Has anyone every been to a hookah bar?

[roadman65]

I am curious to know if anyone here has hookah lounges in their area and if anyone has been inside or patronized any?  If so what is your opinion of them and what kind of experience have you had while inside them.

[Rainking75]

Yes - a couple of times. Once in Shanghai and once in Las Vegas at a club in the Venitian. As a non-smoker, I thought it was a interesting experience. Lots of different flavors of tobacco. It was kinda of like a wine or beer tasting. I remember the experiences more for the friends I was with than for the hookah...

[Duke87]

They exist around here but I've never set foot in one and have no intention of doing so unless work demands it. I find smoking of all kinds to be disgusting and repulsive, and hookahs aren't an exception just because they're exotic and fancy.

[Pete from Boston]

Last time I smoked one was fifteen years ago, in a little Arabic place in Jersey City.  Tastier than most tobaccos, but I don't smoke anymore, so it's all in the past for me.  I do like the opium-den decor of the newer places, but they're scarce nowadays with society wising up on smoking. 

Why do you ask?

[Brian556]

I hate smoking in all forms. This concept seems so stupid to me. I can't believe these places can stay in business.

[realjd]

Ever been to a cigar bar? They're similar but with a middle eastern vibe. The hookah is an excuse to hang out with friends.

[Laura]

I worked under the table at a hookah bar one summer. The front of the establishment was a small store that sold all kinds of tobacco products, and the back was the lounge/cafe area, which was a mixture of comfy bench seats and tables and chairs. They also served Turkish food and coffee. There was also a belly dancer that performed on Wednesday nights. My role varied between working the register and as a waitress for the lounge area. I cleaned when it was slow.

I've visited hookah bars on many occasions - usually with a large group of friends - because they are places that often stay open later than the bars (there's one here that doesn't close until 4 am on weekends). My favorite tobacco flavor is apple and mint mixed together.

[Zeffy]

My friends have - I haven't. All I know is generally hookah is safe, but at these places you inhale about 10x the nicotine and smoke as one cigarette. However, it's worth noting that all my friends who go here also smoke cigarettes or other things.

[realjd]

My friends have - I haven't. All I know is generally hookah is safe, but at these places you inhale about 10x the nicotine and smoke as one cigarette. However, it's worth noting that all my friends who go here also smoke cigarettes or other things.

Keep in mind that nicotine itself isn't harmful. The problem with tobacco is the other shit that comes along with it. Cigarettes in particular have all sorts of nasty chemicals.

[Alps]

My friends have - I haven't. All I know is generally hookah is safe, but at these places you inhale about 10x the nicotine and smoke as one cigarette. However, it's worth noting that all my friends who go here also smoke cigarettes or other things.

Keep in mind that nicotine itself isn't harmful. The problem with tobacco is the other shit that comes along with it. Cigarettes in particular have all sorts of nasty chemicals.

Nicotine itself is addictive, and hookahs have tobacco, not pure nicotine.

[Pete from Boston]

I hate smoking in all forms. This concept seems so stupid to me. I can't believe these places can stay in business.

It is a social hub in other parts of the world.  Here, it exists as an affectation in many places, so it could easily be construed as silly, particularly given the breadth and depth of public health education against smoking that's existed here for years.  We're privileged to have had generations exposed to that education and a culture that's receptive to it – in many places, the stigmatization we have of it here just hasn't accrued yet.  We Americans were just as stupid not so long ago.

[roadman65]

Last time I smoked one was fifteen years ago, in a little Arabic place in Jersey City.  Tastier than most tobaccos, but I don't smoke anymore, so it's all in the past for me.  I do like the opium-den decor of the newer places, but they're scarce nowadays with society wising up on smoking. 

Why do you ask?

I ask cause in my area they're popping up and many gather there after work.  The one next door to the IHOP has lots of customers, but I have never stepped foot in it.

I was just curious to know if they are popular elsewhere and if anyone tried one yet.

[empirestate]

There's one in Boca Raton (the Funky Buddha) that I enjoy patronizing, but it's also a brewery so I'm mainly there for the beer. 

They do seem unusually common in Florida.

[Brian556]

I ask cause in my area they're popping up and many gather there after work. 

This is why I don't like socializing. People often do things that you don't like or agree with, and in order to be social, you would have to lower yourself to their level.

Since people are like this, I generally prefer to not really have anything to do with them.

I cannot be around smoking. It gives me an instantaneous headache.

[Pete from Boston]

I ask cause in my area they're popping up and many gather there after work. 

This is why I don't like socializing. People often do things that you don't like or agree with, and in order to be social, you would have to lower yourself to their level.

Since people are like this, I generally prefer to not really have anything to do with them.

A little dark, no?  You have to lower yourself to spend leisure time with others?  Why not just hang out with folks who are at your level or even above you?  Humans are gifted with powers of compromise–I'm sure there are people who would lower themselves for you and not mind.  There might even be people who look at compromising to spend time with you as not lowering themselves at all. 

I cannot be around smoking. It gives me an instantaneous headache.

I know the feeling of tobacco equaling instant headache.  We felt this way for years as kids, then started smoking anyway because like many kids we were extremely curious how there could be an allure to something so nasty (many folks come into drinking this way, too).  It's sort of refreshing that smoke bothers me again years after quitting, though this is no longer my sole reaction to it.

[Scott5114]

The vast majority of my friends neither smoke nor drink. We socialize over board games (or, as of late, the video game Rock Band). If you can't socialize with someone without smoking and drinking, you can always find someone else to hang out with.

[Roadrunner75]

It's important to socialize and have good people skills, like this guy: