In the late 1980s, Bob Wilkinson took over the Farringdon Wine Bar in Market Street. This had opened circa 1977, with a wine on licence only. The planners didn’t want any bars on Market Street as it would lower the tone of the area. How times change.
Bob’s imaginative idea for a continental style café bar was a forward thinking concept for Leicester at the time. Mixing beers from around the world, together with good British real ales was quite a winner, but then in the 1990s the explosion of café bars by the big players in the industry somewhat watered down Wilkie’s uniqueness. The market became somewhat swamped, so circa 1999, Bob Wilkinson handed over to another operator. The bar became Voodoo.
Vodoo would last until circa 2007, then changed to Long Bar. This was an apt name as the bar was long and narrow, stretching through to Pocklingtons Walk.
By 2017, Lava it was Mamba.
LM, October 2017 – Here we go again. A sign of the times and a long way from Farringdons Wine Bar during the 1970s or Wilkies in the 1990s. The latter was especially a great place for a pint amongst a good crowd.