Revitali

This place is an atrocious rip-​off. I stumbled in here haphazardly with a group when we decided that hookah would be a good next activity in our night.
As soon as you sit down and look at the menu, you realized that you are being slapped with regulation. All the requirements are printed on the front of the menu – one drink minimum, maximum three people per hookah, gratuity included, und so weiter.
We decided on a pitcher of Sangria to fulfill the drink requirement, which still came out to about 8 dollars per glass. The hookahs were expensive and mediocre in quality. In my experience, which I admit is not all-​encompassing, it’s been the case that nice hookah places will put the hookah on the ground beside the table (just did some research online, this is in fact the norm). This place put the hookahs smack in the middle of the table, creating a really precarious and unrelaxing vibe.
When the waitress brought the sangria she informed us that she was doing our group a huge favor by letting 5 people split one pitcher. I don’t know if she expected us to be grateful that she was allowing us to break an entirely arbitrary rule.
Because of all the regulations and rules, it feels like you have all these hoops to jump through. As soon as everyone reached the minimum number of hookahs and drinks, no one wanted to stay. If there hadn’t been all these minimums (and if the prices hadn’t been in the ‘please bend over’ range) i’m sure we would have stayed and relaxed for awhile, which is what hookah is supposed to be about… as i understand it.
Basically this place is a big scam. Restaurants should be about ordering what you want, and not needing to order things to fulfill some artificial minimum. Plus, a bottle of water is 4 dollars. With all the minimums and the 18% added gratuity, which is the biggest ripoff in the world (beware this is one of those places that does not make it readily apparent that they’ve applied this 18% and sneaks it in with the tax on the bill), this place prevents any level of enjoyment. There are some great hookah bars in this area, even ones with sound enough business models that you are allowed to order off of a menu like a regular person.
Avoid going here, and save your dignity.

mixed feelings…
i came here three times and I always leave happily but the next morning, my chest is filled with anger!
The service is great and the staff is incredibly attentive. I have only been here on weeknights where the place is quite empty and they let us stay till literally 3 30 AM. The coal changer dude is always near by or it is easy to call him over.
The hookah quality is average– nothing to jump for joy about, but not bad at all!
Beers arent dirty cheap, but not expensive. Buying them in Buckets seem to be the best deal available
I have never ate food here
The ambiance is nice. Its dark, cool and the music isnt too loud or too quiet. The décor is middle eastern/​egyptian inspired and its not too heavily over done where it becomes tacky looking
THE BAD PART
When leaving I would sign my credit card bill for Revitali and happily stumble my way home. I gave the receipt a brief drunk lookover befre signing and noticed the added gratuity and didnt mind. HOWEVER
the next morning Id look at my receipt and realize they over charged me!!! by $ 20 dollars or so!
THAT AINT CHEAP
but i thought it was an accident and i went back again with friends
THEY DID IT AGAIN!
i love their service and their hookah, but I DO NOT LIKE BEING CHEATED. TWICE

I can’t stress how much I dislike this place. I’ll give you reasons:
1) Too many stupid policies
a) If there are more then 3 people, you have to get two hookas, which isn’t that bad except only 3 of the prople are smoking, which didn’t matter. I guess they have their logic, so whatever… just consder yourself warned.
b) 18% grautiry is included on all checks. Again, not the end of the world, but I’ve found that at gratuity-​included places, the service is terrible. I don’t know about other people, but if I get good service and a good product, I tip 20% to 25%. I guess it doesn’t make much of a difference to the management, but anyone waiting tables at places like this is either a shitty waiter or getting a little shafted.
c) One drink per person, minimum. Generally I’d let this slide, but in this case it’s strike three.
2) Prices: Though the hookah and drink prices are average, one of my friends who wasn’t feeling well got a bottle of water ($ 4) and a small drip coffee ($ 5). And no, they «don’t have tap water»…I guess that’s Evian they use to fill the hookah.
3) No outdoor seating. Try an outoor place and an indoor place and tell me you wouldn’t go a little out of your way for the former.
4) Awful music. Besides being one of the resons, I prefer an outdoor spot, the Arabic-​techno-​pop at this place is especially heinous. Sometimes I can get into the mid-​east beats, but when combined with «disco» music… well, think Don’t Mess With the Zohan.
5) Not to be redundant, but the service is terrible… not just inattentive, but straight rude. Unfortunately, based on my experiences, this isn’t unusual for a hookah joint. I’ve actually seen worse. I wish is rememberd the name, but there’s a place in Astoria guilty of all of the above, plus they were kind enough to inform us AFTER we have finished that they don’t take credit cards. Anyway, it was oh so pleasant how they sat us next to a four foot speaker and then gave us attitude about moving to another table meant for more people. Keep in mind the reason we ended up here is because the place was pretty much dead. The place we wanted to go – Horus – on 10^th and A was pact and had a wait. but is the lesser of two evils, so I’d suggest heading there in a pinch.

I’ll admit, the included gratuity does suck, but I really do love it here. I love the hookah and there are some great mixed drinks and nice teas. I’ve never eaten here. It is a casual place with a great atmosphere and great vibe. The service is nice and the waiters and owner have always been friendly to me and my friends.
With the one drink minimum and maximum of 3 people per hookah, the bill does rack up. But for a once in a while hang out, it makes for a nice night. I also think they have belly dancing/​live music on some nights, but I’ve never been there for it.

Wandering the east village after 10pm on a Friday night? Too old to stand up and drink but too young too call it a night? Not dressed well enough for a fancy cocktail bar? Revitali maybe just your ticket. On a cold Friday night after passing up a number of standing room only bars, we came in here to warm up before calling it a night. From the outside it looked like a diner. When you get in it’s a dark, nicely decorated hookah bar.
At 11pm 3 of us entered. Our party grew to 8 and we didn’t leave until 3am. It was a good night. The host were very patient as our party grew and we had to move tables and close out and reopen tabs. While they have a rule about purchasing 2 hookahs for a group our size, they let us pay for one with the promise we’d buy more alcohol (which we did). While it never got crowded, it did get busier as the night went on.
The background music was a bit strange. It would switch from middle eastern sounding music to hip-​hop or r&b, quite frequently in the middle of a song. This is a place that would benefit from a jukebox.
Otherwise it’s a good spot to hang if your too old to rock ‘n’ roll but too young to die.

Great hookah bar, giant hookahs, good Moroccan tea and a very laid back vibe. Most hookah bars in the city rush you, but here you can take your time. I’ve been here on a number of occasions with large groups of friends, and we’ve always enjoyed the service. There is a one-​drink-​per-​person minimum and one-​hookah-​for-​every-​three-​people requirement, but that’s quite understandable. Nobody would want loungers that don’t give you any business. The hookahs are great, they switch out your coals often enough to make sure you keep puffing away. And the finger food is not bad either. They’re open till 4am, which is the best part.

I’ll keep it short and (un)sweet, as other reviewers have already touched upon most of the negatives:
2 pitchers of sangria + 2 hookahs + 2 small finger snacks = greater than $ 200
And don’t forget about «double 18% gratuity» (unlisted on the menu when I scoured its contents) + taxes.
But hell, I’m nothing if not generous, so I’m giving it two stars — on the night we went, it was pretty empty, so we had the place mostly to ourselves and it was roomy with a decent atmosphere. Tacking on another star because my coals were refilled a few times over the course of the night. Halllllelujah!

it was a cold and breezy October night in the east village. we went from bar to bar— in search of a place that would cater our drinking and partying woes. an off night, from bars being too packed or having certain «codes” — we were turned off of our quest to chill with our companions.
i had never done the whole «dive bar» thing before. i know, call me frou-​frou… but i was eager to try it out in NYC someway, somehow. we walked by Revitali… the neon lights illuminating from it’s velvet curtains drawn and it’s color ricocheting onto the street. «a dive bar?» we all ask each other. we were unsure– but we decided to take a chance. the Moroccan décor, beautiful furnishings and overall red-​light puts you in a very sensual and exotic atmosphere. the Arabic soundtrack was quite enticing– fused with a little electronic and house beats— i knew that we had arrived in the right type of venue.
in celebration of some occasion, we had champagne bottle service– along with some cocktails, bottles of wine and more champagne. the service was impeccable. the pricing was a little too up there, but the thoughts begin fading away once your Shisha arrives at your table. from choices of fresh Pineapple (in which you smoke the tobacco right from the fruit) to the typical staple of Strawberry or Peach… they hosted many varieties of flavors fit for any Shisha enthusiast. the Baklava was delicious… with chocolate drizzled on top– it was a food finish to our tasty Hummus Platter.
the memorable aspects of this place was the wait staff and it’s owner. they are constantly checking up on you, refilling your charcoals, catering to your needs and socializing with all the guests. earlier than 9pm– it doesn’t get overly packed in here… but just the right amount of bodies for it not to be considered «dead» or «boring». as soon as the clock hits 10 or later… the venue gets packed. still– they didn’t fail to accommodate to our growing table of guests throughout the night.

Aww, I’m not sure why there are so many negative reviews. I love this place! The management and wait staff are totally friendly and awesome. The shisha here is some of the best I’ve ever had. It’s very smooth and good, and doesn’t make me cough at all. I love all the champagne drinks here. I recently had the baklava, covered in chocolate sauce, which was different, but absolutely orgasmic. I end up here about once a week, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone.

Do not come here. i wish Unilocal had an option for zero stars. Possibly, the worst bar/​hookah lounge in Manhattan. I happened upon this place randomly and the whole experience was terrible. First, although we ordered a 20 dollar hookah and food, we were forced to order a drink a person to be served. The waitstaff was rude and acted as if we were bothering them by coming in! When we were done, they refused to accept our credit card telling us that the credit card machines turn off after a certain hour. My friends and I have all worked at bars and know quite well that the credit card machines turn off when the bar decides they turn off. They tried to get us to get cash from the ATM instead. Of course, they wanted the surcharge! OVerall the service was terrible and we were lied to. There are so many great places in the east village to smoke a hookah, go somewhere. anywhere else!

If it were possible to give zero stars for a bar, this would be the one. I’ve been to hundreds of bars in this fair city, and none have angered me quite as my Saturday night experience at Revitali.
An experience already touched upon by other reviewers, but here’s the bullet-​point summary:
— One drink per person minimum. The bar was empty, what right did they have to demand this?
— The fact that a friend had ordered a bucket of beer with FOUR beers did not account for my one drink, therefore I was forced to order a $ 4 bottle of water (ooh, they lowered their prices).
— Despite the mostly empty bar, the service was not good. Not at all.
— When a friend and I wanted to leave earlier than the rest of the group, we asked to pay for our drinks… seemed simple enough, but you would have thought we were requesting a UN Treaty. They finally brought a check our way, and we were suprised to see 18% gratuity added on. It was at this point that I vowed to never return.
PLUS, they apparently don’t believe in AC, because it was hotter than the shades of Hell in there!
Never again.

I think this place needs a few positive reviews. My friends and I actually really enjoyed this place. We passed it on the street while we were attempting to go to Yaffe Café after some late-​night dancing, and it was just too cute (and aromatic) to pass up. The hookah here is amazing (the bong-​thingy was one of the best ones I’ve seen), probably the best in the city. It doesn’t make you cough every time you inhale and we ordered the flavor that was off the menu. Sex on the beach!!! The chocolate shakes weren’t very good, a bit too icy. The Egyptian fachfachina (pronounced faa-​throat sound – fa – throat sound – ina) was the best drink we’ve had all night. It’s a fruity concoction of mango, guava, oranges, and some other ingredients. The guy taking our order was also very nice and interacted with us at the right times. It wasn’t busy at all, so it’s a great place to just talk with your girlfriends (guy friends) and relax.

I literally cabbed it back home at this hour 2:47 am on a Saturday just so I can write this review.
We peeped in and saw the place looked great when we glanced thru the windows.
happily, we walked in and realized it was a booze and hukkah place. Cool. My friend loves that stuff.
1. The menus came and my part all ordered drinks.
Unfortunately, the first three beers requested were apparently all out said the waiter.
2. Fine. We settled for Leffes. I refrained from ordering booze since I was feeling under the weather and guy politely asked me if I was drinking and I said no, thank you. He said would you like water, and I was about to say yes, when I realized the water was $ 5.00!!!
Just tap water– apparently, you get NO water unless it’s $ 5.00 around here.
I said no, nothing then. The waiter said I had to order a drink min. We replied, ok, our party would certainly order enough beers. Apparently, that was not cool.
Mind you, I was with a big German fella — drinking courses in his bloodstream so drinking more beers, was not an issue.
Finally, we just were not feeling a vibe and wanted to leave.
The credit cards were sent and given to the waiter.
He came back and said the bill could not be split as each card had to have a $ 30 min (btw 2 cards).
It was so ANNOYING that there is nothing to drinks besides cheapie champagne and beers for $ 6.00 that seemed to be in stock were Buds, Bud Lights etc. Anything else for the $ 6.00 like the Goose Island or anything nicer were suddenly out!
What a ripoff, what crap service and a totally lousy place.
NEVER EVER will we go back. Oh yea, after we got the card back, they refused to give us a copy of the customer reciept. Very strange.
If u go, be prepared to order $ 5 waters, and if you order 5 of anything, you get 1 free!

I joined Joolie T, Audrey J, Javier M, Irene F and Lynn F for hookah at Revitali on a Friday night, and I must say I had a good time. The place was pretty crowded, but we managed to get our own table. The hookah is $ 15, and considering that was the first time I ever had hookah, I have no idea whether that’s expensive or not. They have all kinds of flavors, and we got to try the pineapple and the apricot (both of which were good, though quite mild). We also had bottle of sparkling wine (was it Spumante?), which at $ 30 a bottle was quite a bargain.

Came to meet people kinda late night, post karaōke and all. Champagne? yay. Hookah? double yay! Coupled with good company, triple yay. I haven’t tried much other than champagne and hookah, but really, what more do you need? Good, quick service. Only down side? Cash only. I wasn’t sure what happened there, but that crimped my style for the moment. Otherwise, I was very glad the folks I went to meet were there instead of cheap shots!

Let’s REVITALIze this review stats shall we?
We came here on Friday completely out of random; the front windows display several neon beer ads, so we totally thought that we were entering a Pub or Dive Bar, imagine our surprise when the scent of sweet apple hookah coupled with north African Mediterranean décor welcomed us. Hookah? Yes. The course of action for the night was changed and decided in a nanosecond.
The place is small but not tiny; dimly lit, conveying a Moroccan décor but with a nice touch of Egyptian flavor via fake papyrus on walls, and other ornaments here and there… music was your garden variety hookah lounge sensual tunes in arabic; we were all set!
We ordered the $ 15 Pineapple Hookah, and it’s curious that the actual fruit wrapped in aluminum foil was sitting at the top of the pipe. We ordered a bottle of Spumante to celebrate the night, and the generic Champagne was surprisingly good and bubbly.
We also ordered baklava (which I didn’t sample) and a Hummus platter which was NOT your shop-​n-​go hummus in a container, but actually home made hummus which was delicious!!!
All in all, we called in reinforcements to oomph the party, and pretty soon we were ordering more hookah, and more champagne. It was about 4:00am when we got out and there were still people inside; hmmm… I’m starting to think that certain people I hang out with have the uncanny ability of making a zombie out of me, cause I wasn’t even tired. In 4 syllables: Re-​vi-​ta-​lized.

This place is so weird. Burly waitresses, Mary J. Blige blaring, but the Middle Eastern remix? What? $ 15 for the hookah? What? No liquor? What? Ok that’s getting old. The manager here quickly ushered us in, giving us all cards as though four scumbag kids are gonna REALLY pull in some business. From that alone, you can see why this restaurant sketches me out. There was no one in here except us, and the seating was SO UNCOMFORTABLE. Not conducive to lounging around and smoking at all. Every time we wanted another beer, the manager would YELL at the waitresses so that they would just come over with a pouty face beer in hand like they were going to be lashed in the back later. I would not go back here unless I were pretty desperate.