Nefertiti Cafe

If I could give this place a negative review I would. First, all of these reviewers are lying. Its not even called Nefertiti, its called Arabesk Palace. On a Friday night there was 2 groups of people in the whole place. It smelled really funky and made me feel uncomfortable. Its also in a shady ass neighborhood not safe for walking around at night. Never ever will I attend ArabesK palace again, They didn’t get my money once and they never will.

From my old profile
I love the environment and the live music on weekends, definitely worth revisiting, I love their food and everyone is very friendly and courteous. You must go.
Oooops, they do have hooka’s there, if smoke bothers you… stay out!

The Nefertiti I once knew has gone up in smoke! I remember back in my undergraduate days this joint was a little run down. The seating certainly had caught on fire one too many times from projectile coals. There was dim lighting despite the projectile coals. And there was an abundance of old men unable to projectile, smoking hookah outside. Not that I minded because I love seediness. It’s so much more interesting!
After visiting recently, I realized that the new renovations certainly helped the place transform into a family oriented destination. The child friendly playground area is great and the puppet show is so much fun. After all, smoking hookah with your 5-​year-​old son is now all the rage. I’m kidding, of course.
Though I miss the seediness of old, the last time I was there I had such a wonderful time with friends, some of which do not smoke at all and some that probably smoke too much. The place is open and spacious so the hookah does not completely overwhelm the immediate area, much to a nonsmoker’s delight.
Also, while we were there, the scheduled belly dancer got into a row with the owner/​manager, and then left unexpectedly. My group did not mind though because we had a great deal of fun dancing traditional dances and listening to awesome music.

I’ve been here once, and haven’t gone back just because I haven’t really thought about it, and my friends don’t really hookah anymore. When I went there, it was pretty good. I liked that it is open late, and it wasn’t very busy. There were kids in there, but they didn’t bother us. My friend and I also ordered falafel and hummus. It was really good. I see everyone talks about the minimums they have. They usually have that at most hookah places… or atleast ones I have been to. Neighborhood is a little shady, but not too bad.

I can’t believe the good reviews on this place.
I admit, I used to be a regular here because It’s byob, they never check your ID, and I was underage. It used to be a great place to dance and hookah with your friends… and then…
EVERYBODY DOWN! Are those gun shots right outside? How many times has this happened. two that I know of (another occurred while my friend was there). and that’s two too much for me.
I knew the neighborhood was shady, being right by the admiral theater and all, but having fun is not worth it if people are outside playing with guns.
Other than that, why would you go somewhere that plops water bottles on the tables (that you don’t ask for) and charges you for them without telling you ($ 2 each). Then, there’s a min for each person. I had friends stop in to say ‘hey’ for 5 mins. and we end up getting charged extra. They didn’t eat, drink, or smoke anything. What a friggin’ rip off.

This is maybe the best hookah café I have found in the city. Open late, it is definatley a great place to stop by for some food and shisha, as both are flavorful and morerately priced. They have several great flavors of shisha and a very attentive staff that can answer all your questions. The hummus and falafel sandwiches are great and the atmosphere is lively. On the weekends they have live belly dancers. The first night I dropped by for the belly dancing the table next to mine had a rather portly gentleman standing on his chair literally showering money on the dancers. I had the second best seat in the house. The whole place is very clean and tons of fun. They also allow you to byob for something like $ 5 a table. Excellent.

Fun place. Even more so if you’re into jailbait. So my friend and I rolled into the parking lot at about 10:30pm on a Saturday. Parking wasn’t bad, though the lot was completely packed. We walk in to the place and are pleasantly surprised.
Now it’s not like I was expecting some really run-​down, third-​rate pita-​stand, but I wasn’t expecting a really spacious and inviting restaurant/​café, either. Lots of couches, lots of nooks and crannies, big screen TV, and even a little dance floor – no, really. Kind of like Central Perk on Friends… except that it was Egyptian.
Friday and Saturday nights they have a belly dancer come in at midnight (it was more like 1am tonight) and they also have a DJ. Oh yeah, and with the DJ there is an incredible amount of bumping and grinding. Teeny-​bopper bump and grinding. But are they ever amusing. I hadn’t realized it prior to going in, but apparently one of the main attractions of this place is the fact that it’s both 24-​hours and BYOB. And they have all kinds of hookah-​stuff – if you’re into that sort of thing. And speaking of smoke, they kicked out some kids for smoking some non-​hookah-​stuff – so that just goes to show that it’s a fairly legitimate place of business – though a bit odd in certain resepects.
As soon as you sit down the waitress brings you two (there were two of us) bottles of water – which are $ 2 a piece. And the bottom of the menu states that there is a $ 10 minimum per person – don’t usually run into those kind of rules. Another thing that they do which is a bit different is include a mandatory 15%-tip on the bill, and like I said, there was only two of us. There is a pretty young clientele there – lots of high schoolers – so I can understand them helping out their customers with a little math.
And about the food… we had nothing but apps, which all kicked ass. Especially the falafals (sp?). And there was this vinegar-​fava bean concoction which I thought was really interesting… not to mention the dessert – some kind of sweet, gooey cheese-​like substance which was quite the delectable and tasty treat. So all in all, a good time – especially if you are are easily amused by belly dancers, high schoolers, and dirty old men staring with the jaws on the floor.

I love the environment and the live music on weekends, definitely worth revisiting, I love their food and everyone is very friendly and courteous. You must go.
Oooops, they do have hooka’s there, if smoke bothers you… stay out!