I wish I could give this place 0 stars. For starters, they separate the lines to get in by men and women - its 2018 people. That pissed me off to start the night, then as I got in I wanted to get a nice refreshing water. I head to the bar and I ask for a seltzer first, the woman tells me FOUR dollars. Baffled by the fact that literally bubble water is four dollars, I ask for plain tap water. "That'll be one dollar." That is illegal and it isn't even filtered water. Reluctantly, I end up paying my one dollar for a water and try to walk out of the bar area to the dance floor. Think again, NOPE, not allowed to bring a drink out of the bar area. So I cant enjoy my drink with my friends that aren't in the bar area? 20 minutes go by and I want to go outside to get some fresh air, at the bottom of the steps a massive puddle of water was overflowing from the bathroom (pictures provided). I couldn't believe how much water it was, I could've gone for a swim. The bouncers are rude as can be as I try to get air. I was told, "I can't be more than 10 feet away from the door, or I won't get back in. At this point I walk outside, and CYAAAAAA. Left that place and actually went somewhere worth my time and money read more

So I went here last Friday at the recommendation of a co-worker . I've worked in Center City a number of years and always make it appoint of visiting several establishments in an evening. We arrived 7:30 ish after leaving happy hour somewhere else. We had no problem getting a table as the place was empty. We ordered drinks and got hookah...I usually don't write a negative review for any establishment, but I feel the management and operation of this place feels very UN-center city like. So we're having a good time, music, hookah... drinks and then the manager comes over and asks us if we would be done our hookah by 10???? What??? I dunno about you, but who knows how long it will take you to do hookah??? So we say, we don't know, cause we honestly don't know... This is the start of the souring of my experience here. So then starts the circling of waitresses to see if we wanted anything else, and increasing checks to see if we're done, and guess who comes back..... The manager.... She asks AGAIN how long??? I'm annoyed at this point cause we're still having our $20 a pop drinks and smoking our hookah. So we ask her what's the issue, she tells us that the table is reserved and that she can move us.... I look around cause I didn't see who was waiting BECAUSE THERE WAS NO ONE???? Ok, so we decided it's time to go, but not before we spent over $200 bucks.. Next time I'll stick with what I know and go to that other hookah place off of 18th and chestnut. By the way, when we got outside there was NO ONE waiting to get in. read more

In town for a wedding, we decided to try out B Side because it was in the neighborhood where we were staying. Since we visit very often, we would have loved for it to become a regular spot for us in Philly. Sadly, no. Our group of 4 sat down late, hungry from the early wedding we'd been guests at, and we each ordered cocktails and entrees. The server was nice enough and though it was very crowded, we were served fairly quickly. The issue came after sitting for a while, enjoying more drinks and hookah...2am rolled around and it was time for the bar to close/service to cease (?) which we were not made aware of or given a heads up on... We smoke hookah often and usually, servers will make rounds to let guests know to start wrapping up before the bar closes. It's called 'appropriate' or 'considerate' or 'service oriented.' At B Side Hookah, a kid appeared at the door, stomped over to the table and literally grabbed it right out of my hands, saying "We're closed," and slunk off. We were so shocked at the behavior, we couldn't believe it. My fiance asked to speak to a manager and our server who said something to the extent of "well, we didn't see it. You should have come to us before." Before what? They made no effort to apologize or compensate us for being treated so harshly after we dropped close to $200 in about an hour at their establishment. Never again, B Side Hookah...we will do our best to warn all of our Philly friends to go elsewhere. read more

I had a very similar awful experience as a previous reviewer Manuel this past weekend. A group of friends and I came in to hookah on Saturday night, and paid the cover after seeing there were a number of tables open. At no point did the bouncer or the girl who charged us the cover say anything about it being non-refundable. It was only AFTER we went inside that the hostess/server told us none of the OPEN tables were available because we didn't have a reservation, and asked us to wait at the bar or at BARRA next door. Our party agreed to go next door and wait, but after trying to sit at one of the open tables there was told we couldn't sit and drink at a table, but needed to wait at the bar. At this point we decided just to leave and asked for our cover back (we'd been there for the grand total of 1 minute so far). The hostess refused and called the manager, who refused to give us our cover back by stating that "you were told it's non-refundable." Not only were we never told this before we paid, the small "sign" that he pointed to was hidden behind the cash register and TURNED AROUND so you couldn't see it when you walked in. We tried being reasonable and was basically told to leave without a refund. Not only was the manager/owner extremely rude to our party, their refusal to return our cover under the pretense of a "policy" that was never communicated is clearly a fraudulent business practice. I'm sure they've had much success swindling drunk and/or passive patrons in this manner. As someone who used to come to this place often, I can say with certainty this experience has ruined it for me and I will never be back. read more

If you are looking for a chill but fun spot to check out with some friends this is it. I love hookah so when I find a spot that is decent, I stick to it. Let me start with the food. It's very rare for me to find authentic food in a hookah joint. Typically, some random wannabe crap is made and then titled something that sounds authentic but far from it here. Simple stuff like hummus and tabbouleh is NOT over looked. I ordered a couple apps to share with friends and the chef came out to check on us and see what we liked. The chicken and lamb kabobs were also tender and the sauces so good too! The cool part is the place is also connected with Barra so we also ordered a pizza, (wood oven) it's really yummy! I have been here several times and on each occasion I have been satisfied & full!! For the hookah I like the simple flavors, the owner is Arabic, (he also is present and active in the business which makes me feel welcomed) so he uses Starbuzz which is one of the higher end and authentic tobacco choices. Nothing worse than getting a bad harsh hookah, I found it to be smooth and my waitress rotated the coals without us having to ask. Lastly, for drinks we tried a couple options on the menu and some old favorites everyone was satisfied. There is indoor and outdoor seating. I like to sit in the back and listen to the music which varies from urban, light house and some Arabic hits which gets you in the mood. You should give this place a try if you're in town it's fun and trendy but not cheesy. The tip is included in the check so when it comes to splitting at the end it makes it easier (especially after some drinks). I'll be back sometime soon, thanks for the hospitality! read more

Not a hookah bar, came today and they said no hookah today due to too many reservations in restaurant. Could be a good restaurant but hookah bar classification should be removed from the yelp. read more

I Am PISSED! I AM UPSET & DISAPPOINTED. This has been the worst experience ever! In order to even get in, there was a 20$ sir charge a person to get in the place. I went with my fiance so there goes 40 bucks. I Will never come here again. Afterwards, i wanted to order a drink & the bartenders acted as if i annoyed them because i had questions about the menu. How dare they! isn't that your job? I asked specifically "how big is your quesadilla meal? the bartender replied...4. In my head I'm thinking what in the world is she talking about! she said it so fast and walked away. i guess the meal is split in 4 pieces? The customer service was so poor. There was a guy name mike with red hair. he was Caucasian and rudest of them all. Also after my drink was ordered they took my card and charged it without telling me there was a 25$ limit. meaning i couldn't get MY CARD BACK UNTIL I SPENT 25$. keep in mind i already paid for the wings which was like 11 bucks but they said it didnt count because we paid with cash. (sidenote: 1 burger is 12 bucks) ALSO i wasn't feeling well from all the smoke so i asked for a glass of ice water and the bartender responded with an attitude saying the water was out of order!! i dont even understand that! Also the music was very low, there was no room to move the plave is so small. And to sit down you have to spend a minimum of 110$ to get a table. i will never come here again. never ever. if you're reading this and you are still wondering if you want to give that place a try, this is my answer to you: DON'T DO IT! IMAGIME ME TAPPING YOU THROUGH YOUR SCREEN. DO NOT GO TO THIS PLACE. YOU WILL REGRET EVERY SECOND AND EVERY DIME YOU'VE WASTED. read more

All I can say is that this place is too much money for nothing. We had to pay a $10-$20 cover charge I forget how much it was because somebody else paid for me. If they didn't pay I wasn't going to go in. I ordered a tequila sunrise and it was around $10-$12 I forget. luckily I was with some big spenders and the got me a table, a hookah, and a bottle so I didn't have to pay for another drink. However, I did order food and you can't use your card if its under $20 so I had to order two things of wings. I wouldn't mind spending money going out but it was really nothing special about b-side. Its just a hookah lounge if you not at a table smoking hookah, with a bottle, or eating your standing up doing nothing. If your going to spend money then go somewhere where it's worth it. read more

B Side Hookah Lounge has a lot of potential, but I really don't like how they do business here. First off, there's a $25 credit/debit card minimum which is pretty ridiculous (but unfortunately, not uncommon). I had the same server the last two time I went (a brown skin brotha) and he was on top of things. My biggest issue beside the lack of seating is the exorbitant service charge they discretely tack on to each bill that adds up to 20% - 25% of the bill. This is ridiculous. What's even more insulting is the fact that they expect you to tip on top of that. This, ultimately, makes my experience here very disappointing. I won't even mention how they charge people $5 to get in knowing they won't be able to get a hookah because there are no tables (warn people of this at the door!). I hope they get it together because, as I said, the place has a lot of potential. But they need to chill on these types of shady practices. read more

This place is amazing.The food and service are great.I would definitely recommend it to friends and collegues.

Nice atmosphere. The burger and beer special for $10 was great. They wrapped the entire thing in pizza dough and it was pretty awesome. Lulu? The bartender was great as well. read more

I had visited this place twice before deciding that it would be the spot I would hold my 30th birthday dinner. The two other times I had come here, I liked the atmosphere well enough, (although I am not into hookah) and I enjoyed their pizza. For my birthday, I reserved a table for 10 and was told that there was $200 minimum when I called. Immediately, I was put off by this but decided that 10 people will easily spend $200 so I continued with my reservation. When I arrived, the hostess seemed to have no idea I had even had a reservation. After checking with the manager, I am directed to my table where some of my friends awaited me. Everything was going fine, and my friends all liked their food, as did I. That is, until the manager comes over, asking who made the reservation, and then specifically asking for me by name. She then sits beside me and tells me that we cannot close out the bill because we have not spent the $250 minimum. I hadn't even asked to close out the bill, but apparently a friend of mine had asked for her own individual check prompting this conversation. At that, I was told the minimum was $200 over the phone! So I inform her that I was told $200 and she says that's fine, and continues to look at me as if expecting something else from me. So I ask her "What do you want me to do?" and she says that I have to spend "$200." So I ask her the obvious, "what is the bill up to now?" She then says "that's a good question, I'll check." So she leaves and comes back and informs me that my bill is now at $191 and that I didn't have to worry about spending the additional $9 to make it $200. Gee, thanks! Call me crazy, but it seems to me that she should have checked that before harassing me to spend more money. Not only that, but that they tried to increase the minimum price on the day of is just shady. So we close out the bill immediately, and we're all sitting there chatting and enjoying our drinks and hookah for the next 30 minutes, when the manager returns to ask us if we're staying or leaving. So to recap, after we just spent nearly $200 in this establishment, they are in a rush to kick us out! Avoid this place at all costs if you are planning to go with a large party. They are clearly shady, and money-hungry at the expense of allowing their customers to have a good time. Sure, the food is decent, and the atmosphere vibrant, but this is a major metropolitan city, and there are plenty of other places to spend your money without being harassed to spend more money and rushed to leave. read more

Horrible service!! Me and my friend went to B Side for the first time on a Saturday night just to smoke hookah. They charged us $10 cover charge at the door, and it's not even a dance club I don't understand what the "cover charge" is for. Okay. When we proceeded to get a table we were told that there is a table minimum that we have to spend ($50). We decided to leave because we weren't there to eat or drink, just hookah. So we came up to the front to get our refund because we were there literally for 3 minutes. The hostess and all of the security guards gave us a really bad attitude, saying that they don't do refunds. We asked to speak to their manager, but they wouldn't call him over, saying that we should just get a table and spend $50 there. They made us feel like shit trying but to get our money back! We basically paid for standing there for 3 minutes. And at the end they were rude enough to ask us to leave because other people were coming in. What a "great" way to treat customers! Definitely not going back there! read more