If you’ve seen Alice in Wonderland, you should have at least a basic idea of what a hookah is. Remember the glass pipe with the long hose that the caterpillar was smoking as it spoke with Alice? The tobacco you smoke in these is called shisha, is completely legal, and comes in a variety of flavors.
In the right atmosphere hookah can be a relaxing, mellow sort of experience. Low lighting, soft music, comfortable seating, and of course the company of good friends to share it with. Settle in, choose a flavor that everyone likes or is interested in trying, and enjoy the light headedness that comes along with a nice deep inhale of smoke.
My roommates and I decided to invite a few friends to join us at Tulsa Oklahoma’s Nara Café. The roommates had been once before and enjoyed the atmosphere; they wanted to share it with everyone else. I had high hopes, based on other Hookah bars I’ve been to.
My first clue that things may not turn out as I hoped should have been when we called ahead to make sure they could accommodate the 10-15 people we were hoping to have. They warned us that it was likely to be crowded due to a special event with a $5 cover charge. Of course, I’ve been to Hookah bars that had a cover charge, because groups will get together and share a pipe. So I figured it was a little odd for a place that was also a café, but probably not a big deal.
The crowd when we got there wasn’t what I expected. A lot of younger college kids, mostly looking barely legal to smoke. Again, odd but didn’t seem like a big deal. They were carding at the door to make sure everyone was over 18.
Then our hands were marked and we were informed that if we wanted to leave the premises to pick something up at the liquor store we would be able to return. At this point we should have left, but we expected to be joined by friends and had already paid the cover so we figured it was still worth checking out.
The music was alright, if a bit loud as we made our order and settled at a table. There was a mix-up with our hookah, but this was our fault for not looking more closely at the menu. We ordered “double apple” when we actually wanted “fresh apple”. The wait was worth it, however, as Fresh apple comes with the tobacco packed into a cored out apple, enhancing the flavor with incredible deliciousness.
From Nara Café’s MySpace page we had been led to believe that it would be a relaxed atmosphere in a room full of couches and a lovely archway. In actual reality its just a room with a couple of couches at one end, and a bunch of tables. Its also a very narrow room with not much space to walk between the tables without bumping into other patrons. Not to mention most of the hookahs are placed on floor rather than the tables, so in addition to bumping chairs and shoulders you also have to be careful not to tip someone’s hookah over, or to catch any part of your clothing on the coals.
We finished our first hookah before discovering that most of our friends weren’t coming after all, and decided to try out a second flavor of strawberry daiquiri. Unfortunately the flavor came out extremely harsh and painful to inhale without a great deal of coughing involved. Whether it was the flavor itself, the coals being too close to the shisha, or some other element isn’t certain, but it was still a regrettable decision.
At some point the music’s volume increased to the point where we had to talk loudly to be heard even by the person directly across our table. Around the same time we noticed a number of small groups making their way out a second door to what we had assumed was an outdoor smoking area. One of my friends followed them and came back to report that there was a DJ and the patio area had been set up as a sort of dance club. Also, a number of underage looking young men were carrying cases of beer back to the club area. Again, we should have left upon realizing that the bouncer was checking ID to make sure patrons were legal to smoke, but doing nothing to prevent underage drinking.
We finished our second flavor and waited a bit to see if our sever would bring a bill for our 2 hookahs and 3 meals, eventually giving up and taking ourselves out of the smoking room to ask at the register if our tab could be found. This took some time as a fight was breaking out back in the club, where a young man had apparently drunkenly decided that it was acceptable to punch his girlfriend in the face. Staff members were trying to separate the boy from a group of patrons intent on retaliatory violence.
While I do commend the staff on quickly removing the abusive individual and his drunken friend from the premises, I’m uncertain as to the logic which dictated that he should then be allowed to turn around and come back inside to talk to his girlfriend again. Another fight nearly broke out as most of the male staff got involved, attempting to separate combatants again, informing the young man that he wouldn’t be able to return and announcing that anyone else who went outside at this point would not be welcome to come back inside.
We finally managed to get our bill taken care of, discovering that we had paid nearly $100, on top of the cover charge for entering in the first place. Even with gratuity included, it was an exorbitant price for what little we did order. The only positive point of our experience was the Fresh Apple flavor. Luckily, we learned how it was managed, and will be able to repeat that experience at home without having to return.
I highly doubt that Nara Café will remain open long with its crowd of underage drinkers and the staff’s inability to responsibly deal with the inevitable incidents which arise from such an atmosphere.
As an added note regarding the altercation. A number of young men openly stated in front of Café staff that they intended to follow the abusive young man and ‘catch him later’. The staff made no attempt to speak against this, merely reminding them that they would not be able to return that night if they stepped outside. A slightly older man who at least looked old enough to legally drink indicated that he had an SUV and several other male patrons piled into the vehicle with him, racing out of the parking lot in the direction that the other young man and his friend took. How that was resolved I cannot say.
My recommendation is this. Avoid the Nara Café. So far as I understand it is the only Hookah bar in Tulsa, however its overpriced and could be considered an unsafe environment. The internet is a valuable resource for ordering hookahs, coals, a variety of shisha flavors, and learning how to enjoy these things in the comfort of your own home.
