Night Owl Lounge Review

[BSB66]

This is my first post so bare with me I'm from Seattle, and wanted to give some props to the Night Owl Lounge Hookah Bar. I went there last night for the first time and had an enjoyable experience. I'm going to go down the list of what's important to me for a hookah bar, and give a rating for each area of significance (1-10).

Atmosphere: The interior feels brand new with nice couches, awesome spray paint murals on the walls (including a huge sprawling Owl right when you walk-in), great sound system, cool lighting, and a lot of people in my age range were there. I give the atmosphere an 8.

Hookahs, Tobacco, and Coals: The hookahs, tobacco, and coals were all high quality. The hookahs were of premium quality as well as the tobacco. They use the stove heated coals (logs) that provide a clean burn of the tobacco. A multitude of flavors were offered, and I was pleased with my strawberry mango selection. I give the hookahs, tobacco, and coals a 9.

Service: The service was pretty good. The setup is pretty original in that it operates much like a restaurant. You walk in, choose your group's area, and a server comes to give you a menu and take the order. From order to smoke was probably 7-10 minutes when they were really busy. This was definitely manageable. I give the service an 9.

I've been to the other hookah bars in Seattle (before they shut down), and this beats those hands down. The only way the Night Owl is able to stay open is by charging an initial $5 membership fee (so they can claim it's a private club). My friends and I are going to be there this summer so 5 bones wasn't too bad. I'd recommend checking this place out if you live within driving distance of Seattle, and enjoy hookah lounges.

Ben

[Karot]

I just went there the other weekend as well. They just recently opened back up within the last month after a fire started by a coal. I feel like the lighting is a bit strange, like a very dim fluorescent light, its kind of blue. The service is pretty good except for the deusche bag vibe I got from most of the employees. Also, they now generally won't let customers use tongs and place chicken wire around the bowl to prevent another accident. The hookah itself was alright, flavor was good for 30 mins or so, then died out but still smoked well. Hookahs are 20 bucks or 25 for "premium". I think its probably AF and starbuzz. I know its starbuzz for the premium because it was blue mist or whatever it's called, and the regular was just normal flavors. Refills are 12 or 17 respectively. The new couches are pretty nice and the coals work pretty well, not too much ashing or taste and a good heat. Overall I think I'd rather just smoke at home because for 40 bucks (2 hookahs) one could get a bunch of shisha and coals.

[Matt-641]

I went last night with my friend just because we hadn't been to a lounge in a while and wanted to check out the new Night Owl. First thing to know is that if you were a member there before and have your old card still, you are fine. But if you signed up before the fire and don't have a card anymore, you have to pay ANOTHER $5 to become a member again :/. On to the review:

Atmosphere: It's a completely different setting than before. It has more of a modern feel to it. The new couches are pretty comfortable and don't have any burn marks on them. The room is a lot brighter now that the paintings on the windows are gone and the walls are white.The music consist of mostly hip hop, but theres a few other good songs mixed in there from other genres.

Hookahs: I think they were using MZ's, but I'm not positive on that. The hoses were Myas, but I know the hookahs weren't. Either way, they had a great pull and look pretty nice.

Bowls: Standard Egyptian style.

Shisha: They have a choice of either Starbuzz or (I think) AF. We ordered the "regular" flavor rather than the premium (Starbuzz) and the lemon/mint combo taste a lot like my AF lemon/mint I have in my own stash.

Coals: I'm not sure what type of coals they were using. At first I was thinking they were the silver tab ones, but not sure. They ashed really well and last for quite a while, so that's a plus.

Service: They are pretty good at getting your hookah to you in a timely matter, however, they don't always get over to you very fast when it is time to tell them your order. We just wound up going up to the desk and ordering what we wanted. This is not a huge deal to me, since that's how it was before and it's what I was used to anyway. Like previously stated, the employees seem to have an uptight attitude at some points. All in all though, they are pretty good at getting the hookah, coals or a new bowl to you fairly fast.

Prices: They charge $18 for the AF and $22 for Starbuzz. Pretty standard for a hookah lounge, especially since it's one of the only ones in the state, that I know of. Then add the $5 yearly membership they require.

Overall: It's a nice place to go and just chill out with some friends every once in a while. With the prices so high though, I'd rather stay at home or go over to a friend's house and smoke out of my own hookahs. I'd rate it 7.5/10.