Mirage Cafe’ & Grill Restaurant

I get the heebie jeebies just walking by this filthy rundown place. Don’t see how anyone could put their mouth on something inside here. Not a great place to have in my beautiful neighborhood!

Went here the other day with my lil sis. We been here before this is not the cleanest establishment but the drinks are good and inexpensive. The guy who helped us was super nice. And now they have disposable hoes so that’s good. I don’t like hookah I just go with my sis, if there was another hookah place we would not come here. But the staff was friendly. The only reason we wouldn’t come is because it’s a hike in the wall they need to remodel. I gave then 2 stars because the customer service was great.

6 – 7 years ago I was a frequent customer and really liked this place, but I have never been so disrespected as a customer than during my last and final visit to Mirage.
This was admittedly a little while ago (late 2014), but after a night downtown, some friends and I came to mirage for a hookah session. The music was blaring, and the place was packed, but knowing that it was late (close to 1am I believe), I asked our waitress if we had enough time to properly smoke a full hookah pipe (a full session lasts 45 – 60 minutes). She said «yea, no problem», and took our order for a $ 17 hookah, along with drinks.
The pipe arrived a short time later, and we enjoyed it for only about 10 minutes. Then all the lights abruptly came on, and out of nowhere she returned to the table, picked up the hookah, and told us they were closed and we had to leave. As she walked away I called back asking why she took our order after I had specifically asked her if we would be allowed the time to actually smoke the $ 17 worth of tobacco we had just purchased. (This is like ordering a steak dinner, and the waiter removing the plate from your table when you were only a few bites in)
When she didn’t respond I went to the bar to try and speak to a manager. I was told that no manager was available, and that I had to pay immediately and get out because they were now closed. The staff I was dealing with began to get increasingly aggressive and angry as I tried to explain, and threatened to call the cops if I didn’t pay immediately. After a final attempt to explain to them why I felt cheated, I was physically removed from the bar (this was unprovoked, and I did not resist in any way), and another member of my party paid our bill to keep them from calling the police on us.
At no point was I at all aggressive, or confrontational. I was not drunk, and I was not yelling. If anything I simply wanted to convey to them that a misunderstanding had taken place, and I was a long time customer who just felt disrespected. Instead I was treated like a common aggressive drunk, and strong-​armed into paying for something that I was not allowed to consume.
I am a bartender and former bouncer. I know what it’s like to be on the other side of things, and this staff acted completely inappropriately. Because of their boorish and deceitful actions, Mirage has lost a customer for life.
F*** this place.

I have been to this place before but just recently it started to get worse. It was a Friday night and my friends and I knew it gets busy so we came early. There were only about 3 other groups sitting down that already had their hookah. As soon as we came in the waitress asked if we were ready to order. We said no seeing as how we didn’t even open the menu. She then proceeded to wait THIRTY minutes to come back to our table. We would look at her and she would just walk away and talk to her work friends or people at the bar. We had to go to her to ask if we can place our order. We told her our order and she snatched the menu and just said OK and left. The music was playing on pandora with someone’s iPhone who forgot to turn their sound off. We could hear them texting and getting phone calls all night. We also heard ads and sometimes the phone wouldn’t even play music for about ten minutes before someone finally realized. Will definitely be looking for another hookah bar. It’s worth the farther drive than the quick one to downtown.

The bar tender claimed was was tobacco floating in our water. It wasn’t!!! The dr pepper flavor doesn’t taste anything like dr pepper. The only highlight it the bar tender with jugs so large she can tuck them into her belt.

This is the place I go with my friends that’s aren’t 21 I normally always enjoy my time here. I learned early to not go here expecting good service. You can go here sometimes an wait 20 minutes an to even order a drink. I normally have an awesome time food actually pretty decent an not bad priced. If the waiters stopped having 20 minute conversation with random guys this would be a lot better

We came in on Friday to enjoy good conversation over drinks, appetizers and some hukah. It was crowded and there was no one to direct you where to sit or to ask whether you wanted a table. When I asked the door man because the bartender directed me to him for seats he looked at me like I was crazy, and told me he didn’t know when the next seats would be available.
Our bartender was nice and got our drinks right away. Our server was nice but being nice doesn’t excuse the slow service. We were so excited to be out and were ready to order lots of drinks but this place was so slow with everything that it completely killed our buzz and we had to leave asap. Once we sat it took more than 10 minutes to even get menus. The menus were old, burnt and dirty. This dissuaded most of my group from ordering food. We waited a long time to place our drink and hukah order, it took 45 minutes for my cousin to get her baklava. We decided to time it because everything else took so long. We left right after.
Oh and one of the servers came by and asked if we needed our menus and snatched them off our table in a very rude way. Never coming back, such a shame because this place was a fun casual location a few years back.

It takes a while to get served on Saturday night, and the drinks are nothing to write home about, but it’s a fun atmosphere and great hookah place. Good flavors and greta music!

The Hookah was good but I will admit it was my first time so I had nothing to compare it to. The restaurant itself was very dirty and did not appear to be taken care of, as there were lights out, huge rips in the seat, and the menus were so gross I did not want to even touch them. With that said I did not order any food and def would not in the future. They only serve bottled water for 2 bucks a pop and we did get two of those and one hookah. Our waitress was nice and very helpful. It was a Saturday night and there were prob only about 10 people in the place. There were a few college football games on and the place was generally quiet. I would comeback for the hookah but I’m going to try some other places first.

Went here this past weekend for the first time. I have to agree with most commenters who say the doorman is rude. He wasn’t rude to us, but I did see him being a real jerk to other people. Overall, our experience wasn’t bad. Music was very loud so difficult to have a decent conversation. They didn’t have much seating open so we ended up sitting next to the window and it wasn’t very comfortable. Hookah was good, just a bit overpriced for the more basic flavors. We both ordered drinks. I got a margarita and other person got a long island iced tea. Mine was 6 bucks and their’s was 7, so price on those was pretty reasonable. We didn’t get any food, so can’t comment on that. Would I go back again? Probably. I give it 4 stars overall.

The ID policy is just straight confusing and ridiculous. My friend went there with her student ID once and she was let in. The next time we went, they refused to let her in with the same ID!?! It was cold outside and we were extremely upset. Never again!

Went here after dinner one night to enjoy some hookah and me and my friend walked in and was asked for I.D. he drew an X on our hand and said sit anywhere but the couch because its for big parties, so the place was quiet and we sat down on some black duct taped chairs hahaha. The waitress was nice and kept our hookah burning and our sodas full. We did not eat here, so i cant judge the food, but no one was ordering food anyway, just drinks. The hockey game was on the tv and the atmosphere is full of lights that change color and awesome hip hop and rap music. Its very eclectic to say the least hahahah! but i had a great time! ill be going back

This place is horrible and completely inflexible and unwilling to accommodate their guests. They wouldn’t even let me move one chair to sit with my friends… And the place was less than half full. Please do yourself a favor and spend your money at an establishment that actually values and respects their customers.

I gave this place 3 tries and I won’t be coming back ever again. The employees are not attentive — they take forever to take your hookah order and they don’t check on your coal unless you flag them down and ask them for another. The hookah smoke is cloudy and gets harsh very quickly. Interior is okay, seats are uncomfortable, noise level is loud but not overwhelming.

The hookah was nice, but I was a little wary walking in. The first thing I see is a sign saying that everyone has to spend $ 10 or more. Has to. Now, that’s super off putting for me, but after reading reviews on Unilocal,I expected it has to be for all the little hooligans mooching off of their friends. I do get that, but it seemed excessive for someone visiting the area.
The staff was alright, but I’m the kind of person who likes to smoke when I drink, and eat when I’m drinking as well. The drink prices aren’t bad, but I was severely disappointed by the menu.
Well, the menu was fine. But everything that looked good to me, they were out of. Talk about a bummer. I probably had her come back four times before I got something I wanted. And even then it was my last option. I can’t even remember what I ordered, so it can’t have been that great.
The couch we sat on was torn up and taped up, and though comfy, looked pretty ratty. I’m not from the area, but I’ll be sure to skip it next time I’m in town.

Mirage is nice in that it is the only hookah bar in about a 30 mile radius of Frederick. That being said, don’t expect a wonderful visit. The food is far from good and often comes out cold. Waitresses are distracted and take forever to bring you even a glass of water, and the building itself is not very clean — there was a cockroach on a couch when I went for my birthday! I’d certainly say it’s worth the travel for another hookah bar.

Do NOT go here. The waitress was so sweet, but the doorman was on a total power trip. He yelled at us for moving a chair that nobody was using. They told us that employees have left because of him. Ridiculous.

We were all enjoying our night here, but when we tried to move a chair so that all five of us could sit together the doorman was a total jerk. There was nobody using the chair, but they made one of my girlfriends sit in a plastic folding chair. The doorman yelled at the one guy who was with us and told him to give up the cushy chair, but refused to let us have one of the open chairs from the empty tables. His exact words to my friend were «if you’re a man, you’d give up your chair.» The owner defended the doorman on the grounds that teenagers who go there are rowdy. That’s fine, but we havent been teenagers in ten years. I’ll never go there again.

The place was good, the waitress was nice but, the doorman (Jimmy) was a complete douchebag over seating arrangements. We decide to leave due to his power trip apparently this isn’t the first time he has done this. No wonder the place has only two stars! My suggestion hire a new doorman that isnt rude to customers. If you don’t like your job Jimmy, get another one.

First, please note that this review is ONLY for the restaurant for afternoons and dinnertime, and NOT for the pub and music/​dancing activity offered from 9 PM onward (which seems to be offered most evenings. …).
I live in the mountains near Frederick, and this is one of the very few restaurants that I consistently find myself visiting in downtown Frederick.
I have been coming here occasionally since 2004, and I have brought a good number of out-​of-​town visitors/​guests here over the years. In fact, it is almost a ritual to bring all my out-​of-​town guests here, as the place is excellent. I find that the Middle Eastern food is very authentic, and I have loved every meal, and every dish, that I have had here over the years.
I had fallen in love with some of their deserts — particularly the rice pudding — over the years, and I was a bit peeved to find out that they had stopped carrying them by early 2011 due to low demand. I was very pleased to learn, during my most recent meal at Mirage on Sept. 17, 2011, that they are once again offering deserts, including rice pudding and baklava.
In closing, I want to say that have only had very good experiences with the waitservers and the bartender over the years, and have found them professional, friendly and attentive (but not intrusive).
Incidentally, they also have real pizza ovens, and their pizza is very good.
BTW, I am not a night person, and have no interest in night clubs, partying, etc, and so I have never visited Mirage at night during its incarnation as a pub/​music/​dancing venue, and so I cannot offer any opinion on that aspect of Mirace Café.
Likewise, I do not smoke, and so I cannot offer a review of their hookah offerings!