Sandinista in Manchester

This is a pleasant bar with a wide range of drinks, and if you’re fancying some Mexican food, especially tacos, you’ll be delighted. On a late Thursday evening the music was loud and created a great atmosphere despite not being overly busy. The decor makes for a cosy space and there’s plenty to admire. It’s not the cheapest of options but I’ll certainly be returning!

Love it in here come very often always nice for a more relaxed drink

Trendy bar/ Street food place just off Desnsgate. Only had drinks so cannot comment on the food but it looked great. Lots of draft beers and ciders. Friendly helpful staff.

Trendy bar/restaurant selling Latin street food in the centre of Manchester. We didn't eat but the menu, see attached photo, looked great and we'll definitely be calling back to eat another day. The staff were friendly and helpful. Loads of draft beers and ciders. Clean modern toilets in the basement which looks like you're going into a club with old album covers plastered on the walls. I wonder if this was a night club?

Great good quick friendly service

Really friendly place, great vibes with good beers on rotation. Bar staff always happy to advise on beer.

Such good food and drink, nice music and vibe here as well and always friendly service!!

Fantastic place the food service and atmosphere was brilliant x really lovely staff and really chilled and relaxing will definitely be back .

A very good place in the city center. Perfect music to share, excellent food and a wide variety of drinks. I would definitely repeat.

I got searched in the mens for what I assume drugs by a very terrifying meathead in a beanie. After realising that he couldn’t find anything on me he made no effort to lighten the atmosphere or be a bit humane towards someone who was visible extremely panicked and scared. This took place in-front of other people who happened to be in the toilets at the time which clearly damaged his ego more as everyone witnessed his bully behaviour towards someone who is clearly neurodivergent. I walked away without saying anything which made the rest of the night even worse. He spend the rest of the night standing 10 feet away from our table staring at me with pure hate. Everyone who work in that venue could benefit with getting training in spotting the difference between drunkenness and any sort of disability. If you are neurodivergent, don’t have English as your first language or tired after an 8hr bar shift this is NOT the place to be. Probably the most hostile venue in Manchester city centre.

Love this bar, great atmosphere and range of drinks

Love this place! Cool, friendly atmosphere

Lovely place- very good for industry- not too busy.

Do not walk past this place. Amazing food, great tacos, and drink choice top class. Great vibe and staff are brilliant..

The vibe here is good (can be loud if a party table is in) and is a nice place to spend an evening. No table service is disappointing but at least you can set up a tab alternatively order from the app. The staff all dress like everyone else so it's difficult to know who to approach. Having been to Mexico city and expirenced the street food I can say the Tacos are tasty and authentic. My biggest gripe is the price - portion ratio. Not good. I felt cheated and honestly could have eaten double and still been hungry. See picture. All that said if you are hungry during a beer session this might be enough if you've eaten already. Remember to order more than you think you can eat.😀

Amazing and patient staff for a rowdy table of 16. Food was top notch and a huge array of drinks/cocktail to go through. Great atmosphere and friendly service. ✌🏻

My friend and I shared some Ham Croquettes from here: they were a tad salty for me, but he absolutely loved them.

Great food. Great music. Great staff. What else would you want?

Enjoyed a quick beer to get out of the rain yesterday. Nice people, good service, nice beer and wine.

Not safe for black and brown customers. Racially abused in there staff and security sided with the aggressor who is a regular.

A wonderful service! Really accommodating to allergies, friendly staff and lovely atmosphere. Thank you!!

Great place!! Soon as walk in you get that old school leather smell. Is amazing see a contrast between pub/Street grub inside a lovely old building with great atmosphere and character food is amazing just wished I said no cheese not much of a fan myself but I can't hold that against them as the food and drinks were spot on, would recommend a visit while exploring Manchester

Has changed, not the same more rock than Latin.

Lovely atmosphere, lovely staff, tasty tacos and a welcome escape from Christmas shopping madness

Some of the best nachos I’ve had in Manchester. Flavour and portion size on point. Great value. Dim the bulbs a bit and you’ve got a really lovely venue. Great craft beer on tap too.

Visited here for something nearby to our hotel walking distance to Motel One, read reviews and gave it a go as was looking for Mexican food and good prices along with some cocktails. Service was very welcoming and bar tender asked what we was up for and what we had been doing here. Food was lovely very well presented, quick served hot and very tasty. We went for quesedillas and tacos, and a spice bowl. The quesedilas was best ever so good and full of cheese too. The spice bowl was so tasty too and filling with potato, halloumi and pineapple. The tacos was nice but small portions could have been more and for us we prefer crispy shells - these was soft rolls. Cocktails was great too plenty of branded spirits added and a buzzin vibe inside the venue too… many students was there on our visit and had a nice relaxed buzzin vibe. We will be back again next time in Manchester for sure.. keep up the good food and drinks guys 😀❤️

There are far better bars in this location. St Ann's Square has several bars with better atmospheres although Sandinista does have a good choice of beers and cocktails. We were out for a friend's belated 21st birthday so wasn't expecting too much on a Thursday night. We went to several bars during the evening.

Food was phenomenal. Quesadillas melted in my mouth and the spice bag was explosion of flavours. The weather was horrible and so we were the only people there but nevertheless the music and the atmosphere was ace.

Absolutely quality place, Elliot made the place feel like a home from home! Everyone needs to come here if you like any form of ale!!! I love my IPA’s, and my fruity beers, but this place was something else! We spent so much money as we’re big drinkers!

Sarah was fantastic service and the food was amazing, Liam does a great job in the kitchen. Will be back soon x

Downstairs bar is particularly excellent

Don’t usually go for the food. But tried it last night and it was excellent! The sweet potato fries and the spice bag were so good. It’s an excellent place to go for a drink and a chat with great atmosphere and ample seating. Lots of choice for drinks too.

Been here a few times for beers, but decided to try the food on a whim... Really glad we did, very nice. Love the layout and decor of the bar too.

Cool bar with great atmosphere. Usually go here for beers, but tried food last time and turns out that’s also on another level!

We only had drinks, didn't eat here.

Great atmosphere with plenty to offer

Very quiet, so I couldn't get a true experience.

I visited this place at 2am on a Wednesday with my heavily pregnant wife/sober driver. After a few wonderful beers from their extensive and well priced selection and some conversation wife my beautiful wife who has a licence about peep show. Unexpectedly she began a heavy and quick labour, i was a few shandys in at this point and quite understandably panicked. But thankfully and heroically most of the bar staff where trainees in midwifery and the bouncer is a full fledged doctor. My third beautiful daughter was delivered right there and then, expertly diligently and with enough time to get the 192 home. Shes called sandy 10/10

good music good beer great at 11pm

Stopped here with our son for a quick drink, b4 going elsewhere. Good and friendly service from staff and an excellent soundtrack playing in the background 👍 Will be back.

Had an overnight (Thurs) stay in Manchester and was looking for a nice place to drink. Many places were closing (quite early) but was recommended to come here. Was fabulous. Old Fashioned's were best I have had. Was even a competition between staff to see who could make us the better one. Will be back. Thanks.

Avoid the £10 lunch menu. If you fancy a kid portion served on a tiny party plate that wouldn't feed a sparrow. Pleasant enough staff. Forgot our Gordo's.

Great atmosphere. Gorgeous food & drink. & I like how it's in a hidden spot. Just makes it a little bit more interesting. 😅 brilliant.

Like the drinks here the craft ale in particular and the Mexican food is great

Lovely place! Definitely check downstairs, it has a great ambiance

Only had a coffee but nice little café

Great bar plenty of options on the beers

Surprisingly Great food. Small potions a la tapas. Good beer selection.

Lovely restaurant with comfy seats, good music on in the background and good service. Really enjoyed the food here! I’m vegetarian and there aren’t many options, but the ones I had were all very good. I’d like to see some more vegetable dishes really- the veggie ones were mainly potato based and nothing with peppers, aubergines etc.

Absolutamente disgustado con el servicio aquí. Quería ir a tomar una pinta descarada mientras esperaba que se hiciera un grabado. Antes de cruzar la puerta, nos pidieron groseramente que nos pusiéramos máscaras (que obviamente es una regla en los cajeros automáticos) y luego nos dijeron que escaneáramos el código QR de la puerta de manera abrupta antes de ser recibidos por Sandinista. Seguramente todo debería haberse hecho de la manera opuesta para una bienvenida más amigable (¡también trabajo en el sector de la hostelería!). Luego me dijeron que no podía continuar hasta que vieran el tic en el track and trace, en realidad no podía Escuché correctamente al tipo en la puerta, así que le pedí que repitiera, me dijo que necesitaba descargar la aplicación de seguimiento y rastreo (que no es un requisito legal) para incluso entrar y ser atendido. Le dije que no lo descargaría porque no es la ley, la mayoría de los lugares te permiten iniciar sesión o tener algún otro sistema para rastrear y rastrear, por lo que me dijo muy groseramente que no nos serviría, a lo que pensé Que te jodan, llevaremos nuestro negocio a otra parte. Lo encontré muy grosero y abrupto, una actitud repugnante y nos desanimó por completo de volver. ¡Realmente impactante que permitieras que alguien tan inapropiado hospedara tu puerta! !

Llevamos un tiempo viniendo con ella y gastando mucho dinero. Unas pocas noches casi 300 entre las seis. Esta noche quería unirme a unos amigos para tomar una copa. El gerente de pelo azul nos dijo que no podíamos unirnos por distanciamiento social. Así que esperamos respetuosamente afuera para sentarnos en dos mesas diferentes. El gerente prefirió sentar a otra persona a pesar de que esperamos afuera durante 30 minutos. Cuando una mesa más grande estaba libre, ella se negó a cambiarnos. Mis amigos y yo nos sentimos extremadamente discriminados porque no somos ingleses. Definitivamente perderán nuestro negocio y se lo haré saber a la gente. Ojalá pudiera calificar este lugar con menos de una estrella simplemente por este grosero gerente.

Found the bar staff rude, went duriing the day so could see how grubby and tatty it is. Last straw was when a fly landed on my pint glass which I found odd in December. I had arrived early to meet a friend but quickly drank up and suggested somewhere else before they could see it for themselves.

I left this bar after my friend wasn't allowed in. Appalling, We all left and they lost about 10 regular customers. Fire your door staff and sort it out. It's disgusting.

Este no es un bar que visitamos muy a menudo, pero cuando lo hacemos, siempre disfrutamos nuestro tiempo allí. Tiene una ubicación céntrica junto a Deansgate y tiene un gran ambiente.El servicio nos pareció muy amable y servicial. Hacen una gran variedad de bebidas y algunas cervezas realmente interesantes y de buena relación calidad-precio.El bar lleva el nombre de un álbum de mi banda favorita de todos los tiempos, el choque. Es un placer ir a los baños de la planta baja, ya que hay un par de carteles junto con muchas otras imágenes de grandes músicos.Algo diferente y un excelente lugar para pasar una hora o dos.

Me and two friends went here late Friday night/ Saturday morning about 2am and we found the bar staff to be very obnoxious, ignoring for us a bit when waiting to get served even though there were no other customers at the bar and then one guy shouted at me 'make your mind up' when I changed my mind as to what drink I wanted (this was before he started pouring it so no excuse to say that), they seemed to be under the influence of something so that might have affected their behaviour but still not acceptable.

Just wanted a final drink. Door men refused entry, We were a party of the 3 women and a man. Refused entry because one ginger friend appeared to drunk. She was not! We went round the corner to Corbieres. Much better friendlier venue to have a beer!

Vinimos aquí para mi cumpleaños, ya que nos quedamos en Manchester y visitamos aquí una vez antes y nos encantó.La comida es igual de buena. Realmente, es excelente y el servicio también es excelente.Mi única observación en esta visita es que se había vuelto un poco 'sucio' y también estaba un poco frío. Era un día lluvioso y fresco de verano británico, pero el aire acondicionado estaba bombeando aire frío. El baño de las mujeres también era un poco cutre. Aunque limpio, simplemente no lo parecía.

Realmente me gusta Sandinista, está un poco escondido pero tiene asientos acogedores, tiene un tamaño perfecto y reproduce buena música. La selección de bebidas es buena y el personal siempre ha sido amable conmigo a menudo recordando los pedidos de bebidas y siendo hablador en el bar.El Tapas parece realmente sabroso aunque nunca lo he probado, tal vez la próxima vez, ya que volveremos.

Great place ! Hidden Gem as they say, Ask Muzz about Tequila ... Great range, Good service..... and Pisco Sour for the win :)

I've never tried food but their range of beer is more then enough to win me. I'll definitely be back

Came on a Saturday with friends for my birthday. We had the tapas and it was amazing. Will definitely come back!

6.of us have just been turned away for no reason. No wonder the place is dead, 10/10 for the security. Too busy watching videos on their phones rather than doing their job.

I would like to thank Sandinista for hosting my party in the private downstairs bar last night. All the staff from management, bartenders and door staff were all friendly and made my party thoroughly enjoyable. Would highly recommend for private hire.

We stumbled across this bar late last night! We had a fab night. The music was great. The staff were friendly. We will be back next time we visit. Hopefully to try some tapas too 🤞

Pasado de camino al teatro, mi compañero y yo no estábamos seguros al principio, pero después de su servicio (les pregunté nombres y creo que fueron Tom, Lydia y jajaja) lo disfrutamos. Fueron amables y hospitalarios y se desvivieron para hacer que nuestra experiencia fuera fantástica. 10/10

Extremely disappointed with the service I received tonight. I approached the dj and politely requested a song as to which he firmly replied 'no', I asked why and he stated 'if im honest that kind of music is sh*t'. I found that rude and unprofessional and mentioned he should broaden his taste in music or perhaps be more receptive to his guests. I left in and then sat down with my friends and then a bouncer came up to me and said 'just keep away from the dj and he'll keep away from you'. I found that threatening which was reaffirmed when one of my friends requested another song the dj told her 'if that guy in the white shirt comes back to the booth I'm going to hit him'.

Siendo de Perú, tenía muchas expectativas de probar este nuevo menú de fusión 'peruano'. Pero permítanme comenzar que Sandinista tiene un gran ambiente, vibrante, enérgico. . . Podría ser un poco ruidoso en una noche ocupada. . . Como fuimos en un viernes.

The boucner was so rude he made a point of removing my group of 3 who were completely respectable bartenders from Manchester. Honestly the worst service from a bouncer ever. But the bar staff were incredible!!

¡Visité Sandanista debido al lanzamiento de Mama Pacha como amante de la cocina peruana! Es relativamente nuevo y estaba tranquilo como el lunes, pero nos encantó.

Attended last night for a party. Had the run of the downstairs. Fantastic feel to the place. Bar staff experienced and friendly and the food was amazing, loved the tapas. Brilliant night out, big thanks x

The bouncers seemed to act very hostile to anyone trying to enter the club and shouted obscenities to others outside the club. Would avoid if your in Manchester

Fantástico hallazgo, comida impecable, punto de condimento. Servicio de mesa, lo siento, no puedo recordar que tu nombre era genial, muy conocedor del vino y muy amable al hablar con él, le dijimos que íbamos a un concierto, pidió ver nuestras entradas, que le mostramos, obtuvimos un 20% de descuento. el bono de la cuenta pero estaríamos felices de pagar los costos completos ya que las tapas estaban deliciosas, no puedo esperar para volver a visitar

Had tickets for Bourbon and Beer night, met by very friendly staff and told event would start at 7pm. We bought a drink and shown to a table, there were thirty people at the event, We were served an American tapas plate (wings ribs prawns ect) and three beers and three bourbon........ Great night good food and super staff FAB. We will return

Great bar for drinks but never tried the food but on my last trip I did and was pleasantly surprised!!The grilled prawns were some of the best I’ve ever tasted! Definitely worth a try.

Fuimos con un grupo de colegas para Sandinista para un par de copas adiós como uno de los colegas de partida. Estábamos a unos 20 personas, tranquila y cultural, algunos de nosotros fuimos con niños. Después de un tiempo se comenzó a rechazar las bebidas porque aparentemente alguien estaba cruzando algunos línea imaginaria entre el jardín de la cerveza y el espacio público. No había ninguna señal y no hay información sobre las reglas y los camareros hostiles grupos castigados por el comportamiento de alguien, lo cual no es una buena práctica. Después de un tiempo, cuando el último de nosotros haya terminado la bebida que nos invitó a salir"".

What should have I say? I going every Friday night with my friends, after a long working day, and I found a very warm place, amazing music (best classic rocks in the world!!!!) and a friendly staff and people, perfect combination for a funny evening!!!!

I took too long to find this place and had to rush for the train so had to order something quick and easy. Very tasty and the staff were fantastic.

We was working late next door to the bar and we was welcomed by the staff We stayed to about 1am & the beer was of a quality Good music good staff good beer what els does a man after work need

Love this place! Every time I go in the staff are fantastic, enthusiastic and chatty! We didn't eat this time, but the food is amazing too! Would definitely recommend!

I've said it all it smells. It's Sunday afternoon and they've had plenty of time to clear up. I won't come here again.

Only went for lunchtime drinks and it ticked the box for being a very good venue ,helpful and friendly staff with a wide selection of reasonably priced drinks and nibbles.

We have used this many times over the years and with good reason. It has a fabulous range of drinks at decent enough prices for the city centre. It is located just off Saint Annes Square and it’s handily placed for the centre of town.

The food is really cheap and it’s just simple tapas, it’s ok? Nothing special but for the price it is, it’s not a bad little meal. Not the nicest place visually and the service was ok? Won’t rush to go back?!

Words fail me, it's just amazing. Try the special chorizo, it's a really unique taste; it's like a kick in the balls from a beautiful girl then a kiss from her straight after. Well worth it.

Ive been meaning to write this for a while. The reason the food was poor was due to not enough selection of gluten free range at the time. The waiter asked if i was really allegic or was it a fashion? Kind of annoys me...

We luckily happened upon Sandinista by hearing the music from down the street having already eaten elsewhere...

Mi colega y yo ir aquí dos veces al mes. Excelente comida y servicio. Algunos de los mejores calamares que he tenido, normalmente 4 tapas & están llenos! Me gusta el ambiente, relajado y que sirven comida hasta tarde durante la semana. Realmente no me...

This place used to have great bar staff who knew their drinks. Tonight they looked them up on google...and they...

We came across Sandinista by chance at the end of a day at the Christmas Markets. The menu outside looked...

Sandinista is in many ways not your traditional Spanish venue. It seems to cross blues / rock club with venue...

Metimos en una noche, después de ver un espectáculo en el Royal Exchange. Una pinta de ale me costó 6 libras. 20! ! La mayoría que he pagado por una pinta, en cualquier lugar! Me di cuenta más tarde, que los precios estaban en las...

We enjoyed have a few beers in here, the FOH team are lovely. What completely ruined my night and my weekend was the door staff. One of our party was escorted outside for dancing, this was fine we were happy to simply leave and call it a night. However when another one of our party went to ask what was happening the doorman started attacking him. There are multiple witnesses of this and what was generally a harmless evening became a scuffle in which the door team attacked each one of us. I have bruises on my legs and shoulders, passers by had to pull the doorman off me.

The lovely people serving here can’t be beaten and the food is great. We were a big group and they catered to our every need.

Fancied a bit of tapas and a friend told us to try here so we were near and just turned up. Bustling atmosphere but not many eating weirdly. Not to worry as we ordered all sorts and it all arrived quickly. It was gorgeous. All fresh and full of flavour. Really felt like we were on a little jolly lol. Waiting staff were great aswell. Felt more like a bar that does a bit of food here and there but I wouldn't hesitate in going with friends for relaxed food and drink if you fancy the casual option

I wanted to give a good review for this place because my girlfriend and I go here quite regularly and it seems underrated. Excellent selection of freshly made tapas, a great buzzing atmosphere, relaxed and funky interior, really friendly staff and really good service. This place is always reliable for us for a relaxed meal out or somewhere to go with friends. Probably eaten here about three or four times already and can’t wait to go again! A hidden gem.

As I had tickets to a show at the Royal Exchange, my friend had asked me for a recommendation for some pre-theatre food. I suggested Sandinista as we had been here before and had great food and service.We ordered food at 535pm - just three small plates and two drinks.By 620, the food hadn't arrived and my friend noticed the chef wasn't cooking! We then asked how long it would be and the order had not been sent to the kitchen! We were told it would be 5 minutes and they gave us a complimentary drink each to apologise.The food then arrived and was cold! The omelette was cold in the middle with undercooked eggs. I was given a fresh one that had clearly been microwaved as it was steaming hot in seconds.The food was of seriously poor quality, and we left feeling sad that we had paid money for undercooked food that was then microwaved!We really did feel ripped off.

Food awesome. Try the prawns Wine awesome. Try the Rioja Staff awesome 3rd visit to this little bar off the track

Four of us revisited Sandanista for an evening meal. Had been here several times before but not recently. We were disappointed with the sparse choice of tapas meals compared to previous visits. It seems as though they are trying to incorporate more steak type meals into the menu. What we had was average but used to be so much better. Drinks choice and service were good but we all left a bit deflated with the food. Please return to your former good selves as we like the venue.

The music was great and the place was quite relaxed. The drinks were pricey though, more than most places in Manchester in my experience. Service was fine.

Little bit late in writing this review but better late than never! Fantastic wee place, food was excellent, staff were friendly & the music created a buzzing atmosphere.