Opening a hookah bar, Advice please

[Sonthert]

Restaurants are alot more regulated and expensive, more TIs, etc. Opening up a straight hookah lounge is the way to go, I thikn the figure $50,000 is reasonable, depending on location, of course.

[HookahCaterpillar]

Where is your lounge located?

[Sonthert]

San Diego, 5795 El Cajon Blvd.Por  Que?

[HookahCaterpillar]

cool just wondering i knew it was in california and i plan on visiting
a buddy who lives in cali this summer I might have to stop by your
lounge and have a smoke.

[Sonthert]

Well, you're always welcome.

[HookahCaterpillar]

I plan on doing something totally different then most hookah bars in
the way of food. Do you think it would be a catasrophe to not have the
traditional hommos, gyros, falafels, and other middle eastern cuisines
at my hookah bar? Should i completely drop the idea of having middle
eastern food or keep the traditional middle eastern foods on the menu
but add my own ideas like tapas, and other international cuisines ?

[Sonthert]

Food-permits-higher prices or lower emphasis on hookah...the price of the hookah still has to reflect the extra licensing a restaurant entails!

[HookahCaterpillar]

Ah so you dont serve food at all? or you dont suggest serving food at all?

[Sonthert]

No food for me. Food for you: Its up to you. You have to decide what you are going in business "for". Select one thing and concentrate on it, and do it right and you will always be successful. Its when people do things half-assedly, without a plan or do too many things that they fail. If you want to be a hookah lounge, so be it. If you want to be a restaurant, so be it. Don't try being a hookah lounge that serves food and has entertainment and hot waitresses. You have to decide to be a restaurant that just happens to serve hookahs, have hot waitresses, etc. There is a big difference although the language pales it. Pick one thing and concentrate on it, everything else is a sideline. You can be a hookah lounge (that happens to serve food) or a restaurant (that happens to serve hookah). Your interpretation should be pervasive in your business plan.

[HookahCaterpillar]

Ok i gotcha see my plan is more like a hookah lounge that serves food.
Hot waitresses and entertainment isnt going to happen. After a year of
business or so and i make some money who knows maybe I will add a stage
if I think it could draw in more business and same thing goes for hot
waitresses and belly dancers. When i open its going to be pretty
simple. Im thinking 25-35 comfortable seats and/or couches/benches. Dim
lit. Music playing. Small menu with mostly appetizers and finger foods
like really good burgers with an international flare to it.  So a
formal business plan is necessary?

[Smashraj84]

[quote name='HookahCaterpillar']Ok i gotcha see my plan is more like a hookah lounge that serves food.
Hot waitresses and entertainment isnt going to happen. After a year of
business or so and i make some money who knows maybe I will add a stage
if I think it could draw in more business and same thing goes for hot
waitresses and belly dancers. When i open its going to be pretty
simple. Im thinking 25-35 comfortable seats and/or couches/benches. Dim
lit. Music playing. Small menu with mostly appetizers and finger foods
like really good burgers with an international flare to it.  So a
formal business plan is necessary?[/quote]Everything sounds good, but burgers?  I think if I went to a hookah bar and there were hamburgers, it'd kinda ruin the mood, just my two cents.What about exotic teas, baklava, gyros, falafel?  I dunno if that will be too much for your crowd, but the college campus near where I live there are a few middle-eastern cuisine restaurants that do extremely well (but don't have hookahs).Anyone know the laws for Delaware and smoking inside?  I haven't seen anyone smoking inside since they passed the laws, but is the law only for public places like restaurants and such or would a hookah lounge also fall under the "no smoking in public" law?

[HookahCaterpillar]

Asian burger with hoisen sauce and chili paste
Indian burger with curry powder and indian flatbread(roti)
Italian burger with mozzerella, basil and tomato sauce
Middle eastern burger with hommos and served in pita bread

As you can see not the regular burgers your thinking about.

I would also have pizzas with the same idea like an asian pizza, indian pizza, etc...

I do plan on having a pretty nice collection of herbal and regular
teas. I will have the traditional food like gyros, falafels just to
satisfy the people who expect that going to a hookah bar but the food
will be much more exotic then most hookah bars.Hm I have a beachouse in
delaware and althought I havent been there in over a year you could
smoke in restaurants and bars.

[Smashraj84]

[quote name='HookahCaterpillar']Asian burger with hoisen sauce and chili paste
Indian burger with curry powder and indian flatbread(roti)
Italian burger with mozzerella, basil and tomato sauce
Middle eastern burger with hommos and served in pita bread

As you can see not the regular burgers your thinking about.

I would also have pizzas with the same idea like an asian pizza, indian pizza, etc...

I do plan on having a pretty nice collection of herbal and regular
teas. I will have the traditional food like gyros, falafels just to
satisfy the people who expect that going to a hookah bar but the food
will be much more exotic then most hookah bars.Hm I have a beachouse in
delaware and althought I havent been there in over a year you could
smoke in restaurants and bars.[/quote]Hmmm, times must've changed.  There's been an Indoor Clean Air Act, much like the one enacted in California that bans smoking in restaurants and bars.  I e-mailed someone at the government office about this as I too am looking to open up a hookah lounge.Those burgers sound pretty cool.  I'm indian, so it'd be pretty cool to see an american/indian fusion burger.Are you from Delaware?  I live in Wilmington.

[HookahCaterpillar]

cool, I love indian food i got a friend whos family invites me over for
hindu holidays and feeds me insane indian food until i explode haha. Im
not from delaware but we have a beach house about 45 minutes north of
rehoboth in a town called broadkill/milton delaware.

[Smashraj84]

[quote name='HookahCaterpillar']cool, I love indian food i got a friend whos family invites me over for
hindu holidays and feeds me insane indian food until i explode haha. Im
not from delaware but we have a beach house about 45 minutes north of
rehoboth in a town called broadkill/milton delaware.[/quote]Yeah, if you're not used to indian food your toilet time can really be interesting.  actually even if you are used to indian food, your toilet time is still very interesting.I know where milton is, I'm about 45 minutes from there.  Not a big fan of Rehoboth, because....well, the nickname for it is Rehomo, catch my drift?

[Sonthert]

People thought I was crazy...I like this quote:you might be crazy, but you might also be brilliant. If you have to wonder, its A. Crazy, so "c"? Forget it.I am incorporated in DE!Business plan: business plans are  a really good idea. Some people can sit down and write 25 pages worth of essay and change a few things. Most people have to go through drafts and editting and redrafts, etc. Until you are sure, why through your money away? If you plan it out, you might save yourself from making a mistake that might cost $10,000...thats a downpayment on a car! Sometimes, the mistake can be large enough to jepordize your business.I like the burger idea.BBQ Ribs, too...a real Southern BBQ and hookah lounge! Good call.

[DarbyFett]

curry burger? *drops dead* wow....id be in heaven....

[Smashraj84]

[quote name='Tangiers']I am incorporated in DE![/quote]Do you know how the Indoor Clean Air Act might/would effect a hookah lounge?  I've read and reviewed it and the language seems rather vague.  It says things like you can have a business where people can smoke, as long as there is no prepared food? 

[HookahCaterpillar]

haha o yea man I know all about rehomo I dont like it there myself.
During the summers i go to my beachouse and drive down to Ocean city.
Yea curry burger does sound good to me in fact its only an idea in my
head as of now but next time i make some burgers I wanna try out all my
ideas. Also along with the curry idea I was thinking make some fresh
pasta roll out the dough and before I dry it i sprinkle curry powder
and cumin all over the pasta and press it into the dough. Then grill up
some chicken and put it on the pasta. When it comes to food I got some
crazy ideas for my hookah lounge.But like my teachers at my school say
sometimes the best ideas in your head turn out to be major flops. What
may seem like the top dish on your menu turns out to be the least
selling dish and visa versa. In my opinion you never really know until
you see what the customers actually order.

On a side note* I have a buddy whos going to art school and majoring in
air brushing. He is really talented already with airbrushing but by the
time i open up my lounge is about the same time he graduates from his
air brushing school so I think im gonna have him do some really nice
murals on the walls.

[Cicada]

[quote name='Tangiers']San Diego, 5795 El Cajon Blvd.Por  Que?[/quote] I may have to check it out; i plan on opening a hookah lounge in the Coachella Valley [Palm Springs area] within the next few years..

[Cicada]

[quote name='Tangiers']Restaurants are alot more regulated and expensive, more TIs, etc. Opening up a straight hookah lounge is the way to go, I thikn the figure $50,000 is reasonable, depending on location, of course.[/quote]
Only? what were startup costs on your own lounge? I totally budgeted for near the half-million mark in my business plan.

[Sonthert]

Laws vary from state to state, the laws regarding smoking bans are state laws and vary, I can't comment on DE. Loopholes have allowed hookah lounges in CA to serve alcohol, where the original intention was the opposite. It would make sense to not allow smoking where prepared food is. If you are interested, I can get the number for the tobacco bureau (or whatever its called in DE), if you want.Cicada, I tried to chat with you, to no avail. The scope of that question is beyond what I could reasonably expect to put in a post. I was thinking of $50,000 for a shoestring budget. Hookahs, supplies, fixtures, a year's rent.

[Smashraj84]

[quote name='Tangiers']Laws vary from state to state, the laws regarding smoking bans are state laws and vary, I can't comment on DE. Loopholes have allowed hookah lounges in CA to serve alcohol, where the original intention was the opposite. It would make sense to not allow smoking where prepared food is. If you are interested, I can get the number for the tobacco bureau (or whatever its called in DE), if you want.[/quote]That would be great if you could get that number.I don't know if I told you, but I talked to a lady that deals with business licenses in the state department and she said that the indoor clean air act states that smoking can not occur in any public buildings or businesses except fire halls and VFWs and that a hookah lounge would be illegal to operate in Delaware.

[Cicada]

[quote name='Tangiers']Loopholes have allowed hookah lounges in CA to serve alcohol[/quote] care to share? Because i know [for reasons that escape me now] the smoke shop where my friends and i have worked and managed lost their liquor license [it was actually a cigar lounge, not hookah bar -- Cohiba, [url="http://www.cohibausa.com"]http://www.cohibausa.com[/url] ]
ill keep trying to get that chat going for just a few general questions -- this is just an idea for me right now, as i'm still working towards my MBA, and perhaps after that i might proceed with this venture.

[The Dude Abides]

I've been thinking of opening a small shisha cafe in either Brooklyn, NY or Portland, OR, and definitely want to focus only on hookah smoking and offer no food.  My goal would be to keep it as non-complicated as possible, and being solely devoted to the hookah would provide that simplicity to me.  What I'm not sure about is if that kind of business plan would bring in enough revenue, or if serving food would be a cash cow that I would need to be milking.  The only non-ma'assel ittem I would serve is mint tea, but would I need to special food-license if I'm going to be serving beverages?  Tea is essential.