The coffee here is really good. I've been jonesing for the cafe Cubano ever since I left. they have a particularly tasty version of the Nica breakfast. The house-made yogurt is delicious, as are the batidos.

Great place for an evening get together. Food was reasonably priced and the atmosphere was great. Loved having a couple of local guys hanging out with guitars and singing.

(Flor de cana and coke can make any place pretty great though, no?)

As Esteli goes this is the place to be for Nicas and viajeros. As a hang-out the vibe is easy with occasional live music events and wandering guitarists pretty well nightly. It's also information central for what's going on in Esteli, especially for visitors. All in all a good mix, with the bubbly blonde Juanita as the conductor of the orchestra, a sort of Nica Anna Christie, who'll help you with everything from medical complaints to the hottest tours in town and the region. And it's all done with local workers with the profits going to sustain an ever increasing number of social projects, from housing re-builds, to organic kitchen gardens, to cultural projects, to a new rural library bus.
And the food is great, from nacatamales even your Nica mother couldn't compete with to an eggplant/aubergine veggie delight to real potato wedges that have their won distinctive latin flavour. And you can sip an expresso or cappucino in the morning with local organic coffee from an italian coffee machine and read the national paper or avail yourself of the free wi-fi.
English and Spanish spoken and you'll hear plenty of German, Dutch, French, and Scandilingua as well.
What's not to like?

Love the vegetarian nacatamal, a must if you are Nica and need that traditional meal without the guilt. Much better than my moms version of it. I've been here five times now and it gets better every time.

The food at cafe luz is really delicious, healthy and reasonably priced. Especially loved the hummus!