Evil_Spork Posted September 30, 2007 Share Posted September 30, 2007 earlier in the night i posted a thread asking for advice on where to go for a nice hookah bar in downtown san francisco. the thread didnt yeild much more help than google did.we called some friends and got a suggestion for a place we already liked the look of from google.this is how my girlfriend and my night went:we drove into the city from south san fran and ended up on the edge of little italy and china town, found a cheap parking garage, and parked. then we just went wandering looking for a place that looked good.we soon found ourselves in the italian food area and thought hey! lets go to the Stinking Rose! then it turns out we were literally 50 feet from it, 10 minute wait for 2. perfect.they sat us in the best seat in the house on the edge of their back dining room in at small 2 person window seat! we had an amazing garlic filled dinner, getting out the door for a little more than $50. not bad considering i had a $20 rack of ribs and we got an appetizer. it was then back to the car, after a small effort we found it again, and drove off toward the Nile Cafe near the corner of Geary and Jones.a few loops around the block and getting lost a few times and we got a metered parking spot(free cuz it was late) in an OK street(only 2 or 3 bums on this one )after a 3 block walk we found the nile cafe, PACKED!a group of middle eastern men were sitting in front at some tables smoking a very nice traditional hookah Syrian style.we went in and got one of 2 empty spots, looked over the menu and saw about 35 flavors to choose from. it seems like they had every starbuzz flavor plus an assortment of home made flavors.we got sex on the beach, which they said was a home made flavor and similar to starbuzz. we also ordered a house tea.they brought us out an Inhale hookah that had a very thick base. it was a mya knock off all the way.along with the hookah they brought a small tea pot and 2 glasses that looked alot like a double shot glass. the tea was excellent. very sweet and flavorful with no hint of lawn to be found.they used the generic "modern" bowls on all hookahs, and they all seemed to work well. they had bags of natural wood coals and tons already lit. they put a few coals on and our server primed it by puffing away while adding coals till it was right. he handed us out pipe and a hose tip, and away we went. the shisha they used for Sex on the Beach was fantastic! it hit like a freight train for the first 25-30 minutes. buzz like crazy!! but with the buzz came a very unique flavor. the best i could describe it was like pineapple and sun tan lotion. it really tasted like a summer day on a nice beach! if you could bottle the essence of a tropical beach and make it a flavor, thats what this would be. very unique, very tasty. we sat around smoking and drinking the place in for about an hour, and then the fun really started! someone had pulled out the drum they had stashed away for decoration. after that several people started drumming for the whole place! not long after the music(which was quite good i might add) was turned off and the guy handed the drum off to a rather "hood" looking black man who played the hell out of the drum. then the middle eastern man pulled out a sitar and they clipped a microphone to it.. they had the place wired with a decent sound system.. and now he was playing the sitar like Slash amplified though out the place!!the "hood" gentleman it turns out knew how to drum quite well and actually could sing most of the traditional middle eastern songs!!! the two men played for about an hour before we left. the man on the sitar was AMAZING. people were dancing, and singing and clapping! it turned into an absolutely amazing experience.after we were there for a solid 2 hours we payed out bill, which came to $20.16 for a looong bowl of shisha and our tea, and made our way back to the car. but not without seeing a very tweaked out hobo playing with a coffee bean on the ground and exposing himself.... viva le san francisco. we got back to the car without much more insident, and jetted back to our hotel where im writing this.in all, a really fantastic night!!Nile Cafe - hookah lounge and cafe: 544 Jones StSan Francisco, CA 94102(415) 409-1000it may be a BIT expensive but the atmosphere is great and the staff is very very friendly. the place is authentic. i asked one of the employees how much the shisha they had was and he replied $65. i then asked how much the tobacco was. clearly they arent just some american idiots. (especially considering they spoke arabic). if im back in that part of SF again ill be going back for sure. loved itoverall experience: 9+/10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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