Shi Chai is an excellent place to grab a hookah. I usually frequent here late at night to wine my day down. the decor is not the same as a Casablanca (Milwaukee) but it does the job. They offer you a menu for the shisa (hookah) flavors. I felt like i was a kid in a candy store with all of the possibilities. I will say that it is more expensive then some of the other hookah spots in Milwaukee but a extra couple of bucks hasn't hurt my pockets so i can live with it. There isn't a bar or a huge food menu so don't expect that when you enter. The crowd is usually 20 to 30 something hipsters or college students from the river west area. So no dressing up or over dressing its not that type of place. The pro for this place is that it is diverse and i appreciate that. read more

1st and foremost, best underrated Hookah Lounge in town. Great atmosphere to relax and talk in. Huge variety of flavors to choose from when it comes to Hookah. But what stands out the most is the Customer Service. The Owner walks around asking everyone if they are doing ok constantly throughout the day/night and will even sit and talk it up with you. Which is Amazing and creates a very friendly environment to be in. read more

We stopped in for a bite to eat last night. The place wasn't busy when we got there, but half of our party was still on their way. We ordered our drinks, and tables were filling up. Just before our drinks were brought to the table, the other half of our party arrived. The server didn't ask if they were ready to order a drink, just dropped ours off and disappeared. All of our drinks were empty by the time we decided we'd just leave without dinner. We went up to pay, and the owner was gracious enough to not charge us for the drinks we'd had. I'm not sure if there was simply not enough staff to handle the volume of people (Really, there isn't a huge amount of tables in my opinion) or if our server was inexperienced, or what, but I'd like to go back to try the food sometime. read more

So first of all, I heard about Shi Chai from a friend and felt like I had to check it out for myself. I went with two friends on a Saturday. When I got there, I saw that it was in a very bad neighborhood and I did not feel safe the whole time as a woman. The waiter kept on asking us if we wanted more coals. We said yes, but he didn't tell us that we would be charged for each refill. It was ridiculously expensive -- about $5 for each refill!!! The food was good, but overpriced. Overall, I was disappointed and unimpressed. On the other hand, I've visited Arabian Nights hookah lounge twice before. I felt comfortable and very safe inside. Their prices were much more reasonable and fair, and they had a wider variety of flavors. The wait staff told us about the prices and didn't spring any surprise charges on us. They were very friendly and professional, and they helped out my friends who had lots of questions about hookah. If you're looking for the place to go for a fun, safe, and affordable experience, try Arabian Nights. read more

Awesome hookah.. No hookah in Chicago or Milwaukee can come close to this authentic hookah.. Chichai's hookah is the best read more

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I love this place this is definitely my favorite hookah place in town. I absolutely encourage anyone that loves hookah to try this place if you haven't. Great service, outstanding prices and deals. read more

I hear tons of good things about Shi Chai but I don't think I'll be able to get over my very first experience here. The first time I went, my friends and I only got a hookah and it was fine as far as I was concerned but my friends hated it. I admit, the flavor we picked wasn't a good one. I"ve been to a lot of hookah bars in California and their coal service is on point, Shi Chai has no coal service, speaking from both of my experiences. The hookah's aren't worth the money because I feel like most of it gets invested on the food this place serves so the hookah falls short. I will give this place points for having fantastic hummus! Although, that is really the only good thing I can say about this place. read more

The Kabob Hub is a new hidden gem to the Riverwest community. They offer a variety of middle eastern cuisine that is very authentic and extremely flavorful as well. I ordered the spicy chicken, which is very tender, moist and seasoned to perfection. It comes with a side of hummus and pita, which is the best hummus I have ever eaten. I also ordered the falafel which was crunchy on the outside and warm and soft on the inside, bursting with middle eastern spices. Definitely something to try! My friend ordered the chicken shawarma pita which was just as delicious and flavorful. The prices were very reasonable and the portions were big, a true bang for your buck! The service was friendly and the atmosphere was diverse and up upbeat. Amir, the owner is so nice and he made sure that all of his customers were taken care of and satisfied. I just found out that they are now open for lunch, so I will definitely be coming on my lunch breaks. They are also open late, which is also a bonus. I can't wait to come back and try out some of the other items on the menu. I highly recommend this place to anyone. read more

I really had to debate between 3 and 4 stars for this one. I have to go with 4 because it is my favorite hookah place in town. "If it is your favorite hookah bar, why not 5 stars?" you may ask. Well, kind reader, I have been here dozens of times in the last six years or so since I started hitting up the Milwaukee hookah scene and I just have to say I have had my share of terrible experiences here - enough that on any given night, it is the difference between a 5 star and a 2 star experience. First, why I love it: Great flavors, prices are decent and comparable to similar hookah bars in the area, the ambiance is very cool and not to "feminine" as sometimes hookah places can be with frilly pillows and whatnot, the noise level is reasonable, I enjoy the Turkish music videos on the tvs, and service can be awesome. One time about two years ago, a waiter gave us a $25 gift card to our table for no reason. We must have just been great customers or he had so many to hand out for the night. Either way, awesome! Why I could really go for being about anywhere else on earth sometimes: sometimes there are not too many videos in the loop sequence and if you sit there for more than an hour, which you probably are doing, you will hear the same songs several times. Worse than that is the service. Last time I was in, we had a waitress who didn't seem to have the faintest idea for how to wait tables. First of all, waitressing at a hookah bar should be the easiest kind of waitressing in my humble opinion. You just keep coals going, after 30-45 min see if they want another flavor. Maybe once or twice between as you fix coals, ask if they need any drinks or appetizers. It took about 15 min for her to even bring the hookah out. She didn't come back to our table for an hour and 15 min. We were prepared to order another flavor quite some time before then and would have had she allowed us the chance and also would have liked their amazingly cheap and delicious tea and pita bread. Instead we wasted an hour and a half with one flavor that was old before we just gave up and left. She didn't even ask if we wanted anything else when she came back - she just handed us a bill wordlessly. Now I know waitresses can get busy bussing many tables, but I think we were literally the only table she had and there was only one other table that night that was being waited on by a young man who stopped by their table several times during our night there. Please don't make me feel like maybe I should ask another waiter/waitress to take our order. She literally stood by the bar talking to the bartender and didn't even glance at our table so we could wave her down. We left very disappointed. My husband and I have a hookah we use at home and a good number of shisha flavors on hand, but sometimes we want to go out just to go out. I'd rather not feel like I would have been better off just staying home. Especially after being excited about going to a place I typically love. Customer beware of a hit or miss experience! Hopefully, you get the 85% chance it will be a great time. read more

Absolutely loved this place. Great food, service, and ambiance. Went on a date here and had the lemon chicken, dill rice, salad, and hummus with apple cinnamon herbal tea. I will definitely be going back and I will have a hookah next time. read more

First off -- the wait was horrible. My friend and I waited a good forty-five minutes on a Tuesday night. Granted, they had $10 Hookah specials...but we saw other tables that were receiving service before ours, when we had arrived at an earlier time. It wasn't easy to get ahold of the waitress when we were ready for our check either. Another thing was the limited selection on the desserts. They were out of Eli's "chocolate chip" cheesecake, along with "strawberry" flavor. We settled with tiramisu, and they sprinkled some chocolate chips on the top, along with some very good homemade tasting whipped cream/chocolate syrup. The dessert was the best part of this experience. If you are looking for a welcoming atmosphere, this is not really the place for you. However, if you want more of a cultural experience, with a possible unexpected waiting time, come on in! Overall, I don't foresee myself coming back to this establishment in the future. I was not impressed... read more

We came here for hookah after a night at Foundation nearby. The interior was not too impressive, but the place was full of culture (arabic music videos on TV) and late night studiers. We were greeted, seated, and perused the menu. They have a few caveats, like only 3 people to a hookah, the other people are charged extra and I believe you have to buy a drink (tea, coffee, etc). Silly. Either way, the hookah was a bust, barely any pull and continued to be this way even after we mentioned this to the waiter. Too bad, I really wanted to like this place, but it was very underwhelming. read more

Great place for riverwest hookah and shawarma. Not the best quality food but tasty never the less and worth the money.

Great Gyro, with felafel. Totally Vegan and pretty good price. I would talk more about the meal, but thought it would be more entertainting to tell you that a man came in from the street trying to sell MEAT to the cook behind the counter... The staff was polite to this traveling meat man. But from my point of view I was just happy to see that they were not going to purchase meat for the restaraunt from a guy just walking in off the street with New York Strips. read more

Went here for a chill night with the husband. They have a good variety of drinks available hot and cold teas, coffee, sodas, even milkshakes. Small menu of food, nachos, hummus, and I think maybe pizza. Crowd was pretty diverse, couple people there seemed to be regulars. I do wish the place was cozier, the chairs aren't too comfortable for a hookah joint. They have a good variety of hookah flavors and reasonable prices. read more

I usually write longer, more eloquent reviews, because I think it helps you---the to-be consumer---and the owners of these places who often look here for how to improve. But this time, I can't do it. My experience here was so unpleasant that I cannot even spare the extra 15 or so minutes to talk about it. So here we go; one paragraph to explain my atypical brevity, one paragraph to vent. I've said it before: Fuck this place. Some of my reasons are the restaurant/bar's fault: The service was shit and confusing (where do I pay? who do I pay? who is my server? why does she have NO idea what is on the menu? are you sure that other girl who took the bill wasn't the server... or the other one... or the OTHER one??); the food was "meh" at best, cat food at worst (the Baba was actually really good; that's where the compliments end); the forced-outdoor seating was a fucking pain (I wasn't there for the hookah, and I damn sure didn't want to smell it from 5 different people). Some reasons are personal, and I'm certainly not going to share them on Yelp! (they will not aid your decision-making). Is it fair to attribute those personal reasons to this establishment? I fucking don't care. This place can burn to the ground. So why one star? Because this site does not allow you to give a 0-star rating. Also because I needed to eat, and this place was open late. The End. I'm not too likely to return to Milwaukee. If I do, there is a ZERO percent chance I will return here. read more

One of the worst experiences I have ever had in my life. The staff was super rude, the chicken kabob wasn't even chicken! It didn't taste like real chicken it was like a bad frozen egg!!! The hummus was a disaster! It was just water! Actually bitter water!!! The ambiance made me feel like I was in a dive bar or even worse! This place is just plain bad!! Avoid the spot all together! read more

Walked in with a lot of skepticism, walked out with the intent on returning. The food is inexpensive (the double dollar rating $$ here seems too high to me--5.95 for a large delicious sandwich/wrap) and truly good. The falafels are spicy, flavorful and not as dry as you find them elsewhere. The meat dishes were excellent. Don't know about the hookas... don't smoke. Service was good. read more

Ended up here after a night of bar hopping. Service was excellent (which is the biggest point to me) the hummus lamb Schwarma Is authentic, and the hookah was full of flavor. Being from out of town, I feel this place just added to a great night out at Milwaukee. read more

Had an awesome time on a beautiful evening in outdoor seating. Our waitress was very attentive and helped us mind our hookah for an excellent experience. I don't know her name but she had dark hair and glasses and was exceptionally helpful. She made an excellent recommendation for the Starburst, my wife had some tea which was very good. We had a great time under the moonlight. read more

I love this place, great staff and good food. Not to mention their hookahs always hit.

I've been to Shi Chi a couple times over the years, however this last experience I had with them was the end-all. Myself and two others planned on having a chill night out; grab some food, talk, and smoke some hookah before hitting a couple bars. After being seated and placing our orders, our waitress was very pleasant. It wasn't until our food came that there was an issue. I ordered the lentil soup, which had hard lentils in it and was quite watery, compared to having had it a week before that, and actually going back for seconds that same day because of how tasty it was. When requesting to send back my soup and my friends sandwich which was completely made incorrectly, the manager decided he would take it upon himself and handle the situation. He then argued with me about nothing being wrong with the lentil soup, and that it's made the same way every time, therefore he would not be able to take the THREE DOLLAR soup off of the bill. And then he had to double check to see what was wrong with my friends sandwich and if he was able to get her something else. To be honest we ended up walking out of the establishment, having argued with the manager for a good 7mins concerning the $3 soup, which he wanted to force me to eat with the bread to make it taste better. Overall, I felt highly disrespected by the managers lack of professionalism and customer appreciation. I have also recommended friends and others to steer clear of Shi Chai. P.S. the hookahs are weak. I suggest 2 Sweet International on East Locust if you want extremely better service. read more

The hookahs are always great here and so is the customer service. Whether you get natural or regular coals the bowl lasts for well over an hour. The food is also great. read more

Place has made significant improvements over the past few years. Table service could still be more attentive but this place is a lot better than it used to be. read more

I have been a loyal customer/advocate ever since 2013. Since I first started going, tremendous progress has been made to this hip, mellow feeling hookah bar. When it comes to presentation and design, I can happily say it competes head to toe with Casablanca on Brady. The interior design is so modern, yet authentic in its middle eastern roots with the awesome Arabic music videos that play. The inside lighting and wall fixtures make for the perfect vibe while smoking hookah. Aside from the atmosphere that has totally changed for the good since 2013, the menu has also made drastic change itself. Again, much improvement on the food quality and taste of food as well. This past time I went (Jan 1st) I ordered the falafel wrap and I was quite surprised on how good it tasted. Although I enjoyed the atmosphere around me and the delicious food, there are a few things I noticed that could improve to create better business and more revenue. First, this place would be even more amazing if they had a beer/liquor license. Second, They should have two hose options for hookah Third, the service has always been disapproving. Always takes forever to get the bill and to place an order. Besides those smaller kinks that can totally be worked upon, I am excited to see how successful this place will turn out to be! Overall great prices and great vibes to come sit back and relax to some awesome hookah!! read more

This place has all kinds of flavors for hookah! The food on point! The Outdoor patio is great for those Summer nights! It's also Quite and a low key atmosphere. They also offer a Vip lounge that the owners newly renovated this year! If you haven't tried this place on Milwaukee East side your missing out!!! read more

If you enjoy hookah then you will have a good experience here. I've spent many long nights here with friends just smoking until we couldn't anymore. We would come at least 1-2 times a week. I don't know why people are saying the service is bad, every time I've gone in the service has been impeccable. We were able to use the VIP area a few times and that is a great experience too, very private, we were the only ones back there. *If you want to go back there you have to call in advance and check availability. I know some have said they were asked if they wanted to go back there but they must have been the lucky ones. It really does make you feel good to be back there. I love the atmosphere and the flavor selection is fantastic. We had a hookah at home but like others said, its nice to just go out sometimes. The one complaint I have is that they should put cushions on the seats in the booths! We always preferred to have a booth and sitting on a hard seat for 3+ hours sucks after awhile. I no longer live in the area but if I ever return I'd be sure to stop here again! read more