weekly Sundayfunday night out with friends. Word of warning, this review will recall events recollected via a hazy memory. As we left the buzzing confines of Cane and Grain the vision I had of Sandanista was of another busy city centre bar. However the atmosphere as we arrived was very mellow indeed. Not for long though about hald an hour after we arrived the places was teaming with activity. Around 9 of us occupied two booths and had a great time. Some decent beverages of the beer variety were consumed and there were also someinteresting shots. The shot our table tried came in a pair. One of the alcohol variety the other some heavenly green spicy liquid condiment.
Will be updating this review once the food menu is tried and tested so watch this space. As for its appeal as a drinking hole, I highly recommend it due to its somewhat tucked away hidden nature. There’s bound to be plenty of space for you to enjoy a quiet drink and conversation here.

Argh! Sandinista has got some quite nice outside seating with a side view of St Ann’s Square (although loads of smokers) and an appealing food and drink menu, however we were very disappointed with our cocktails, so much so we didn’t risk ordering anything else and left. I got a margarita which basically didn’t taste like a margarita and my friend got a raspberry collins which tasted very synthetic. At £7 this is not good when there’s multiple places in the NQ doing much better for less.
There’s no table service either which is a bit of a drag when you’re sitting outside.
Oh and my friend had to help the bartenders use their new corkscrew to open a bottle of wine. You know, the ones with the handles to make it super easy. Might explain why the cocktails weren’t up to much.
Would very much hesitate to return based on this experience, unfortunately. Certainly avoid the cocktails!

Great place for tasty, rustic and decent sized portion tapas! Im a big fan of the food, cocktails and the atmosphere here! The pork belly tapas with white beans has to be my absolute fave, the sauce is devine! The calamari and cheese board are also great!
This tapas bar is a great place to hang out with friends and stay out for the night for cocktails! IF you fancy something more refined and a more romantic/​relaxed atmosphere then check out Evuna on Deansgate!
Whilst this type of place suits a laid back and relaxed attitude, my one negative is that the staff sometimes take this ethos too far and tend to stand round end of the bar chatting… Completely oblivious to customers sending off smoke flares to get their attention… This tends to happen more when the place is quiet!

Nice place to go for a drinks and enjoy some tapas yumy tapas with friends! I especially like their squids, pork belly and the cheese board! if you are with few friends and you just want something to eat with your drinks try their chilly nachos that are massive and very nice!
I would probably have given 5 stars if service was better, staff tend to stay speaking with each other behind the bar until you go to tell them that you are ready to order!

Sandinista is a great bar/​restaurant tucked away down a side street off St Ann’s Square. I have only ever had drinks here so I can’t comment on the food. The bar was lively and the atmosphere was really good. They play a good range of music and I love all the Latin themed posters and memorabilia on the walls. The cocktails are good, I can certainly recommend the French Martini. Sandinista is a good bet of you want to go somewhere a bit more relaxed for a Saturday night drink and avoid the rowdiness of some city centre bars.

Nice place very friendly staff asked if they had WiFi the lad put it in my phone straight away good lad lol not tryed the food yet so can’t comment o that yet

Although I haven’t spent longer than half an hour here so far, I have to say the music made it for me. Anywhere that plays Blur’s ‘There’s No Other Way’ on a Friday night is a winner in my eyes. Plus, in a place like this, you’re pretty much guaranteed a chav-​free evening and again, that’s more than alright by me.
The barmaid was friendly and added fresh raspberries to my glass of fruit cider, which was a nice touch. I also saw that they do 3 for £10 on tapas so will no doubt go back and sample that at some point.
My only complaint was that from where we were sat there was a terrible smell of rubbish/​rotten fish coming from somewhere in the bar, which was pretty unpleasant, as you can imagine.
I did like the fairy lights on the ceiling, candles on tables and posters of some of my favourite bands covering the walls on the way downstairs to the toilets though. Music and lighting are very important to me and Sandinista managed to fulfil my needs in both departments.
I will definitely be returning here for more good music and some tapas. Let’s just hope they’ve emptied the bins next time!

Sandinista was the venue of an open mic poetry night that I attended a few weeks ago. It was a really nice bar, with plenty of space downstairs where they tucked us away for the event. With low lighting and fairy lights strung across the room (whether this was leftover Christmas decs or not I have yet to ascertain) it was a great, atmospheric space for the event.
As I was coming to the end of a pretty pricey weekend, I only had one beer and a portion of nachos (£3.60 and £3.75). The bar staff were knowledgeable about the different types of bottled beer they offered (many from South/​Central America, fitting in with the bar’s theme) but were less knowledgeable about why they were no draught beer available. They were all friendly and welcoming, if a little bit cliquey.
The nachos were actually really good — the tortilla chips were sturdy enough to stand up to the pile of toppings. I did try to share them with other people but unfortunately, I was forced to eat them all myself. A few other people at the event ordered from the tapas menu, which all looked fantastic. I imagine I’ll be back in the near future for 3 tapas dishes for £10, or even for a boogie at Smokestack on a Friday night.

A review of the food rather than the bar.
I’d place the food here as much better than La Tasca, but not as good as a really decent tapas place (like, say, Salt House Tapas). Don’t expect the freshest, most authentic food, but most of the items were ordered were tasty enough. One disappointment was the chorizo and potato — weirdly flavoured and unpleasant to eat.
The beef shin was pretty tasty, the piquillo peppers, bread and oil were also good.
The guys who work here seem to enjoy it. They’re pretty quirky, to say the least, might not be to everyone’s taste…
I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat here, but if I were here for a drink, I might well buy a snack or two.

Sandinista is quickly becoming one of my favourite little spots in Manchester City Centre. It’s got a lovely atmosphere, some of the friendliest staff in the city, a great selection of cocktails (and, more importantly, the staff are trained to make them bloody well!), a fabulous selection of music pumping out over the P.A., and rustic décor. Importantly, all the drinks are also reasonably priced (£3.40−80 for a bottle of beer, and around £6.00 a cocktail). It really is a struggle to find anything negative to say about this place, from my three or four visits. Although, I was wearing higher-​than-​my-​average heels yesterday when I was in there, and the toilets are downstairs which meant I had to be super-​careful. But that was my own silly fault, wasn’t it?! On a serious note though, it is rare that I will visit somewhere three or four times and still want to go back for more, so the character of this wonderful establishment is something to be highly complimented, to my mind.
The only reason I have given this wonderful venue four, rather than five, stars is because I am yet to order any of the delicious tasting food in there; they serve a tapas menu that looks and smells wicked, but I will ensure that I eat there in the not too distant future and post an update review, hopefully adding a fifth star onto my rating of them!

In the half an hour so that i spent upstairs before heading for the tapas event, i warmed quite quickly to Sandinista.
It’s a pretty cool place that knocks up a mean cocktail. The Bourbon sour that I had was really, really nice, just about edges out the one I had at Mojo, and Ange’s Starhill Smash (Makers Mark, pineapple, ginger beer, fresh mint and mint syrup) was lovely too.
The décor and general ambience was to my varied taste, and even though there was a distinct lack of 80’s Thrash flowing from the speakers, Message to you Rudy by the Specials was played so it’s not all bad :)
If ever I fancy a post Waterstones beverage, I know where i’ll be heading from now on.

Not eaten here but really good music, cocktails and great selection of beers