If I could give it 0 stars, I would! The worst ever! $60 bucks and had 0 shisha in it and our hookah head was broke and cracked at the bottom! Ruined my lungs, do yourself a favor and DRIVE the extra 15 mins to Blue hookah or La Beirut hookah lounge. Really bad guys! read more

Arabia Café & Hookah Lounge - Normal UNBROKEN hookah head - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Just drive the extra 15-20 minutes and go to Blue Hookah House or Red Room Hookah. This place OVERCHARGES and then add 20-25%. They don't have ice ever...the last two times I've brought my own bag then one of guys asked if he can have some to provide to another section! They charge 12$ per person for one bottle. So if you bring TWO bottles that's 24$ per person. Whether you're drinking or not. The hookah itself is I think $45 and a refill is an outrageous price of $20. Music...sometimes they let a section have it for the duration that THEY are there but sometimes you can put in a request but honestly they just need a DJ or curated playlist because listening to straight trap is mentally insane. There's no balance from RnB, Neo Soul, Hip Hop, Pop, Afro Beat. Service, just be ready get up and grab them. Always ask for disposable hookah hoses because they regular tubes I can tell they barely clean, I've gotten a sore throat twice and I couldn't figure it out at first. However, I do like the ambiance with the low lights and couches. Yeah, I have been multiple times simply because I wasn't paying or friends didn't know better and wanted to see for themselves. But yeah take the extra drive go somewhere else. read more

The service sucks. The few amenities they do offer for free, like ice, they didn't have. The lighting was horrible. The music was out dated. They refused to allow requests. They charged for every little thing. The price wasn't worth the experience. read more

Arabia Café & Hookah Lounge - Empty and dark - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone. My friends and I came to celebrate a birthday we spent money, came in with good energy, and were extremely respectful. Despite all that, we were treated like we didn't belong from the moment we walked in. The staff ignored us, refused to accommodate even one simple request, and showed no effort to make our experience enjoyable. They played Arabian music the entire night and refused to let us request even a single song. We tried communicating and even made efforts to translate, and we were still met with blank stares, rudeness, and cold energy. It genuinely felt like they were just counting down the minutes until we left. It was uncomfortable, unwelcoming, and honestly felt targeted. This was supposed to be a fun celebration, and instead, it became an experience filled with disrespect and tension. Be aware before you spend your time or money here. read more

This place not worth your money I had to get the server to come to me my hookah wasn't hitting and they didn't have ice at all supper up charge for no reason we spend three hours to sit and have together server this was the worst experience I would never tell no one to come here unless they like to listen music off the phone not even offered they social that happen for the night to dam dark this place should not be available to operate while service and wasn't good I pass on this place..... I don't like to report stuff like this but I had to make sure yall know before yall come to waste your money or time bathroom was dirty no tissue wtf server was sitting down no interaction I was really salty about this place read more

Arabia Café & Hookah Lounge - People leave left to right he didn't even ask did we need anything else just brought this over charge A$$ receipt lol - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Arabia is a vibe and great music and vibes! this place has horrible reviews coming in, came on a friday night but it was fun - hip hop/R&B music and good energy & customer service. No food, only soft drinks. read more

The prices are over priced. The waiter was horrible. He refused to bring us more coal for a second time. There was 6 of us and he told us the back area was reserved. No one was back there at all. It was a slow night and no one ever came. We had to sit in the middle and squeeze. It was unfair because they charged us &20 gratuity fee and he refused to serve us a bunch of times and we couldn't pick where we wanted to sit. I visited from California. I've always came here when I come to Chicago. I won't ever come back and I will not send my California friends here anymore. Go somewhere else don't even waste your money, vacation and lack of experience. I am also going to dispute my charges for him refusing service on things and not being fair. Total waste. read more

Vibes were amazing and owner was great. Music was on point. Be prepared to pay some fees though. Charged a $10 per person BYOB for everyone, even those not drinking. Charged a $15 per person non smoker fee for those who just wanted to come out but not smoke. For 2 hookahs with the additional fees came out to $245. read more

I live downtown so this place was pretty far. I chose it because it seemed to be the best option for the vibes I wanted. A lot of hookah lounges turned to party scenes, but this place has not. Laid back atmosphere with folks that just want to chill, relax, and smoke hookah to some decent music. I enjoyed my time here - just wish we had an option like this closer to the city. read more

This place has the vibes. It is under new ownership as of the last year or so. They have TVs and will put on what you ask for. My fave to get with the hookah is the Moroccan Tea. It gets pretty busy as the night goes on so keep that in mind in the winter if you don't want to be waiting outside. read more

New owners Very rude to people as they enter... I used to be a regular and sat wherever I wanted in the empty bar on a weekday but young boy insisted I can only sit in one area bc I'm alone -- the place was empty and his buddy was sitting near the windows in the larger seats. Hooka is EXPENSIVE and poor quality-- hoses are not clean and they added full gratuity-- even though the service sucked Never again read more

Hookah wasn't hitting. Told the guy as soon as we got it and he told me I like to complain and don't come back. Very rude. Do not recommend

This place has significantly upgraded their hookah and flavors from 3 years ago! Mike, thank you for the exceptional service! I appreciate your amazing service and hospitality. If you want great hookah and service at a good price point, I recommend this place! read more

They charged me $197 for two hookah's. I looked over the receipt only to find a bunch of fake charges. They corrected some but the bottom line came to 197..... how is that even possible for 2 hookahs!?! They nickel and dime you stay away from this place at all cost the hook up was terrible too STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE!!!! read more

The opposite of low key. Music videos on the tv, many folks enjoying hookah and folks enjoying BYOB booze. One older woman who was there with a son or daughter was smoking a cigarette during my time there which I thought was odd. This isn't a reflection of the staff who was suitable but this place just wasn't my scene. Apartments across the street seemed sketchy. read more

Arabia Café & Hookah Lounge - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

This place is chill overall. Parking is on the street. Was seated right away. This place is BYOB for a small charge of $5 and they only allow wine, beer and soda, no hard liquor. We purchased two hookahs at the price of $20 per hookah. Pretty great with the coconut coals. Overall, chill vibes. Come here to converse with friends or come to chill alone. read more

Arabia Café & Hookah Lounge - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Was there yesterday and it's been a drastic change since it's under new ownership. The original owner who was a black guy use to treat the customers horrible and was always arguing with customers. It was a nice chill vibe wit my girl and had a good time. She mentioned that it was a good date night because the atmosphere was chill. read more

Worst service I've ever received at a hookah bars. They mischarged me on gratuity for 25% when the menu clearly says 15% is added at our convenience. When we disputed it they said it's part of the new menu. When I asked for the new menu the manager said we don't have it yet. I expect to pay what is said on the menu. Once I refused I was told he was going to call the cops. This is by far one of the worst hookah bars I have been to. The hookah itself was very bad. The smoke was very thin and the bowls were packed too tightly. I highly recommend people not to support this establishment. This is not how you run a honest business. I understand if it is stated on the menu but it clearly isn't. If you want good hookah this is not the place. read more

Arabia Café & Hookah Lounge - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

I am 28, white, male. Higher middle class, successful. When I go to establishments I am welcomed and serviced with nothing but upmost respect ......unless I am accompanied by 4 black friends. As a while male I never experienced blatant racism- tonight I unfortunately did. It was approximately 8:00pm on a Friday evening - establishment is approximately 1/3 full - no line; empty. Myself (white male) and two black female friends aT at one table, and two black men sat at the table next to us. The server asked for our order (me and two female friends) we told her only myself and one friend was smoking so we wanted to order one hookah. The server told us we needed two. I confused asked her why we both needed it yesterday own individual hookahs? (I will say server was very sweet - it's management that's horrible) she got mgmt - we told Mgt we will pay for two hookahs if the gentlemen are also smoking. Our table is us 3 - they would have their own tab. He then told the guys if they want to stay inside they have to pay (again 2/3 of the establishment was empty) they would have to pay. I became the most applauded when my friends agreed to pay. IT IS 2019 AND THIS IS NOT OKAY. ABSOLUTELY NOT. I walked up to Mgt and told them I refuse to pay and I am leaving. Half of the establishment had people smoking or not - with no additional fees for the "whites". As a "white" person and seeing how blatantly dismissed SOME OF THE BEST HUMANS I KNOW because of their skin?! I REFUSE to be silent. read more

This place has really gone down it use to be gorgeous back in the day now it looks like an old basement or sum em with to much old basement furniture. It smells like an old mildew basement with hookah. I went there a few times services was terrible I was thinking maybe they was just having a bad day or sum em but the next times it was the same. They treat ppl like shit if they don't know you and they cater to the ones they know they get special treatment. Cello suppose to be part owner he is rude and cocky he sit in the back all the time smoking hookah right. He seen me and my cousin/a guy getting ready to come to the door he rush to the door and asked to check us and show identification ok fine. Mind you he seen me several times there before we even exchanged numbers so I was confused about that but it didn't go no where cuz I didn't like his attitude he thinks he is more then what he is so I was quick to humble him tho by deleting his number lbvs. So he told us we couldn't bring a lemonade bottle in with our drinks cuz they sale juice im like why not it's bring ur own bottle right so I was confused cause that's not juice and they don't carry that only juice and water. They charge you almost $30 for water and ice smh and most of the time don't have any ice the thirst is real. After being rude he walks away and tell the guy it's 2 of us like he couldn't just walk us to our seats lmao so the guy comes to seat us right he tried to put us in the middle seats by door mind you it wasn't really no one in there at that time so I looked at the chairs they we're raggedy, low and very hard so I asked if I was able to get a booth he ignored me first time so I asked again then he said no being rude. So im like why not he ignored me again then said cause you can't. Me being me I'm well respected in this city so I felt away. I'm like I don't wanna sit in front of the door every time they open it cold air comes in or sit on these hard ass seats in the middle of the floor. So I got pissed and snatch my lemonade back and walked out. They are a highway robbery thirsty just to get money out of ppl to pay for that old ass place I will never go back there again. They would rather loose a sale then be nice and accommodate ur customers. Mind you Cello got the whole back row to his self with his feet up smh. Went down the street to lions den the best service ever didn't trip on my lemonade brought me a whole bucket of ice. Even let us keep the hookah longer at a discount price. Host and waiter had the best attitude. Place was clean every time some gets up from the table they spray it with disinfectant and wipe it down. I love good clean service i will just continue to go there for now on. read more

The service was okay but I didn't like the fact that you have to pay 10 to get in. The website didn't say there was a cover charge. It's cool that it's BYOB but only wine and beer. They don't provide ice for their beverages and they make you buy 2 hookahs if you're a party of three .. like what.?? Terrible!. read more

Arabia Café & Hookah Lounge - a woman sitting at a table - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

BEST HOOKAH IN CHICAGO! Mike makes the best hookahs. I really love this place they have a good service thank you so much read more

Arabia Café & Hookah Lounge - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Overprice and ghetto. Monier has lost control of that place. As long as the money right he don't care how ghetto the place is. I order a hookah and brought my own liquor and got charged 75 bucks. The only thing good about that place is the women read more

Hookah and service fees just terribly overpriced!!! I do not recommend and will never be back!!! Go at your own risk

This Place Is A Vibe Especially on Weekends great music great energy and great crowd. Weekdays it's great to unwind after work or even finish up some work outside of the work building if needed. read more

Great customer service, amazing music and great hookah flavors and prices. Definitely recommend! read more

Arabia Café & Hookah Lounge - Blue mist and BYOB - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

Excellent hookah very good ambience and excellent customer service. If you come here you have to try the Moroccan minty. I highly recommend this place read more

Literally, the worst hookah I ever had. I travel a lot and I love hookah. The first batch tasted like lotion and cologne. The second batch tasted like toe nail polish. My girl and I smoked for 5 minutes, tops. I paid full price, and paid full price to tell the truth. The third batch would've tasted like period douche water. Literally the worst hookah I ever had, read more

Came over to celebrate a friend's birthday this past Saturday and actually had a pretty decent time as I was afraid after reading all the negative reviews here. This joint is BYOB which is cool as my favorite hookah place (Samah) in Lakeview doesn't allow booze at all. The space is pretty wide open which is cool as you can watch others enjoy themselves and even be incorporated in their conversations/fun. They had a belly dancer shaking her thing which was cool. Got introduced to some new hookah flavors which was cool as well. Our party of 8 were charged $20 per person which I guess isn't too bad as they did not give us a time limit or anything. Good spot to do some hookah, although Samah in Lakeview has a more comfortable atmosphere; seating wise. Would definitely come again if someone mentioned they wanted to go. read more

Awesome flavors and atmosphere. I had the jasmine mint and it was perfect with my cappuccino. read more

Arabia Café & Hookah Lounge - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois

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Nice spot for Hookah. Went on a Tuesday night, and it wasn't crowded and chill. Good spot for a first date, or just wanting to chill outside of the house. Owner was friendly, says the weekends are super busy if you want more of a party vibe.BYOB and I think you can bring food. Will def visit again. read more

My friends and I had a wonderful time here. Whatever you do DO NOT LOSE AMEERA!!! Her customer service was amazing. From the time we came in until the time we left she, and the other gentlemen working, made sure our group was comfortable. We were celebrating birthdays, she overheard the conversation and brought cake for the birthday girls. That's going above and beyond. The staff was attentive to us (we were a large group) but we never felt like they were hovering. I'm definitely coming back and will be telling friends about it as well. read more

Hookah: 7/10 Customer service: 1/10 They couldnt play music cause their connection was garbage. The people working were straight up ignoring us when we tried to request things. Seems like everyone in the place (all 5 other people here on a friday night) were used to the utter mediocrity of this establishment. Find another hookah bar, this place sucks. read more

Insanely expensive for no reason! $80 for two bottles of water, ONE BASIC Hookah with BASIC tobacco and NO coal refills with only 2 people! Been here many times before and it was never that expensive, this was my last time going. Highway Robbery! read more

Very bad service , owner or manager whoever he was just sits and hovers over you telling you every 5 mins you have 5 mins left very bad service read more

I won't recommend this hookah lounge to my dog. Cheap Hookah pipes/Poor service. It's a BYOB, yet, they discriminate as to what one can bring and who(race) can bring (in terms of liquor). Also, they are only suppose to sell hookah, juices, and water; yet, they find some strange way to add unnecessary items on your bill. (Check your bill, they do not have a liquor license, therefore, they should not charge you for something they are not authorized to sell). How do you charge for liquor when you are not licensed to sell liquor? This spot needs to be shut down for fraudulent acts. read more

My friend & I were looking for something chill & relaxed to do on a rainy Saturday night. So we decided to check out this Hookah Lounge. It was an "private event" going on so the cover charge was $10 PP. This place is BYOB we brought wine with us which it's a corks fee $3 per bottle to open. They bring you cups & ice, you can also purchase water,juice, coffee or tea. Food isn't served here but I noticed a lot of people ordering delivery so bringing outside food is allowed. The staff were really nice and kept checking on us to make sure we had everything we needed. I enjoyed this place & I'll for sure be back!!! read more

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I hadn't been to a hookah lounge in over 4 years, but it was 4/20 so my friends decided to hit up the closest one, which was this. Overall very positive, they had several flavors to choose from, either $15 or $20 for premium flavors. Though they have a rule max of 2 people per hookah, if you have 3 you you need 2 hookahs, but honestly if you have 3 people you're gonna need 2 hookahs anyways. They have a variety of non alcoholic drinks, and it's BYOB, but it's a $3 charge per person if you do. Generally I don't like when places charge a fee, but you're still saving money by bringing your own alcohol so whatever it's worth it. All the staff was nice, cool chill atmosphere. I'd be open to returning for sure read more

I visited here on 3/2/17 with 3 of my coworkers, all of us visiting from out of town and needing to unwind a bit and talk shop awhile. It was fairly quiet both in terms of crowd and music and we stayed for quite a long time. Technical details: standard Egyptian bowls and hoses dedicated for certain flavors (to avoid ghosting, particularly with Lemon Mint). They use Coco Nara square coals and Khalil-Mammoon hookahs, which are totally acceptable (big KM fan myself, I own one). Hoses were a little short to share among four people but we managed it - most of the hookahs had slightly longer Mya hoses. Hookah picks: The hookahs we had were Lemon Mint, Moroccan Sunset house blend (recommended by hostess), and White Grape. Not sure what specific brand was used for any of them, but if I had to take a guess, Al Fakher or another Middle East brand. The flavors were great, but Lemon Mint took awhile to properly get going, as it is very strong. White Grape was a big hit, as was the Moroccan Sunset. Service: The servers were very attentive and the coal rotations were spot on. I appreciated that the guy serving the coals would actually move the coals to different parts of the bowl in order to ensure an even burn. One thing to keep in mind is that they serve three coals per hookah right off the bat, but if you let them sit too long it will burn out the hookah pretty fast. We went down to two coals on each hookah after the first rotation and they smoked like a million bucks. Thoughts: BYOB for beer and wine is something new to me for a hookah lounge. Most places I've been restrict liquor on premises due to local laws, but I was pretty glad we were able to have a couple of beers while talking. They are fairly laid back about it, just don't bring hard liquor and get plastered. There are a couple of liquor stores nearby too. I can't speak for the one star reviews since everyone in our party smoked, but I don't know why you'd go to a hookah lounge and not smoke. The menu and the hostess both alerted us that there is a two person per hookah minimum, so if you went with a party of four, even non-smokers, you'd still have to get two (my interpretation, anyway). Overall: We were there for a marathon amount of time and the staff was attentive, friendly, and never gave us the impression that we needed to get the hell out while we were having a good time. Normally I don't leave a review but I am genuinely impressed with the level of service received here, and I'll definitely refer people to this spot for a good place to kick back after a day in the weeds. Whenever I'm in town, I'm going to make it a point to stop by. Feedback: I would suggest to maybe consider stocking some longer hoses for larger parties. Aside from that, this is probably one of the better hookah experiences I've had between Phoenix, San Francisco/Oakland, and Austin. read more

Favorite lounge in Chicago, excellent staff. Mike and Gigi are extremely friendly, they treat you like family when you first walk into the lounge. The shisha is amazing very authentic. The lounge is very relaxed great place for friends to gather after a long day. read more

Arabia Café & Hookah Lounge - a person holding a watch - Coffee & Tea Near Me - Chicago, Illinois