Opening a hookah lounge. Need input

[Mathazar]

Now there's a man who knows his stuff 

Welcome to The Hookah Forum,  tuma al Zrai 

[HookahCulture]

Yeah I got a link to a LOAD of Oum Kaltoum's music that you can download for free.
Go here directly:
[b][/b][url="http://www.zorona.com/English/music/songs.cfm?SingerID=106"]http://www.zorona.com/English/music/songs.cfm?SingerID=106
Some of it isn't CD quality, but great to listen to anyway.  Much of it is live.
Oum Kaltoum was considered to have the most beautiful singing voice of
the 20th century. When she died, people killed themselves! Her funeral
attendance was the largest in Egyptian (recorded) history after Nasser.
Total Undisputed Diva.

Well I just found out that some Om Kaltoum songs can't be found.
I'm glad I downloaded them all before they beame unavailable.
Perhaps I should make a ZIP file or something.
Here's the main link to investigate for other music:
[url="http://www.zorona.com/English/music/singers.cfm://http://www.zorona.com/English/music...sic/singers.cfm://http://www.zorona.com/English/music...sic/singers.cfm://http://www.zorona.com/English/music...sic/singers.cfm://http://www.zorona.com/English/music...sic/singers.cfm[/url]"][url="http://www.zorona.com/English/music/singers.cfm"]http://www.zorona.com/English/music/singers.cfm[/url][/url][/url]
It appears the Fayruz songs are working! Right click song titles to save or just click to play.

[tuma al Zrai]

All right folks. I would just add a few things to Maxima302's remarks about Lebaneh:
If you did'nt know, Lebaneh is a Lebanese cheese, but with a yogurty consistancy. It is similar to cream cheese, and is ussually served with minced mint andd a little olive oil.
[b]Very Improtant[/b]!-You need to find a dependable Arabic Bakery near your location, American companies that try to make "pitas" always fail miserably. Aladdin and Damsus bakeries are very popular comercial bakeries on the east coast, but there have got to be some good ones out west, too. IF you can get your hands on Lebanese "mountain" bread (thick bread, but still has a little crunch), this makes [b]ideal[/b]_ mana'oush/zataar. You take zataar (a mix of Syrian thyme, oregano, sumac, and other spices), mix it with olive oile until it becomes a paste, and "paint" the bread with it, giving it a few seconds under the broiler. If not, regular kobez arabi-plain "pita bread", this is basically your spoon when eating mezza. A few light salads and kabobs wouldn't be a bad idea either (shish kabob-lamb-don't skimp, this makes all the differance!, shish taowuk-chicken, Kefta kabob-minced lamb with shredded onions, parsely, and spices. Spices- 1 part black pepper (by weight),  1 part corriander, 1 part allspice, 1 part cumin, 3 parts salt)
One more thing-Oum Kaltoum might mave been the biggest thing scince the pocket in pita in Egypt, but Fairuz is like God in Lebanon, Syria, and most of Palestine.

[Mathazar]

Hey Kushlounge.......I think you ought to hire this guy as a consultant 

[tuma al Zrai]

Shukran, mathazar, shukran kifr.
Ok, i got a good idea for once. If you want to have tables, but don't want a restaraunt type setting, moorish/turkish low tables (octagon-shaped, fairly small, big in India too,, ussually a foot wide or so, very "exotic") would good if serving mezza, in between chairs. You don't want customers balancing their mouthpieces in one hand and a plate of homous in the other. They are big enough for small detamese (almost positive I spelt that wrong) and tea glasses, and a few small dishes (or a tawleh board), but they don't get in the way. You follow? Ok, if you've ever been to epcot, (kill me now), they have them in the little Morocco haram situation (haram means like poor thing, not "harem" which means evil/unclean), right next to their crappy little drums and $80 coffee hand grinders. If you want some more food than just mezzas, a lot of the traditional places here have tables roughly the size and shape of poker tables (the ole 4-sided ones with folding legs). You can fit a tawleh or chess board, glases, and some dishes. The down side-people can't share an argileh, but hay, more money for you!

[To100YearsToLate]

I used one of those octagon tables at the bar I went to tonight.  It was just the right size for a group of 4 of us.

[MR Bubble]

 I thank you very, very much, tuma al Zrai. I have never been to a shisha lounge in the states and all the talk of people's favorite lounges makes me want to NOT ever go to one here. My shisha lounge (or shisha pits as we called them) experience is Egyptian and not very fancy. This is good. It is for smoking and socializing. Have a coffee and play dominos and watch the game on TV. If you are in a tourist area, then watch the Russian girls walk around. 
I would never imagine any of the customers loading their own bowl or working the coals themself. This is how one can get away with smoking Nakhla and it being the best tasting smoke in the world. The people running the pits are GOOD. They will make Nakhla taste like a bit of cloud-9. No need for the customer to ever touch anything. Usuallythere are two sections (but not separated from each other). One for sitting at small tables with chairs, and the other is cusions and pillows on the floor with low tables for sitting drinks on. Colas, fruit juices and water are the drinks and As tuma al Zrai said, the massell flavors are the basics like the apples and strawberry. I would hate to spend that price on Fakher and charge that much to everyone coming in. Al Waha has some basic flavors that aren't too finicky to work with that would taste pleasant to a beginner. Although I honestly think Nakhla is a good investment if worked right. Hey, Nakhla apples and strawberry pack the shisha pits CONSTANTLY with all the tourists in Egypt. They are in 7th heaven smoking that there. I'd think you can stock certain quantities of more premium brands with the appropriate price difference for those wanting that. I would be a regular customer at a pit that prefers simplicity.
I would target college towns, keep it authentically simple and make it an educational experience. If possible, on weekends hire a belly dancer and a band using traditional instuments. Make literature for each table that explains the hisory of smoking the machine. Hopefully this may attract the people who want to use your establishment for what it is and keep away those that need to be constantly entertained.
MR Bubble

[tuma al Zrai]

afwan, habib, afwan (bow,bow)
You see, this is the beauty of small immgrant ("boater" as we call it) cafes. They try to replicate the old country (bilad ish-sham) as most as possible. They don't blast music, they don't serve alcohol, and they have just enough flavors so that you still have a nice experiance, but they can know each like the back of their hand. If you go into some places here, they have over 35 flavors! Most of those don't even exist in the middle east! They are produced artificially, without the fruit pulps and esences that give basic old-school flavors their depth and resonance (besides, alot of Arabs skip over places because they don't even recognise it as an argileh cafe, they don't see anything familiar, anything that they know is supposed to be there.). It's just impossible for the "hookah man" to know each personally, and therefore he can't give good advice.
P.S., the live band idea is great, but you need a belly dancer that knows what the hell she's doing!  The best are always Egyptian, thats a well established fact. If not, Palestinians, Lebanese, and Syrians are all good, too. The band is very influencial on the mood, but they aren't to plentiful. I recomend just the oud (1-2), the tubla/derbeke/dumbek(1-3), and a singer/tambourinist. Keep in mind, these are VERY expensive!

[HookahCulture]

[quote name='MR Bubble']I would target college towns, keep it authentically
simple and make it an educational experience. Make literature for each
table that explains the hisory of smoking the machine. Hopefully this
may attract the people who want to use your establishment for what it
is and keep away those that need to be constantly entertained.[/quote]

*** DING DING DING!!  Good call Mr. Bubble!
I have a pamphlet I made that I give out to non-Arabic people at the lounges here. It's called

Introduction To Hookah Culture

        or

    How NOT to be a hookah moron

I'm considering mounting the Word doc on the site for people to
download and use in their cafes. I think I need to tighten it up a bit
and add some history, but right now it's 4 pages on a folded 8.5x11
with small text. It's all black text so it won't tax color
printers.  I like to print it on papyrus style resume paper....