Sahara Shisha

I have been going to Sahara regularly for almost a year now. The prices are some of the most affordable and  I always loved the atmosphere, the decor is beautiful and it always had such a warm and inviting feeling to it. HAD being the key word here.  Last night my boyfriend and a couple friends decided to kill a few hours with a hookah and some tea. The hookah was delicious as always, and so was the tea, however learning that they charge per CUP with a POT of tea made it considerably less delicious. Yeah.. .that's right.. .basically you can go in ALONE and order some Moroccan tea and they'll bring you a cup and a pot for $3. If you want to share tea with a friend they charge you an extra $3 FOR A F***ING CUP! Not for another pot of tea, BUT FOR THE DAMN CUP! I could understand charging for another pot. Like "Oh, well since you're paying another $3 we'll just bring you another pot once you finish this one." But no, you get one pot and have to pay just for another cup. Can we say money grubbing?

Next, after a good 45 minutes our coal was cashed, no big deal... that's pretty typical. What is NOT typical is having to wait another 45 minutes for someone to bring another coal! That's right, we sat there with a cooling hookah and no smoke for 45 minutes even AFTER one of the employees came over, check the coal and said they would bring us another one. I MIGHT be able to understand the wait if they were busy, but there were MAYBE 7 tables with people in the entire place.

One of our friends was late, and sat there for a half hour before anyone even bothered to ask if he wanted anything, though our waitress had walked past us at least 5 times. Clearly able to see that there was a new person at the table.

The last straw was when we went to pay. We agreed to split the hookah and we would pay for our individual tea cups. I put the hookah and my tea on my debit card, and my friend went to pay for her tea on her card. Apparently Sahara has a $7 card limit, not normally a problem except NOWHERE in the establishment does it say that, not even on the menu. The waitress became extremely rude, going as far as to yell the total at my friend and THROW her receipt at her.

I have NEVER had service this terrible, at a hookah bar, regular bar or anywhere in between. If you want to be money grubbing that's your thing, if your employees are slow... it pisses me off... but whatever. But to YELL at a customer and throw something at them? No. Just no. I will never set foot in this place again.

I've given a rating of two stars based on the fact that yes, the place is beautiful. The prices are good, as is the hookah and food. However, service has gone downhill drastically. Don't expect to get treated like a customer, expect to get treated like a nuisance. As if the employees have better things to do while AT THEIR F**KING JOB!

So my boyfriends and I came here about 10:30 on a Saturday night. It wasn't too packed but pretty busy. The first issue we had was they told us that there were no seats for just two people so if we sat in this particular section they could have to sit others with us. Not really a big deal but off-putting for a first visit. Next it took forever for them tho take our order. My bf says lets order orange and vanilla. So we do, unfortunately they were out of orange (kinda odd for me but whatevs).  We substitute strawberry for vanilla and it was amazing!!  Nice hit, but not overly strong.  They were short of seating so we ended up having to share with another couple.  My boyfriend ordered the Chicken kebab sandwich, which was amazing! It was piping hot the entire time we were eating, but a little pricey at 6 bucks.

Warning:  This review is written from the point of view of a first-timer in a Hookah Bar. So, I'm giving you full warning that I was a complete idiot in this place. Let the mocking begin.

A friend had been wanting to take me to a Hookah bar for months, and the schedule gods finally gave in. When I first arrived at Sahara Shisha, I was a bit leery of the place. It doesn't look all that great from the outside. But once I was inside, my worries began to subside.

The interior is really ornate and beautiful! I honestly had no clue what to expect, but gold-plated Middle Eastern-ness was not what I had in mind!

I usually get a bit of anxiety going to new places by myself, but I quickly saw my friend sitting at a table. Whew - my fears began to subside. The server came over to take our drink orders, and I quickly learned that Hookah bars don't serve alcohol.

So, I just ordered bottled water. But, am I alone in thinking that bourbon would be delicious with smoking? Anyway...

My friend did the ordering for the Hookah - I think we got mint and strawberry. It sounded terrible, but it tasted delicious! Naturally, I had no clue what to do, but after some coaching from my friend, I got the hang of it.

After a couple of hours of smoking and gossiping, I was feeling so relaxed! And our bill was about $20 for the two of us. I would most definitely go back to Sahara Shisha, but I still don't think I'm ready to go without a Hookah expert!

Tip:  Take an expert with you, and don't really expect the servers to be all that helpful or explanatory. They were nice enough, but this ain't Jeni's, people.