Hookah lounge

The hookah lounge or shisha bar (in Britain and parts of Canada) is an establishment where patrons share shisha (flavored tobacco) from a communal hookah or nargile which is placed at each table.

Some hookah lounges are business modeled as such from their inception. Others are cafés to which the element of hookah smoking was added later. Hookah lounges of all sorts have become popular in parts of Europe and North America in the last decade.

Characteristics
Hookah lounges are mostly found in college towns and urban areas and are regarded by some as a novel and chic way to socialize and embrace multiculturalism. Some people of Middle Eastern or Indian extraction consider them a continuation of their own cultural traditions. Orthodox Muslims and other people who do not consume alcoholic beverages may prefer hookah lounges to taverns and bars where alcohol consumption is the primary focus.

Often, hookah lounges are owned and operated by people from the Muslim world or other regions where use of the hookah is a centuries-old tradition. Some offer Middle Eastern cuisine menu items. Almost all offer what most Westerners call Turkish coffee. Many hookah lounges incorporate such elements as Islamic decor and Arabic music or Indian music.

An elderly patron of an establishent in Turkey describes the advantages of the hookah lounge as follows: "Smoking a hooka is nothing like smoking a cigarette...cigarettes are for nervous people, competitive people, people on the run...when you smoke a hooka, you have time to think. It teaches you patience and tolerance, and gives you an appreciation of good company." A younger customer adds: "The important thing is not what you put in the pipe, but who is with you while you're smoking...it's a complete experience...in a cafe like this one, you find the good people, the old people, the interesting people. As long as there is a need for company and friendship, as long as people want to stop and think, there will be nargile cafes."

Typically a disposable mouthpiece is provided for each user for hygiene reasons. Hookah lounges do not typically have liquor licenses but instead derive the bulk of their revenue from sales of coffee, soft drinks and snack foods.

Some hookah lounges have well-equipped kitchens and are more akin to bistros. In the broadest sense, any restaurant or nightclub can be considered a hookah lounge if it offers patrons hookahs, shisha, and a comfortable place to smoke.

Hookah Bar Directoriessuch as HookahCrazy.com have emerged to showcase the abundance of hookah bars across the country.

History
The hookah lounge has clear antecedents in the tradition of coffee houses in the Middle East and Turkey where people smoke tobacco from hookahs or other styles of water pipe provided by the establishment.

Note, however, that in this traditional setting the hookah is typically of the single-hose variety. This is in contrast with the multi-hose variety favored in the hookah lounge and intended to emphasize the communal nature of the activity.

In Europe

 * Germany - Hookahs are available in many establishments in Germany, particularly in Berlin, the Ruhr Area and other areas, and it is not only popular amongst Turkish people.
 * United Kingdom - In the United Kingdom, hookahs are most commonly found in "shisha bars" run by Lebanese, Indians, or Egyptian people.
 * Spain - Hookah use has grown in popularity in Spain, especially among the young. As a result, many teterías (tea houses) have made hookahs available to patrons.
 * Russia - Some Russian bars employ a "hookah man" (кальянщик), often wearing an approximation of Arabic or Turkish costume, to bring the pipes to customers' tables and to light the tobacco.

In the United States
In the United States, establishments akin to hookah lounges first opened decades ago in the immigrant quarters of New York City and Los Angeles, California. Patrons were typically men of Middle Eastern descent. Now hookah lounges are widely associated with hipster culture.

Many hookah lounges in the United States have chic or modernistic elements such as glass tables, plasma televisions and oxygen bars.

One purveyor of hookahs and shisha claims: "It's at its largest demand ever in this country...I don't think it's going away anytime soon. There's so much more room for the product to expand. Only a small percentage of Americans know about it."

Smoking bans
Many municipalities, especially in North America and Europe, have enacted smoking bans in public places. Sometimes, however, businesses can obtain special permits allowing smoking within; these permits are typically available only for hookah lounges, cigar bars, tobacconists, and similar establishments where smoking is the focus of activity. They are less frequently available for places in which alcohol or food is served.

In some cases, the ban is against tobacco smoking specifically. When this is the case, a hookah lounge may remain in business by replacing traditional, tobacco-based shisha with tobacco-free, herbal alternatives.