Not what I would expect in a cafe, I understand that it is a hooka place with lots of people smoking, but it seems that have no ventilation system, and the place is so smoky that you can see the next table because of the smoke. service also is not that good. I do not really recommend it. read more

Sahara Shisha has amazing ambiance, plenty of seating, and excellent teas and yogurty milkshakes to go with your hookah. This is a great location to hang out or study with tons of semi outdoor tables and immaculate vibes. The price was about what I expected and the flavor options were good - I'd recommend their blends like Grapes of Wrath for a well-balanced bowl. You may have to work or wait a while to flag down a staff member, but once you do the service is fast - I'd just order at the counter. Open late! read more

Sahara Shisha - Hookah Bars Near Me - Columbus, Ohio

This is my favorite Shisha gem in Columbus. The only setback that distinguishes Columbus hookah spots from other cities is that we can not have liquor license within our establishments. Which sucks. So you can only smoke and eat or sip tea or a fruit smoothie. Don't get me wrong Sahara has the bomb authentic fresh hummus plate and delicious chai tea but I'd rather be sipping a cocktail or a nice glass of red blend wine with it to have a more relaxing experience. I tried the cherry, vanilla and rose flavor combination and loved the quality of it. Most hookah spots have every combo you can think of but all flavors taste same. Exception is Sahara. They actually give you the exact flavor you order. High quality in their products and customer service. The decor is sooooooo pretty. I come every blue moon but i plan to frequent here more often in these upcoming winter months. read more

Being from NYC, I have a high bar when it comes to hookah places. Visited Columbus and so I found this place online. WONDERFUL experience! The person In charge was very friendly and welcoming, the place was BEAUTIFUL, and the hookah was perfect! Definitely recommend! read more

Nice staff, atmosphere and service. Loved the place and highly recommend. Family friendly unlike the place cross their street

This is my go to hookah spot, one of my favorites. There are many different flavors to choose from. My favorites are Pirates Cave and code 69. The staff is great and so is the food. The more unique hookahs with the fruit range from $15 to $25. Parking is free on the street. Also the food is below $10. Lastly the music is always live and loud. read more

Sahara Shisha - Hookah Bars Near Me - Columbus, Ohio

Nice hookah lounge, the hookah was good, friendly stuff and fast service. We'll back again soon. read more

Sahara Shisha - Outside - Hookah Bars Near Me - Columbus, Ohio

The hookah and food comes out fast. The establishment is beautiful and comfy. The smoothie is GOOD too!

Not my first hookah bar. But it was my first time here, with a couple friends, after a night of drinking, and I don't think we left until after 4 or almost 5 in the morning. It was so easy to just get lost here, all we did was sit on the patio, order our hookah, and then forget about everything else and just chat it up. We had waters, didn't try the food, but I'm really wanting to come back on one of the nights they have their projector out, and try something else other than the hookah! My friend lives down the street, and he has his own hookah and hates going elsewhere to enjoy it, but the ambiance of this place was exactly what two of the three of us were looking for. read more

5.0 Stars Location Overview: This chill hookah lounge can be found at the corner of Arcadia and N High. This place is so well decorated. A little small on the inside but worth the trip. Customer Service: The guys here were fantastic. Got my hookah right away. Gentleman forgot my mimt shake but after reminding him he hooked it up! Constantly checked on me and changed coals. The only small complaimt was the music-a tad loud but we can overlook that. Quality/Quantity: The quality of the hookah was of course awesome. The quantity was great, check out the shakes..... delicious. Side Notes: Not recommended for parties over 6. Parking was a pain. read more

Loved the authentic vibe and design of the place. The hookah was really good and they also have the best turkish coffee I think I have ever had. It is a cool little area. Easily walkable and free parking all up & down the street. We enjoyed are time here! read more

Good middle eastern music, we had a group of 6 and ended up paying less than 5 dollars each for some good vibes and great company. Ordered the avocado smoothie and it slapped. Then we got the morrocan tea and it was very nice, added to the aesthetic. Staff was really nice and made sure we were taken care of. Definitely recommending this to all friends and will be back. read more

Sahara Shisha - Hookah Lounge on the outside part - Hookah Bars Near Me - Columbus, Ohio

Warning: This review is written from the point of view of a first-timer in a Hookah Bar. So, I'm giving you full warning that I was a complete idiot in this place. Let the mocking begin. A friend had been wanting to take me to a Hookah bar for months, and the schedule gods finally gave in. When I first arrived at Sahara Shisha, I was a bit leery of the place. It doesn't look all that great from the outside. But once I was inside, my worries began to subside. The interior is really ornate and beautiful! I honestly had no clue what to expect, but gold-plated Middle Eastern-ness was not what I had in mind! I usually get a bit of anxiety going to new places by myself, but I quickly saw my friend sitting at a table. Whew - my fears began to subside. The server came over to take our drink orders, and I quickly learned that Hookah bars don't serve alcohol. So, I just ordered bottled water. But, am I alone in thinking that bourbon would be delicious with smoking? Anyway... My friend did the ordering for the Hookah - I think we got mint and strawberry. It sounded terrible, but it tasted delicious! Naturally, I had no clue what to do, but after some coaching from my friend, I got the hang of it. After a couple of hours of smoking and gossiping, I was feeling so relaxed! And our bill was about $20 for the two of us. I would most definitely go back to Sahara Shisha, but I still don't think I'm ready to go without a Hookah expert! Tip: Take an expert with you, and don't really expect the servers to be all that helpful or explanatory. They were nice enough, but this ain't Jeni's, people. read more

As a frequent customer of Sahara Shisha, here we go. Every vendor with one review needs a more empirical rating. Hookah bars for me have more factors to judge than restaurants. My bias is that I grade quality of hookah higher than ambience, in all cases except for Sahara, just because their ambience outshines everyone else's. At Sahara, the first thing you will notice when you get past the heavily ornate wooden doors is that there are a lot of gold-colored pieces of furniture, and the clientele is mostly Middle Eastern or African. If you want to have the kind of shisha experience that hookahs have brought to people around the world for centuries, then this is your place. Even the TVs show Arabic dance and music, and it's not uncommon to find young Muslim couples twittering (old definition) and giggling over a hookah. The tables outside attract older gentlemen of Middle Eastern descent. It's truly a bastion of community. The hookah quality is above average to excellent, depending on the night. Also, their hookahs are the most beautiful and ornate in Columbus. No slick, modernist hookahs here. They resemble the ones I've seen all over South Asia. The cons: the hookah is slightly more expensive - it always comes out to about 12-13 bucks for me including tip. During busy times, the workers also don't seem to be as conscientious about filling the coal as the workers at Shisha or Midnight. If you become a regular, though, they will take care of your hookah every single time. I don't recommend this place for the one-time dude. Also, a major con is their pricing of other items. I don't see why a shake should cost 5 bucks. In sum, if you're looking for a hookah experience in the Middle East and aren't cost conscious, can't go wrong with Sahara. If you're in it for a quick cheap fix, don't bother. read more

Was here the other night on Saturday and it seems like they are understaffed. The hookah came out slow, a lot of time passed for new charcoal and it was overly crowded for such a small place. The food took 20 mins and they forgot my cappuccino and I asked twice for it. Idk, this place needs improving. Probably will go across the street next time. read more

Very beautiful place. Went one late evening with friends. I loved it. We sat had two pipes going with different flavors. Loved the big couches for an intimate setting. Was a very fun experience and will do it again soon. The wait service was very good, attentive and friendly. I loved the manager he was helpful in telling me about the music that was playing. One thing. It is quite expensive for the desserts, teas, shakes and such. It came out to about $10 per person. This included our teas, Hookahs, and a couple of us split a dessert which all was very good. Our group of 6 split the check evenly. So take some money if you want the beverages and desserts, they can be a bit pricy, but they are good. Very nice international crowd of people frequenting the bar. Mostly of Eastern, African, and Arabic cultures. I loved it. Reminded me of places in NYC. I do miss NYC, its were I 1st started Yelping. read more

Alright, I'll admit, I haven't been to that many hookah bars, but I've certainly been to better ones than this. I'll start with the positive aspects of this place: -The decor is excellent. Very inviting and cool to look at. -The shisha is pretty good, nice variety of flavors. And now onto the laundry list of bad: -The server was completely useless. Any attempt to garner help from her was completely hopeless. If you did get help from her, she was very annoyed to be doing it. -Didn't give us our own tongs to manipulate our coals. This would be fine if the server had checked on us more than once in the 2 hours we had been there, but if you're not even going to make an effort to make sure our coals are good, please give us tongs. -The hookah itself was kind of a piece of junk. My friend's nozzle completely fell off in her hand, and she wasn't even touching it at the time. Overall, I'd like to enjoy this place. I still had a great time, in spite of the best efforts of the staff, but I won't be returning. read more

I come here pretty frequently, once or twice a week, so I have a pretty good read on the place. I wish I could give this place more than two stars, because I do like it, but there are just a lot of drawbacks. First off what I like best about the Sahara Cafe is the atmosphere. I love the atmosphere! There are colorful tapestries draped on the ceilings and walls that billow out like you're in a giant tent in the desert. The benches match the middle eastern style of the hangings, are pretty well cushioned, and are overflowing with throw pillows. The tables are adorned the same way. I could almost pretend I'm making camp in a royal Persian tent. The blinking Christmas lights, blaring tv, and middle eastern dance music take away from this unfortunately. Those aspects are obnoxiously American. The hookahs aren't bad, but my friends and I joke that unless you order a "premium" hookah, everyone gets the same flavor. I recommend The Great Sahara Rose hookah and it runs about $16. The teas and coffees are all excellent. I really like their kirkadeh tea a lot! The food here is not good. Even if you order something simple like the mixed nuts, for example, you get mostly peanuts and m&ms with a few almonds. They must get them from a nearby vending machine. This is emblematic of their entire menu. Their customer service though is the most disappointing, with one person in particular who is consistently unfriendly. Like I said, I come here a lot, and this person is as icy cool towards me and my friends as ever. This person never greets me, never smiles, and I suspect if they saw me drowning they would throw me a barbell. I usually come with a friend or two, but last weekend there were four of us. The fourth friend doesn't smoke and didn't want a hookah, but this server demanded we order two hookahs because " no one rides for free." Seriously! Like we were boarding a taxi or something! And after we ordered our two hookahs she thanked us by ignoring us the remainder of our stay. So rude! Anyhow, after being a regular here, and regularly tipping 20%, I no longer feel compelled to tip for her total indifference towards me and my friends. It's too bad, because I do like this place and it could be really great, but it's quite a let down. Update: So I was there again last night. It's funny, but the only time anyone comes around to ask me how I'm doing, they're actually asking me to do something for them. I'm always so pleased and then immediately disappointed when this happens. So last night one of the guys came to my table and asked how I was doing, "Great! Actually, could I get a fresh charcoal?" He says, "Sure, but first I'm going to need you to move to a different table because another group is coming in." God, that really pissed me off. I'd been there for like 3 hours working on my laptop and there aren't a ton of outlets. I looked around and there were plenty of other places open for them to sit. I told him that'd I'd just leave instead, and he seemed completely fine with that. Thanks bud. I'll keep going there because it's just right up the street from me, but I do that with the full understanding that I will be treated likes disposable human waste every time. read more

Sahara Shisha - Hookah Bars Near Me - Columbus, Ohio

Came here on a Sunday evening with three friends and it was pretty empty, except for a couple of small groups. There's interior and outdoor seating, inside is more comfortable with sofas and TV. Service is a little slow but friendly. We ordered Double Apple hookah and it was pretty good. Here are some helpful tips. - MUST TRY - Lemon Mint iced beverage - DON'T TRY - Laziza - tastes terrible - Arabian coffee is alright read more

Amazing! Great decor great service ! The atmosphere is amazing very comfortable and you feel like you're in your own house smoking shisha. The hookahs produce great clouds My recommended flavor is Sex on the beach . I've been too multiple Hookah bars and this is by far the best one i've been to.! DONT FORGET TO TRY THE SAHARA RAIN SMOOTHIE!! read more

Well the place is not bad when it comes decor and the like. Music is nice and has a really nice Arabic feel. The problem is, I feel like waiting in a change of coal is really upsetting. I sat and waited for almost 45 minutes before even being considered for another coal. I would recommend going to Mangos where their coal rotation is constant and the atmosphere is a lot more vibrant. read more

The BEST hookah spot to ever exist...vibes were amazing, people were great and friendly. HOWEVER... Waseem is the greatest, honest, most hardworking employee. He will treat you as family, not just a customer. Stop looking around at different hookah spot, come here, enjoy your experience, and a wonderful time with Waseem. If your reading this, thank you so much for everything and your service. You know how to run an establishment. You deserve recognition. Thank you read more

Great vibes, great hookah, awesome people, amazing décor! Seriously great chill spot in Columbus, authentic furniture and hookas straight from Egypt. This place is legit and the owner is awesome. This Hookah lounge was featured in the Travolta movie that shot in town. Awesome place! Enjoy ;) read more

This hookah is the worst hookah in Columbus the service is horrible, they don't Change your charcoal when it's dead you may have to wait for an hour for any one to replace your charcoal. The staff are always rude, the owner doesn't care to provide good hookah for his guest. If you want good hookah or service Sahara isn't it. read more

This is a hookah bar with great environment and good service. Definitely deserves better rating

I was a little weary when first coming here, but it's quite beautiful when walking in. The decorations are very welcoming and give a great feel to the place. I've been to quite a few hookah places around the campus area and this is definitely one if my favorites. There are a lot of hookah flavors to choose from and the prices are great, although the drinks and food can definitely get pricey. I'd definitely recommend this place to anyone. Overall, a very laid back place and definitely worth it. read more

One of the best hookah cafes I've been to. The interior is well decorated in large Egyptian style chairs with pillows. The hookah selection and price is top notch with a really high standard of quality. Their coal service is the best I've ever experienced -- you get a new coal almost every 15 minutes and they are FREE! The wifi here is also exceptionally fast. read more

Sahara Shisha - Hookah Bars Near Me - Columbus, Ohio

See all

Worst place ever the guy who works there is very rude with us he doesn't smile they don't welcome us their hookh is so nasty they even don't have ventilation at the place. read more

I was pretty excited that there's a hookah joint in Clintonville, aka something open after 2:30AM. Great interior, plenty of beverage options and of course, shisha. Downside is that prices on the menu are apparently up to the whims of the employees. My Arabic coffee which was clearly $2.50 came to $4.50 at the register. I thought he had just forgotten what I ordered so I asked, "$4.50 for the coffee?" to which the employee replied, "Yeah." despite the menu being in front of him and me mentally confirming an upside-down "$2.50" right next to the item in question. Suffice it to say, I'll stick to one of the other plentiful hookah/shisha lounges further south where I've been charged the prices shown on the menu. read more

I've been to quite a few hookah lounges around town, and this one is at the bottom of my list now. Let's get into the why. There are very few pros- Everyone seems to rave about the decor. Sure, its pretty. That's it though. There's a nice atmosphere, and something can be said for that, though it's not the end all of my hookah experience, and it shouldn't be with yours. On to the Cons- Parking. There isn't any. this place is fairly close to campus, so if you're a student and can hoof it, you're fine. If not you'll be looking for that rare yet still available street parking that doesn't require a permit. Good luck with that. Next, the staff. They weren't outright rude to our group, however they were very indifferent and cold. We had a group of around ten-12 people that fluctuated during the night. We tend to vary from 6 to 30 people and generally are a well behaved and aimable lot. We also do wonders for business on a slow night. Of the two members of staff we saw the most of, the woman was fine with taking orders and such, however the older gentleman really seemed like it was a bother that there were people in his lounge. God forbid he have to talk to a customer, or take an order. Which he didn't do, he mostly stood in a shadowy corner and smoked a hookah he had hidden back there. Only glaring out or making snarky comments when he thought no one was paying attention to him. Seriously, this is a form of the customer service industry. Don't act like customers are evil. Prices- These were fairly equivilent to what I've seen around town. Not outlandishly high, and not a bargain. The Shisha- A BIG letdown. aside from the flavors being weak and fairly muddy in general (And we went through more then half a dozen hookahs among us) Nothing stood out, nothing was particularly good, and more then half of our group actually got fairly ill from smoking. A combo of poor shisha, and lousy ventilation in there. (That and it felt like it was about 112*) We are a good mix of casual to hardcore smokers, and we had people that smoke for hours a day that walked out of there green in the gills from the stuff they gave us. All in all, this place is not worth the time or money. not unless you like getting ill from cheap shisha served to you by rude staffers. Note there is a two person per hookah rule. So if you bring an odd number of ppl you'll be buying extra. read more

So my boyfriends and I came here about 10:30 on a Saturday night. It wasn't too packed but pretty busy. The first issue we had was they told us that there were no seats for just two people so if we sat in this particular section they could have to sit others with us. Not really a big deal but off-putting for a first visit. Next it took forever for them tho take our order. My bf says lets order orange and vanilla. So we do, unfortunately they were out of orange (kinda odd for me but whatevs). We substitute strawberry for vanilla and it was amazing!! Nice hit, but not overly strong. They were short of seating so we ended up having to share with another couple. My boyfriend ordered the Chicken kebab sandwich, which was amazing! It was piping hot the entire time we were eating, but a little pricey at 6 bucks. read more

Sweet!Shisha/ hookah lounge I love the environment, I appreciate the hospitality. Over all this is a great place to stop in an literally feel like your out of the country smoking hookah seriously. Me and buddy stop in on a Wednesday for a little "turn up" while every one else was at school or work, and we ended up actually turning down because the music and took was so relaxing. Definitely a great spot to bring your friends and casually socialized in a calm environment. read more

Don't go there , the hook a is Sucks, the service is bad , they will treat you like cheat , also they add money on the bill for stuff you don't order!! ((((((( Don't go there )))))))) read more

Best hookah bar in town, great staff great selection 5/5

Great atmosphere and mood. spacious, comfy seating, authentic -- furniture & decor (imported from Egypt), staff (great service, makes you feel right at home), music (flat screen tv's with Middle Eastern music videos playing on mute, while authentic music played over the sound system). The reason I give it 4 stars and not 5 is simply because it was the first time I ever went to a hookah lounge, so I don't want to say it's the ABSOLUTE best, but the friends I was with (seasoned, long-time hookah-ers) said it was the best shisha and atmosphere they'd ever experienced (and they have gone to pretty much all the other hookah establishments in the area). read more

Staff is very rude here! If you have more then two people (even 3) you have to but another hookah. I don't not recommend this place at all.

I've been to all the hookah bars in columbus and I love Sahara most. It's not only a hookah bar but an Egyptian cafe. The food is delicious. The people that work there are great. Service is always great. It is not super college focused which is another reason I love it. read more

My girlfriend and I went and all we can say is we are "hooka-d"!! We had such a great night of smoke and conversation! The entire place is decorated very richly and the different languages heard definitely add to the environment! All nationalities were present and we felt welcomed! read more

Good food, great atmosphere. Hung there with my fiancee and her friend from out of town. Employee was a bit busy and seemed understaffed as he forgot our order initially, but once we received the food, it was excellent! read more

I used to go here all the time in 2014 until this girl that worked there told me I wasn't allowed to make out with the girl I was on a date with. It was "inappropriate" for the atmosphere. I was embarrassed. Looking back I should have just talked to the manager and complained but the other staff members knew me and were kind. Or I should have asked her if she was jealous lol. That homophobic interruption though made me never go there again. The hookah was good & the tea was awesome but the homophobia especially for being in Columbus gives it a 1 star instead of 3. read more