Sandinista! was born in the autumn of 2002 when a few friends invoked a love of good music, appetising food and great drinks. With an endearingly shabby appeal and a loosely Latin American feel, the doors opened with the ethos 'nuestra casa es tu casa - our home is your home'.

The bar has a revolutionary theme with its name relating to both the legendary Nicaraguan political movement and The Clash's masterpiece triple album, which musically was a major inspiration with its eclectic blend of reggae, funk, jazz, pop, punk and rap. Our play list soon incorporated these genres and many more... a 'no dance' policy that is not always that strict.... The Clash's humanist / socialist / internationalist approach paralleled the Nicaraguan government's and in spite of debt of $1.6 billion and 1 in 5 homeless, within 6 months of coming to power, nearly 20% of the 3 million population were taught to read....

A revolution in Nicaragua...there's no interference from America? Those Washington bullets want Castro dead...join the Havana Club...Bacardi was never an option...Coca Cola was banned for its invidiouspractices...Nastro joined the rebels and the rum collection grew...and grew...as did ourhangovers.

We adapted, we innovated...occasionally we even plain pilfered. There are so many faces to Sandinista! It probably has more faces than Howard Marks and more lives than Keith Richards. Passion is not a fashion...

This is ours...

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the smokestack