Habibi Café & Lounge

01/25/2008 Posted by duckieOT

We go here all the time, at least twice a month! The hummus and falafel are excellent! There is a wide variety of tobacco flavors and all of them are great! The owner is there every night to ensure that everything flows smoothly and it usually does. Although the service can be slow on a busy night you do get served. Make friends with the manager or owner and you will be remembered and treated like royalty! The new VIP lounge is cool because they play more popular hip hop and rap where as the main restaurant area plays modern arabian music (which is also cool). The VIP are has a $20 per person minimun but its a great area for parties and you feel like a pimp! :) The only down side is that they dont serve alcohol. I highly reccommend this place if you want a fun chill night with a group of friends. its also a great after hours spot since its open til 4 am! (By the way the person who reviewed Habibis and said it was aweful and people should go to gypsys is an idiot because gypsys and habibis are owned by the same people! And they are both excelleny establishments!)

01/13/2008 Posted by ruwaydah786

It was my sister's birthday, so I made reservations for 8 people, Saturday night. We came 15 minutes late and they still saved our seats. We ordered the banquet platter (falafel, chicken, beef (2 kinds), 2 kinds of salads, hummus, rice, and a few other stuff) we were all satisfied with the taste and we took home leftovers, tasty large fries, steamed rice, 2 orders of bread, 3 hookahs (one refill $7), and we all got water. We stayed at our table for at least two hours. The total price was $168 for 8 people (6 girls and two guys in our early twenties). They changed our coals about 5 times and asked if we needed anything at least a dozen times, they sang happy birthday to my sister and gave her a slice of chocolate cake (minutes after sing happy birthday to another party). So I must say they have good customer service, if you request service politely, make reservations, arrive between 8:30-9:30 PM and don't be afraid to ask for coals (ask for extra, if it's a busy night). The total price was reasonable, it totaled out to be $21 on average for each one of us.

Pros: Good food and service

Cons: crowded after 10 PM

08/02/2007 Posted by behkiram

F*** THIS PLACE!! THIS PLACE IS $H!T. THE WORKERS ARE RUDE A$$HOLES AND THE OWNER IS A TERROR!$T!! I HAVE SEEN PEOPLE SMOKING OPIUM THERE. NOT A GREAT PLACE TO HANG OUT!! I THINK EVERYBODY SHOULD GO TO GYPSY CAFE WHICH IS ACROSS THE STREET! THEY ARE MUCH BETTER!

Pros: NONE

Cons: EVERYTHING ABOUT IT

07/31/2007 Posted by llovelylleslie

I used to love habibi Cafe, the only cover charge before was that we needed to order at least a drink for the hookah and that was fine. now you have to spend $10/person + the cost of hookah for grumpy waiters to serve you. What happened to the place. Before the waiters were very attentive and worked for their tip now it is ridiculous. If you want better service for what you are paying with better food try Gypsy cafe across the street.

Pros: Music, location, people-watching

Cons: Pricey, crappy service

07/12/2007 Posted by surferchick809

Habibi Cafe has the worst hookah ever. The workers do not know how to pack the bowls and the smoke always tastes harsh. The service is slow and they do not care about the customers. I recommend Gypsy cafe which is right across the street for anybody who is looking for a better hookah experience.

Pros: Good food

Cons: Bad Hookah, Service, Parking

05/06/2007 Posted by mightymo72

The actual $12.95 dinner of falafal, Greek Salad and babagounoush was actually quite tasty. Salad olives were plain old sliced olives, not Greek. Maybe it was because I was alone and of the Senior Citizen catagory that I received abominal service. I did not check the menu carefully and did not know about a service charge, and that a very small bottle of the cheapest water was over $2. Was more or less snubbed when I walked up as a "younger" couple behind me was acknowledged first and my inclination was to walk away then, but I perservered and was reluntantly seated. (if I had not been tired and hungry from a busy day at Festival of Books I would have left and should have) There was no entertainment but the canned music was quite pleasant and appropriate. Would certainly never return.

Pros: Reasonably tasty food

Cons: not a pleasant server experience. Rather imperious attitude by server.

01/13/2007 Posted by nate323

My friend and I are regulars over there, they all know us so i could tell you a few things about this place. I like goin there for the music thats about it i mean the food is horrible, hokkah is bad am not a big fan of hokkah anyways, the only thing i could say about the place is that we get seated quick and service is good cause we ask for the same waiter everytime and they know us, other than that i will tell you go try it yourself i mean there isn't much except for the music.

Pros: good service

Cons: too epensive for what u get

08/18/2006 Posted by cutiekatie

the only time i've been there, a few random guys picked a fight with my friend for no reason. i never went back. strange crowd, smoky, and smells weird. definitely not worth it unless you're a huge hookah enthusiast.

07/14/2006 Posted by rachel1215

food and service horrible. hookah, ok, but really, how hard is it to get a hookah going? the atmosphere is nice--open aired---and there is a lot of good people watching to be done. a little bit on the shady side but theyre open late (bc they dont sell alcohol) and in westwood, thats a big plus. good chai tea, though.