Good Time Cafe has become one of my favorite hookah spots! The building used to be a house, so…read morethere are a few rooms, some of which are open, such as the upstairs loft and the hallway-type room in the middle. This makes for a very cozy atmosphere which I love.
There is a partially outdoor room that I always try to snag when the weather is nice. It's a covered deck, with an uncovered portion of the deck just outside the sliding glass door. Visitors are allowed to smoke in this room and it's much smaller and intimate than the other rooms since it has a closing door going to the lobby and is smaller than the others. It has two couches and a decent sized TV. Perfect for a group of two or three.
Right off the bat I loved the manager (possibly the owner). He's very friendly, making small talk and cracking a couple jokes. He always mentions the place is haunted, but not in a creepy or intimidating way by any means. He says it playfully, like, "You're gonna leave me to hang out with the ghosts huh?" when I'm heading out. His service is excellent, as he also cooks the food some of the time and will always come find you in the building to bring your food and hookah. When bringing things to other rooms, he'll always ask if you need anything.
Not many people work there so I can't say much about the service otherwise. Sometimes I can't tell if some of the people who sit and smoke with the manager are guests or employees, but it's common that the employees of most hookah bars smoke while they aren't helping customers.
I do, however, remember on one occasion being involved in a surprise birthday cake presentation to the manager. A woman employee came out to the outdoor room with a cake, explaining to my boyfriend and me that it was for the manager and she wanted to come back inside with the cake when he sat down in the lobby. She asked if we wanted to sing happy birthday with her, and we did. After the singing, she offered us some cake. Even though we politely declined, she brought us a big slice anyway. She probably thought we declined out of not wanting to be greedy, so it was sweet that she brought us some. Her inclusion of us in the celebration was very sweet and highlighted that hole-in-the-wall, homey, friendly feel.
Another night my boyfriend and I wanted to sit in the outdoor room but it was just a tad too chilly. When the manager saw that we found it too cold, he broke out a huge outdoor heater which was about four feet tall. Super powerful and warmed the room right up. I found it very kind and helpful of them to allow us to use their heater.
Something else I found to stand out from other hookah bars was when the same lady from the birthday celebration gave me their bluetooth speaker to use in my room. Of course, most other hookah bars have just one big room, so I guess this is just another perk of the homey environment.
The food is very tasty. I usually get the beef gyro, which, upon ordering, the manager asks if I'd like it spicy or regular. I was unsure the first time so I asked "how spicy is spicy." He offered to make it "kind of spicy," and while this obviously had me unsure about the level of heat, I trusted him. Plus, I can handle a little surplus spice. The food turned out perfect. The gyro was delicious, as were the fries. We were even brought small individually packaged towelettes for our hands post-meal if I remember correctly. It might be worth mentioning that they sell bottled beer, which many hookah bars do not.
One downside to this place is there isn't a lot of space/seating. Since there are rooms instead of one big room like most hookah bars have, it's pretty tight when it's busy. Luckily, though, it usually isn't crowded. But it can be crowded very quickly, which is why I hesitated at first to flaunt how great the place is. More customers = less space for me :(
Maybe this is a personal thing, but the rooms with multiple couches are awkward when there's another group with you in the room. The space is just big enough to not be sitting right next to the other hookah-ers, but not big enough to feel completely comfortable. I start to feel as though I have to filter what I say in case it's content we don't necessarily want strangers to hear.
The cons of Good Time Cafe aren't significant enough to deduct points. I know going in each time that it has a uniqueness that can cause some obstacles, so I can't get mad when there isn't much space. I certainly don't expect to get my own room every time, but that's just part of the experience of a place like that.
In conclusion, Good Time Cafe is the perfect place for a small group outing or when you want to go out but not to a crazy jam-packed bar or club.
