Luxor Hookah Cafe

I honestly don't know why anyone would even bother going in the door. I thought it was closed for a while until someone informed me that this place is, in fact, still open, although most of the clientele who are actually old enough to smoke have transferred to Sahara. The shisha isn't great quality, and when I was last there, the menu was really lacking. It's usually underage kids in there, and I'm talking fifteen year olds. Not what I want when I'm trying to relax with a nice hookah. I also hear that they charge for extra coals, which is insanely ridiculous. Don't bother. Sahara is like a five minute drive from this place and a million times better.

I have had many great times at Luxor when it first opened. The employess and service were great. They also had a live DJ on weekends. Those days are long gone! All the friendly employees quit after being payed peanuts. The DJ no longer plays as he was replaced by a pool table. And the nice egyptian theme is destroyed due to the stench of cigarette smoke and burn holes in the tables and furniture. I never went back after witnessing two drunk people nearly having sex next to us. They were not smoking and nobody would kick them out! This place went from 5 stars to 1 star for me.

This place gets 2 stars just for being a hookah cafe in Lansdale, and an extra one for letting me bring my own hookah and tobacco, even if I still have to pay full price to smoke it. Seems to have a nice little menu with coffee (American and Turkish), tea, and some Middle Eastern eats -- I only tried the falafel and it was alright. Maybe a little dry. BYOB.

I don't go to Luxor to eat, though -- I go to Luxor when I get tired of smoking hookah at my house and want a night out without having to go too far. Unfortunately, I can't say I've ever been completely satisfied. Everytime I've gone it's been extremely crowded, which wouldn't be a bad thing if the crowd and vibe didn't seem so unfit for a hookah lounge. The place has an overbearing thug-life feel to it, for one thing, and the not-to-my-liking music is always too loud for a group to converse at normal volume (Pimpin' All Over the World? C'mon...). And the lighting... you're usually left sitting in the dark glow of television screens broadcasting sports news on mute. Most of the customers seem to be pretty young (are they carding?) and can tend to be kinda rude.

Anyway, the place is cool for letting me bring my own hookah and tobacco (I had to speak with one of the owners to make sure it was cool.) Service is usually pretty friendly and it's not all that bad a place. But I am about as snobby as one can be when it comes to hookahs -- I'd rather bring my own hookah and tobacco and still pay full price than to let them set up their own stuff for me.