PHOTOS and INTERVIEW: First look inside new Latin American cocktail bar-restaurant in Lancaster

Friday, 9 August 2024 11:47

By Greg Lambert @greglam72

Jake Brindley, Bruno Buccelli and Luke Bindless behind the bar at Los Banditos in Lancaster

Take a look inside an exciting and colourful new Latin American-themed cocktail bar and restaurant in Lancaster city centre ahead of its opening.

Los Banditos on Church Street is due to open to the public on Saturday August 24 and the finishing touches are being made on something unique for Lancaster.

The new bar-restaurant, serving food and drinks from Latin America with themes to include Mexico, Cuba, Brazil and Argentina, is co-owned by Bruno Buccelli, Luke Bindless, Chris Park and Jake Brindley.

The premises has been empty since Bier & Twist bar moved to Market Street in summer 2023 and has undergone a major refurbishment with a Latin American twist.

"This project has been my dream for a long long time," said Bruno, who also runs Buccelli's Italian restaurant on Church Street.

"This feeling of having a Latin American cocktail bar which provides excellent authentic food is something that Lancaster is missing.

"We are an independent business with local people from Lancaster. I really hope the local people continue to support local business because it's vital for people like us to survive."

LISTEN to Bruno, Luke and Jake talking about the new Los Banditos bar-restaurant in Lancaster

Jake, who is also head chef at Buccelli's, said: "Los Banditos is intended to be a representation of Latin American culture, fiesta culture, fun culture.

"We are primarily a cocktail bar serving primarily Mexican food. We want to bring a bit of fun to the Lancaster nightlife scene based on some of our travels in South America and the fun and excitement we get from Latin American culture."

In the past the building has been home to Molly's, Paolo Giannis and Verdes restaurants, and work has been taking place on a complete renovation for several months.

Luke said: "It's unrecognisable now.

"Over the past 30 or 40 years this has been an eating and drinking establishment. Stripping it all back to its bare bones has been a huge job in itself, really.

"This building could have ended up derelict. Things were starting to collapse so we've really had to go back to the beginning, removing all the problems and making everything good from scratch. It's given us a blank canvas to really transform this place into something unique in this area. it's been an exciting project to work on.

"Now it's nearing its end I can really see all the effort we've all put in, it's all tying together beautifully. I think people are going to love it.

"As you walk in through the main entrance, wherever you look there's something to catch your eye from different perspectives of countries of Latin America...Brazil, the Mexican themes, downstairs a Cuba theme. There's nothing bland. Everything is good to look at."

Here are more photos taken inside the new Los Banditos.