Arabica Hookah Lounge

I spent approximately 20 minutes looking at  the shisha selection and the hookahs and waited for someone to help me as all the shisha was in glass cases. I received no service at all while waiting or saw no one working. I would much rather buy locally than order online to support local business but looks like i will have to order online if I can't get any service at my local shop.

I used to live in San Diego, CA so I'm kinda spoiled when it comes to hookah bars. This is the first hookah bar I've been to in Little Rock, AR, so I was happy to have even found one! I wasn't super impressed though. When I walked in the couches all looked old, mismatched and some torn, like they were bought at a garage sale. It was an enclosed building so there was no ventilation whatsoever and not only were people smoking hookah, but they were smoking cigarettes, which kinda killed the atmosphere for me because that is all I could smell, it was gross. When I got home I still smelled like cigarettes and i am not a cigarette smoker.
The patrons looked like they were all stoned high school students, except for the guys who worked there (maybe the owners?) who seemed to be our age, or older (I'm in my late 20s).
When my husband and I first walked in we looked around to get a feel for the seating etiquette, and after about a minute a young man approached us and pointed us toward a couch he said we could sit at. As we sat down I saw the table was littered with soda cans, and other peoples belongings (sunglasses, cigarettes, etc) and I had no idea who it belonged to, because the only people sitting near us were the workers at the table next to us. We sat and it was another minute before we were brought a menu to choose our hookah flavors from (there was no big menu behind the register or anywhere in plain view that I noticed). We chose white peach, but it was about 5 minutes before anyone came back to take our order. My husband had to actually catch their attention to do so. When we got our hookah it seemed fine at first. The flavor was great! The smoke was smooth, for a little while at least. Very quickly the smoke became harsh, and i could no longer smoke because it was making me cough, which in turn made me nauseous and gave me a headache. We asked if we could remove some coals (because they didn't leave us any tongs) and the guy seemed confused. An older gentlemen (I assume the owner?) was at the table next to us and he instructed the young man to take the coals off and blow out the bowl so it would cool off and not be so harsh. He was a really nice guy and genuinely seemed to want us to have a good experience. Even though the coals were removed and the bowl blown out the young man replaced the coals and it got to hot again to quickly. I was so nauseous we had to leave.

My husband ordered a diet coke (which came in the can) so i assume they have food here. I believe they also sell alcohol, but i'm not positive about that.

They also sell hookahs here, which looked really neat, and from what I observed they were at a good price.

The atmosphere was interesting, but i think it needed some work to make it seem less like hanging out in a teenage boys parents garage. There were a few tv's and they were all playing Mediterranean music videos (which were interesting to watch). I would have liked to hear some hip hop or 80's stuff also, but that's just me.

I think if this place had open windows, or a patio so you could sit in the open air, it would have been a MUCH better experience.

I will probably try it again sometime, but next time I'll know to be careful the coals don't get to hot, and I sit by the door lol.