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    Cafe Mawal Express

    3.3 (142 reviews)
    Updated over 3 months ago

    Cafe Mawal Express Photos

    Business Info

    CAFE MAWAL EXPRESS ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Casual
    Happy hour specials
    Good for groups

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    Recommended Reviews - Cafe Mawal Express

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    Hookah Hose In This House
    Candi R.

    This place is a vibe. You get all the club vibes and even better, you don't pay club prices. The hookahs are under $20 and they actually work great. It's BYOB and the food is healthy. They are open super late too if you just want a cool, inexpensive late night hang out. This is a good place for meeting new people, good cheap 1st date to actually get to know the person, pre-game before you hit your main spot for the night, or just a quick snack and hookah when you off WESTHEIMER.

    Collapsed patio chair

    It's a vibe for sure. In my opinion it is properly priced. $10 to BYOB, food is reasonably priced and hookah $20. Where the two stars come in is the fact that the service is slow.. and the furniture could stand an uplift. I went last night and was sitting on the patio and the patio chair collapsed while I was in it. I'm talking about your boy was on the ground smh. While I personally wasn't embarrassed, my friends were lol so of course we asked how would I be compensated for the situation as it was apparently embarrassing and unexpected. We were told that there was nothing they could do. I didn't make a fuss because I mean.. I've been saying the furniture in the patio was old. Anyway.. it's a vibe.. visit with minimal expectations .. just enjoy the company of those you're with and your own bottle.

    First time here! 713 Mix w/mint. BYOB- $5 per person. In a cute little room
    Jasmine B.

    I went here for the first time this past Thursday. It is such a cute place. Bigger than I expected! I've been to the original one plenty of times, so my expectations were a bit high. When you first walk up, there are cute little grass walls to take photos. In the inside there are nice big booths with beautiful lighting hanging from the ceiling. And other neon light sayings all over the walls Our server Mimi lead us to a cute little room, made us feel really important lol. The room is a similar set up to the room at the original. Nice long seats covered in fabric, lamps hanging from the ceiling and a tv(that doesn't work). We ordered the kafta kabobs-with rice and hummus. Love all of it! The beef was cooked perfectly and the rice was sooo good. I didn't like the pita bread as much, didn't seem too fresh. For the hookah we ordered the 713 Mix and added mint. OMG!!! The buzz was real!! It was great. Only thing I didn't like is the hookah pricing. They charged us fo 2 things extra. One being the hose- so instead of $12.99 it came out to $18!! That's a bit high for a hookah lounge. Since it was our first time Mimi brought us complimentary baklava! And I tried a strawberry banana smoothie that was gifted from yelp. Another cool thing about this place is Shelf of games!! We played a really cool drinking game called "Buzzed". It is BYOB-$5 per person!! And we played with the life sized Jenga. Over all. I will be back!!

    Outside, in front of the entrance.
    Rachel H.

    Beautiful decor, good vibes & it's open until 6am on the weekends. The hookah is really good & the owner Saeed is very nice. Will definitely come back.

    Plate cold

    They serve the food too cold, but anyway, everything is okay , that the others. Things are good !

    Orange mint hookah!

    Amazing food and hookah!! Must try the mint lemonade drink. Services was great, on Saturdays they have a belly dancer performance.

    Hookah
    Defiance Choreography P.

    Love this place! Very chilled vibe, food is great, prices are very reasonable, BYOB for $5, great music and games available to play, total vibe!

    Tab $24 tipped waitress $40 at the beginning.I Never saw her again. I Asked for a coal refill. No one ever came, and just passed me by, over and over.

    Inside
    Devina C.

    Amazingly smooth hookah and really fast service. Went here on a Tuesday night and the place was packed. The inside has a cool Mediterranean or morrocan feel, depending on which tent you sit inside. The food also smelled so delicious. My only drawback is valet. I'm so paranoid about leaving my car keys which have my house keys anywhere that I couldn't enjoy the night. The whole time my mind was on who has my car keys. I would've preferred if they pointed me where to park and I parked myself. I get what theyre trying to do, but not everyone is comfortable with valet. Overall, great hookah lounge.

    Chicken Tawook, Rice & Salad
    Bryan T.

    This place is awesome! Great hookah bar in Houston with some amazing food! The Chicken Tawook (Kabob) was sooooooo damn tasty! Plenty of Hookah Flavors to choose from and the Booths have Marble table tops that light up at night! Definitely a good spot to hangout with friends.

    Receipt

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    1 year ago

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    2 years ago

    Best hummus ever. Good food. Service needs improvement. Service was slow. Ambiance is Okay.

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    3 years ago

    Great food, hookah and entertainment. A perfect spot to hang out with a group for any occasion or catch a game.

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    Business owner information

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    Saeed S.

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    Saeed S.

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    3 years ago

    Manager is rude !!! She needs to be fired . Very dismissive & acted like she couldn't come to our table when asked . Never again

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    6 years ago

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    11 years ago

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    6 years ago

    Eh it was a nice place in terms of Instagram pics but they charge too much for a simple hookah head and food :(

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    Page 1 of 4

    Ask the Community - Cafe Mawal Express

    Do they serve alcohol or are they byob?

    Byob

    Till what time is the kitchen open during weekends?

    Kitchen closes at 1:45am

    View All 3 Questions

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    Urban Smoke - They offer hookah

    Urban Smoke

    4.4(62 reviews)
    3.8 miGreenway
    $$

    This cigar lounge was awesome. My girlfriend and I wanted to enjoy a cigar and we headed to Urban…read moreSmoke. As soon as we entered, we were greeted with a smile. The cigar selection was great and this place is kind of deceptive--it's like a Speak Easy. Our server (Gene) was amazing! BTW, she helped create most of the drinks on the menu. The lounge was chill, the bartenders were great, and....they had live DJs playing awesome music! The hookah was great too! We did have some food: catfish. It was amazing! Crispy. Full of flavor. Delicious! The beans and rice were tasty too! We also had the cheese curds--yum! We felt welcomed. We were happy. We enjoyed the evening immensley!! I'd go back in a heartbeat!

    Decent parking in their private lot yet the space is small so come early if you want a place to sit…read moreor a table. Otherwise you'll be standing. The bartenders are friendly and quick with a strong pour. It was too crowded for me as it was hard to walk from one side to the other. I do appreciate the security yet the lines for the bathroom were annoying as they're are only 2. The dj was cool kept the vibe going all night. Decent pricing for drinks and Decent hookah for the city at $25. If I come back I'll be sure to use the bathroom ahead of time to avoid the line and obnoxious knocks on the door and arrive early to avoid being seated in the walkway.

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    Urban Smoke - Notice!

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    Urban Smoke - He snatched the chair from under me causing me to fall. You can tell he hates women.

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    Lost & Found - Shrimp, Mac & Cheese and green beans

    Lost & Found

    3.8(1k reviews)
    7.4 miFourth Ward, Midtown, Montrose
    $$

    First time and definitely not our last time. Once seated and our waiter, Tyson, introduced himself,…read morehe made the experience quite welcoming. He seems like he enjoys what he does bcz he was such a pleasure. He could tell it was our first time and was very patient and took time to explain everything on the menu. Tyson's suggestions were spot on for both eats and drinks. He didn't make us feel rushed at any time, and instead made us feel like taking our time was preferred, which helps patrons enjoy every single detail of the work chefs and bartenders put into their crafts. Whenever I return, I'll definitely request Tyson as our waiter.

    We came on Monday for HH around 7:30 pm, we know HH was almost over, we live 5 mins away and wanted…read morea quick bite and drink. The valet charges $20 or $40 on a week day and its not even that busy. We walked in and nobody was at the front so we asked the first person we saw " do we sit ourselves" , and she said just wait by the entry door and the host will seat you. Well the host came and said "go to the front & I can help you there". Cool. We get seated and given a menu. The menu was dirty, sticky, and over all filthy. We moved inside to the bar and asked a waitress "can you let the bartender know we are here, we think she went to the back for something". The waitress looked at us and said " oh, she know y'all here. She gone come". Instead of letting her know we moved to the bar. Anywho, Bunny took great care us. She literally made our experience go from 1 to a high 8. Ask for Bunnnyyy at the bar!!! Nice music playing. Minus the bugs on the patio (love bug season in tx) and long wait on the patio, the ambiance wouldve been great outside..... Service needs a bit of tweaking, food was good, Bunny was amazing. Well be back in some time. Thank you Bunnyyy!

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    Hookah bar

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    Sky Hookah Lounge - Hookah with the ice tip

    Sky Hookah Lounge

    3.9(124 reviews)
    8.4 miWest Oaks
    $$

    Pros Ambience Hookah…read moreVariety Music Selection Cons Asthma Risk Patron Mixture Risk The Hookah lounge was comfortable however I'm not a big hookah smoker because it makes me dizzy after a while. This night I went with one of my close sorority sisters and ended up smoking hookah with her. This location was dark and very easy on the eyes. It showcased a heavy middle eastern influence since hookah is heavy there. The variety of options are given in a menu style and allow you to pick whatever fits your needs at the time. You are also able to freely smoke as long as you would like with the occasional waiter coming to replace the coals on your hookah. They also hire their DJs every night, so the music can change and control the mood depending on what is played. The do played a variety of music from hip hop to r&b and pop, there was no shortage on the tunes just know that they will change. The downside of this place is the smoke, if you're asthmatic or have trouble seeing this place might pose a couple of risk to you. You might have trouble breathing or being able to see the ground as you walk into the puff clouds of other patrons. There is also a mixture of patrons, some there to enjoy themselves and others to have parties and fun, if you're set on a flat consistent vibe then this may not be a place, there was someone on a couch enjoying their entire life while we were there, luckily we didn't care how they did anything it didn't interfere with us. Risk was also a major thing to be mindful of, the coals can be extremely hot and give damaging burns, people can also get sick from the hookah so be careful of the health risk and also use caution around the hookah to avoid coals! Overall a good place, if you're in Houston definitely stop by and have a good time.

    if I could start off by giving this I would. I went there to have a good time every 5 to 10…read moreminutes. A waitress approached me trying to get me to buy a bottle. After I already bought the as well as a a waiter ended up walking up to me and telling me even though you bought the section. You're holding it up because there's other people that wants to buy bottles. Which made no sense to me since I've already would not recommend going here. Not only is the service bag, but waitresses are pushy like sales people one out of 10 would not recommend.

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    Sky Hookah Lounge - Chillin wit bae

    Chillin wit bae

    Sky Hookah Lounge - Ordered a glass hookah- Orange head, paan ras, and grape. Not a big fan of very strong hookah so this one was good.

    Ordered a glass hookah- Orange head, paan ras, and grape. Not a big fan of very strong hookah so this one was good.

    Sky Hookah Lounge - Every Friday night live DJ lit

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    The Cave Hookah Lounge - OUR BEST HOOKAH

    The Cave Hookah Lounge

    4.3(28 reviews)
    14.6 mi
    $$

    Love this place! But just a heads-up, they don't have a sign in the plaza where the hookah lounge…read moreis located, so it's a little tricky to find. But it's so worth it! Aly the manager is so kind and opens his place until the last customers leaves and never acts pushy or rude. He also lets you test out different flavors and if you have a problem with your hookah or you just don't like the flavor, he'll switch it out for you no problem! They've also done some renovating to the place and it looks pretty nice now. New couches and tv's at every corner of the lounge, plus they've added some nice decor to the walls. Only complaint I have is the music they play. Aly lets this amateur DJ come in every once in a while to play and test out his music, but it's just so loud and overbearing sometimes. It's hard to have conversations when the DJ is there... But besides that, I would highly recommend!

    First off, the actual customer service was great. The seating, ambience was very cool. The dj…read morecould use a little fine tuning but he was cool. I'm just not ok with a dj who is being paid by the owner, telling folks or allowing the MC to tell folks in order to request a song, you gotta pay. If I chose to tip him, so be it, but being forced ain't cool. My biggest complaint was the price of everything. Now I'm a country chick and realize that prices are more expensive in the city. I was approached by the manager and I told her I needed a set up. She asked me what chasers I wanted and I said water and coke. I was charged separately for the water and coke that was supposed to be included in my set up.... so all together for a set up and a hookah, I paid over $60. I've never paid, IN HOUSTON, more than $10 for a set up and $35 for a hookah. Then they have small 4 oz paper cups to get the ice out with. After all this she attempted to charge me a bottle fee for each bottle I brought in. I sincerely think the young lady wasn't sure about what she was doing. Again she maintained her professionalism but she looked overwhelmed. Let's move on to those hookahs, the flavor lasted maybe 10-15 minutes and then the other lady who was helping refresh the coals was firmly pressing them down on the foil. I called her to the side and advised her that she was going to burn the shisha like that and sure enough my next puff was nothing but burnt shisha. They did replace it for free so I can't say much about that but overall....... The employees need training, I think they were overwhelmed and I think y'all were understaffed to serve the amount of people that accompanied this party... Great establishment Great employees Refine their skills and you'll be open a long time.

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Best flavor
Best hookah

    The cave Best flavor Best hookah

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    Cafe Mawal Express - mideastern - Updated May 2026

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