Starting a Hookah Lounge

[biglandy71]

Hey everybody.

[NEO_WRX]

sounds like your definately on the right track.
the way the local lounge around here operates is such:
it's a 1 drink per customer minimum purchase(this includes engery drinks, popular sodas and waters. no alcohol).
they use 1 hose hookahs and any number of individuals can share any number of hookahs.
they sell 5 brands of tobacco. Al Amir, Havanna, Hookah-Hookah, Starbuzz, and Tangiers(the price also varies respectively...with AA being the cheapest bowl and Tangiers being the most expensive). (they have over 80 flavors to choose from)
They use 3 Kings coals and you get as many as you need during your smoking session, which can last as long as you would like.
They have roughly 6 couch/love seat/ single chair combo's with a coffee table in the middle around the perimeter and anothe 6 sqaure tables set up with 4 chairs at them.
The lighting is mellow, just a few lamps here and there and a few black lights behind the bar area. They also have 2 flat screen televisions which usually just play a swirling image(much like a PC screen saver) when music is being played. Everyone Sunday they have movie night where they will show 2 or 3 movies that have something in common. Last Sunday's movie night was kevin smith films (clerks, dogma, chasing amy, etc etc).
This has been a very sucessful recipe, as the place is packed constantly. It's also right down the street from the local university and has recieved plenty of positive feedback from the students.

[SanguineSolitude]

neo wrx are you talking about lazy dayz in newport news? i go there
from time to time and the setup is exactly the same as you described.
if you are talking about the same place, i wish they would change their
music. i dont like listening to blink 182. p.s. why does lazy dayz
charge so much for tangiers? starbuzz is way more expensive

biglandy. the most important things to think about (and invest in) are
good quality hookahs, comfortable couches and low tables, and a simple
but attractive interior space with mood lighting. create a comfortable
relaxing atmosphere with low music, low light(but enough light), and
cozy little nooks to smoke in. i like the lazy days setup with pairs of
couches in an L configuration surounding a low coffee table. more
couches and less chairs is a good things since everyone wants to sit on
a couch anyways. good luck and feel free to post any other questions.

[Skimo]

what town is this going to be in? i would say a very important thing is going to be your music selection, if people dont like the music they're not going to go. Neo and Sanguine were both right, should be a laid back with comfortable couches and nice lighting. in my opinion i would have some kind of dress code so all the people look decent and not like hobos lol

[biglandy71]

Thank you all for all your responses! I really liked your input on your local hookah lounge. It gives me some great ideas. The one I liked the most was the 1 drink minimum. I was thinking of charging around $3 (cover charge you could say) for people who just tagged along without buying anything or smoking but this will be a much better way of doing that.

[Lakemonster]

They can.. and if they do find out thaht the money went for other things than books and tuition.... they will have you start paying on it immediately......not when you get out of school.
There could be penalties and increased interest... READ THE FINE PRINT.

[Skimo]

music is a hard choice, lol my favorite hookah bars play middle eastern music and i find it very relaxing and enjoying. the part about minors is iffy, i know some bars only id the person buying the shisha, im not sure what the law is though lol, i mean if you didnt sell it to the minor I dont see why you would get in trouble if he was smoking, you are running a business not a daycare but then again i dont know the law. id say let em come in, id say 17 minium age, if they dont smoke you still have the money from the drinks right?

[Hookahnoob]

No kids. If a family wants to smoke they can get a babysitter.
Get a large group of people to have a test opening night with. Give
them free smoke and ask them to give there opinion on the different
music your thinking about. Movie night would be bitchen. Just make sure
to follow the FBI rules about movies and charging people..  I
would make is as comfortable os possable. I went to a "hooka loungs" in
a town near me called Hubbly Bubbly. It SUCKED. It was more of a sports
bar/deli/ I dont know what. They had hookas and made you smoke them on
the patio while sitting on some hard patio chairs. The atmosphere was
horrable and I would never want to go to a place like that again.

Saw this on the Food network and thought it would be cool. Only have
food that you cook in a microwave. And have peoples childhood favorates
like tatertots and corndogs. Stuff that you can get in bulk at CostCo
and heat up in a microwave. It would be a fun and cheap way to have
food and or snacks.

[biglandy71]

What did you mean by FBI rules about movies?

[Lakemonster]

You are not supposed to show a movie to an audience if you are collecting a fee in the process... unless you are paying the royalties for it like the box ofices do.
now... you might get around it by BUYING copeis of mvies that are sold for RENTAL use. These copies are higher because you are paying for rights to make money letting other ppl view it. Last I saw a few years back they were around $80 to $120 per DVD.

[Hookahnoob]

I ment now charging more because it's a movie night. Like tickets. But
if you just show a movie and dont charge for it your cool.

Microwave foods would be easy and might not need much or a permit. Try
doing a google search for it. The food network showed a restrant that
only had that type of food and they did huge business.

Mix the relaxing arab custom of hookah with the food of the 70's and
80's of microwave foods. Tatertots, corndogs, chicken fingers...
Whatever. Easy to make and probably a good profit.


Fot the hooka prep. I would sak how experienced the smoker is. If a
regular came in I would let him prep it if he wanted. It would be easy
to walk around and see how everyones hooka is doing and then fix it or
get more coals for them.

[NEO_WRX]

[quote name='SanguineSolitude']neo wrx are you talking about lazy dayz in newport news? i go there from time to time and the setup is exactly the same as you described. if you are talking about the same place, i wish they would change their music. i dont like listening to blink 182. p.s. why does lazy dayz charge so much for tangiers? starbuzz is way more expensive[/quote]
ya, i was talking about Lazy Dayz. I go there pretty frequently. The next time your in town let me know, it would be interesting to meet someone from off the board. I'm not sure why the Tangiers at lazy Dayz cost more than the Starbuzz though. It might be because it's one of the most popular tobacco's that they sell and it seems like they are always sold out of certain flavors
back on topic. Everythign is preppared for the guest. They have a laminated menu with all the flavors. You choose what you would like and they prepare everything for you. As far as coals go, the employee's just check on the customers(almost like a waiter at a restaurant) asking them if they need a new coal. If they do, than the employee takes care of it.
One thing that i would really like to see done is giving people a small "sample". Since i usually bring alot of friends with me that have never smoked. They have a hard time choosing what exactly to smoke based on the name.(and sometimes a name doesn't really do the actual flavor justice). Shisha flavors can also be very misleading. IF someone is having a hard time deciding, ask them what they are debating, than take some of those small plastic mouth wash cups and put a little bit of the shisha in the cup. Bring the different cups out on a tray and allow all the guests to pass them around and get a good smell of the shisha. That might help them understand some of the more...obscure flavors and help them make the right decision. Than once they decide just put the sample back into the tin/container.
 

[biglandy71]

I was personally thinking of not doing the whole menu at the table and having to get someone to go over to them to take an order.

[hookah~rob~]

at the lounge that i go to in pittsburgh (h-kahn) the owner has "bar tenders" that set up the hookah's and brings them out to the tables. (floor seating may be a better idea for your place) also a runer will bring out coals for the hookahs. customers really dont touch the hookah except for the hoses to smoke.

[biglandy71]

How would you suggest I collect money? At the end of the session and once everything is purchased (they are ready to leave) or up front b4 they get anything and while they purchase more?

[SanguineSolitude]

at the end of the session. up front is tacky and fast foody

[Bleeding_Heart1]

But if he has them pay upfront, the bill is out of the way and there's less chance of people leaving before they pay.

[Halon]

[quote name='biglandy71']The question is complicated and I hope it makes since….I am a student at Texas Tech (the college community I am going to start the lounge at). If I get a [b]student loan[/b]
and use PART (very minimal) on school, could I use the rest to fund my
business? The main question of this is do the "loan people" check to
see where the money is being spent or do they just care that you pay it
back?[/quote]

At the beginning of the semester when you pay for college, give them
all the money you owe them and also all of your loan money. 
You'll have an overbalance, and the college will write you a check for
the difference (however much your loan was for).  You shouldn't
have any problems if you do it this way.


TYLER

[gunsboy]

Serving:

[NEO_WRX]

[quote=gunsboy]
Serving:

[biglandy71]

I now decided that I am going to have the customer waited on and served because you all are right this is a much better way of conducting business. Especially what Neo-WRX had to say really helped? The only draw back is it will require more employees where my first idea I could have only a couple of employees on at a time. Overall I think it will be more profitable this way/a better experience for the customer.

[gunsboy]

Did you think of using natural coal ?  It is more high maintenance, but better smoking experience.

[nuschultz]

[quote name='biglandy71']Also what should I do about kids (under 17)? Do I turn them away? What if it’s a family with a child?[/quote]In NY, you must be 18 to buy any tobacco product.  However, there are no laws on posession and use of tobacco.  Therefore, if a 15 year old can get his 20 year old brother to buy him some Marb Reds, the 15 year old can smoke them.That is the legal standpoint from NY anyway.On a more personal note, I feel that the decision to smoke is one that should not be taken lightly.  While you don't want to give hookah smoking a bad name by being discriminatory, you also don't want your lounge to become the hangout for all the highschoolers with nothing but time on their hands.  If you ask me, I'd say make it an 18+ establishment.  It will probably look better in your local governments eyes, as well as to the parents in the community.

[Skimo]

when are your plans to start this? i would look at interior stuff online and comparing different things like that so you have an idea on how much money your going to need to get it all setup

[imonlyapuppet]

As for your idea on how to keep people from walking out on the bill..
 
Have them sit down and you come to their table and serve them, and ask them what they want, just like it's been discussed. However, when they ask to rent a hookah, simply tell them that you'll hold onto their ID. This kills two birds with one stone:
 
 - Verify the customer is 18+ yrs old
 - You have some colleteral, if they walk out on the check, they walk out on their license.
 
When the customer is all finished and you have brought them their check and they have paid, simply return their License to them with their reciept or something.