Service- 5 stars Drinks - 5 stars Ambiance- befitting a dive bar named Istanbul! Green tea shot was a hit with our group.. we had several rounds! read more

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Spent a fantastic lazy Sunday afternoon here during my trip to Charlotte. The bar is small, but cool, with a great vibe. The service was great and we were served by Luis, who had just finished upgrading their sound system, which sounded great. The drinks were great and they have nice drinks specials including $5 beers and $3 shooters. The bar sits in the undiscovered Alley area where a bunch of great bars sit nestled together in a row between streets. Istanbul is one of the better places along the alley and is a must to visit. read more

The hours are inconsistent, and the service isn't the best. It's really a spot you go to when you have nothing else to do. The vibe can be hit or miss depending on the night, and sometimes it feels understaffed. There are definitely better hookah lounges in the area but if you're nearby and everything else is closed, it'll do. read more

I love this bar. Tonight we sat inside, typically I sit outside. The music is a good volume for talking and dancing at the table, in the chair- there is no dance floor. Drinks specials here are GREAT & reasonably priced. Gratuity is already included so remember that when tipping. This is a go to. It can be very crowded in the French quarter where this is located, so try to get there early. There is a spacious upstairs with different music than what's going on downstairs and outside. Also, for tracking purchases, this still shows up as Metropolitan Cafe, NOT Istanbul on your bank statement. read more

Istanbul Hookah Lounge - Hookah Bars Near Me - Charlotte, North Carolina

This was one of our first stops on our pedal pub tour. I honestly can't remember what drink I had here lmao but I do know that I had a shooter and it was only $3. First this is a hookah lounge so the downstairs when you first come is very small, then they have an upstairs with a room to the left and one to the right. It was HOT so I am not sure if I'd go knowing a lot of people will be there cuz I would die from a heat stroke. But they have a cute wall upstairs to take pictures so we did that before we left. The guy serving us was really nice so I'd give it a 7/10 for his service. read more

Istanbul Hookah Lounge - Hookah Bars Near Me - Charlotte, North Carolina

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Pretty cool and chill place. The bartenders are usually very nice. I did wish they clean up a little bit more after their tables read more

Istanbul Hookah Lounge - Upstairs - Hookah Bars Near Me - Charlotte, North Carolina

Key on Saturday night , gave such great service and her enthusiasm and dedication was very much welcomed. We have been twice now and every time she has gave us excellent service, will return read more

Good music. Drinks were really sweet and overpriced. Not my type of place I would drink at plastic cups seemed cheap.

My group and I have been waiting for a long time at dirty tables and no one has checked in on us or gave us an estimated waiting time even after we've payed. It's now been 30 mins. If I could I would give them a "NO STAR" rating. read more

Istanbul Hookah Lounge - Hoka Lounge - Hookah Bars Near Me - Charlotte, North Carolina

We went downtown in search of a spot to hangout. We searched and decided to give this hookah spot a try. It was packed outside, so you would think it would be on point. After standing in line and ordering our drinks and hookah we were directed to go upstairs as there were tables open. The open tables still had hookah pipes from the precious guest as well as their drinks and food containers. We asked the ladies downstairs if they could clean the table and they said yes, but it took them 20 minutes to do so. By then we moved to another area that a group had just vacated. We moved their cups off the table and proceded to wait for the hookah. We got tired of waiting and went back downstairs to ask about the hookah and it seems they forgot about us. Eventually everything was squared away and that's the only real positive. The hookah and drinks are good, but the service and cleanliness is not even remotely up to snuff. read more

By far the one of the best hookah lounges I have been to on my travels. Staff was very friendly and helpful and the drinks and hookah were absolutely to die for. Small hole in the wall place in charlottes French quarter. Definitely stop by read more

Bar service was terrible. Drinks were over priced for what you were getting, and the automatically add 20% tip. Not worth it

I wouldn't recommend coming here if you value customer service. The waiters have horrible attitudes and piss poor service. To start, she was very dry and not welcoming when taking our order. It costs $30 for a basic hookah + an added 20% gratuity. It was kind of crowded outside, so we took a table upstairs. We barely smoked our hookah upstairs before a table opened outside. The waiter advised we couldn't bring it down ourselves and to go outside and they would bring it for us. 25-30 mins passed with NO HOOKAH being brought out. Instead, another male waiter disposed of our hookah. During the duration of our wait, we had to ask 3 times if our hookah was being brought out. The same rude waiter (which I wish I got her name) started packing up the outside area as they close at 12. We then got the attention of the male waiter and asked what the hold up was. He advised that there was miscommunication and he was told to throw the hookah out instead of bring it outside. He told us we had two options: a remake or a refund. We asked for the refund as they are now closing in 15 minutes.. who wants a hookah to smoke for 15 minutes? We then go back inside AGAIN, and now the lady waiters are giving us a hard time about the refund stating we smoked the hookah. If you count a 5-10 minute puff between the two of us as smoking a hookah that's supposed to last for hours then okay. Finally, after making rude comments they just agreed to refund. She only handed me back $30 in cash instead of the $36 that was spent. I accepted and left. We will not be returning because the service is piss poor. If you work in customer service, at least have the attitude for it. Not once was my boyfriend or I disrespectful or rude. We simply wanted the service that we paid for read more

Cool location, good music and I have friends that enjoy the hookah. I don't smoke hookah but I ordered a drink. I ordered a vodka, soda with lime....easiest drink ever!! I received a vodka, soda with either Midori or Sour Mix poured in it!!! That definitely was my first and last drink that I will ever order from this place! If a vodka soda is too advanced for them to nail, I don't think I would EVER try the food! read more

Awful place with awful service, waited well over an hour for hookah, and when it came out it smoked like shit. I would give this place 0 stars if I could. Save yourself the trouble don't ever go. read more

My girlfriend and I came in and were completely ignored by the bartenders for 15 minutes. They seemed totally indifferent to our presence and made no attempt to serve us. I'd give this establishment zero stars if I could. read more

My boyfriend and I sat there right in front of the bartender for minutes and she was just talking to another worker without acknowledging us in the slightest. We left after waiting for almost 20 minutes. Absolutely ridiculous and awful place read more

Expensive. Painfully loud music (though excellent playlist). Employees baked. Waited over 30+ min for the hookah to show up, which was never serviced with extra coals. Quality was good. As others have mentioned, there's a hidden service fee. read more

We came here for a quick smoke, but the hookah quality is bad. They use a single quick light and don't refresh them at all, even with us asking and waiting. The tables are not cleaned after a group leaves. They also charge a hidden "service fee." read more

This is my new favorite place downtown. Get there early because they will get to capacity quickly. Luckily they are in the perfect nook filled with other little sports bars and taverns. You can drink outside from any establishment in the shared courtyard ... read more

Drinks weren't bad & it was a fun spot since the other hookah bar in uptown had a 2.5 hour wait. The hookah was not set up very well, there wasn't enough tobacco in it and the coal wasn't very good so it didn't smoke very well and the flavor wasn't really there. Definitely a fun spot if you aren't trying to be picky about the hookah/drinks, but if you are then I'd probably say try somewhere else read more

The first time we went to this place was great. We got a seat upstairs and were served pretty quickly. We even ended up buying one of the lamps they have for sale. However, the second time we went there we were told to find a seat upstairs and they would be with us shortly. After waiting 20mins we went back down to ask what was going on and they sent us back up to wait for the server. After 10 more minutes, we just left. read more

DON'T EVER COME to this place. It's the worse experience I've ever had out of any other hookah place I've been to in any city. We waited over 30 minutes for a hookah, went down stairs and asked about it...They said oh the "waitress" must have forgot...15 minutes later STILL NO HOOKAH! If you value service please don't put yourself through the aggravation of coming to this establishment. STAY FAR FAR AWAY! What a waste of time and money. We came here for the hookah and left without even getting to smoke one...No wonder the place was empty. read more

I'm so glad Istanbul is able to operate during COVID. The service is amazing and the bartenders are very friendly plus they remember my order from the previous time I went to the hookah bar. I would recommend this hookah bar to anyone looking for good hookah and amazing service. read more

Great spot! Great hookah and great vibes. BUT if you need your coal changed... forget it! We got Our hookah and they never came up to change it NOT ONE TIME. Soooo i had to go run up and down the stairs twice. 2 times I've been they just sit around the table and smoke hookah and act like it's an inconvenience for them to get up and work! But other than that it's a fun place and the music is dope! read more