by Roman S.
...this is one of the new additions to portlandGiven how new this place is it packs a crowd.. on a weekday you can be more relaxed, chill out and enjoy yourself. on a weekend there's loud music (hip hop etc). The crowd here is young- around 18 to 21 (DUH) + a few older people at times. people here just hang out with their friends, talk, play card games, SMOKE, do whateverinterior is dark, lots of space, comfy seating :)i went there over a month ago and it was $10/regular $15/exotic... i went there maybe a week ago and it was $15/regular $20/exotic... OUCH and on the window it says "2 people per hookah" - ... dunno if that's always enforced. once they lower the price closer to EARTH i will give them an extra star ;)UPDATE - 4/30/09 - prices lowered a bit. i think to 12/15
Not worth it by Disgruntled and Never Returning
To start, my bias is that I enjoy relaxed and more peaceful Hookah joints rather than those which cater to a crowd I thought died out over a decade ago when I was in middle school.
What kills me is that PDX at it's old location was usually pretty good - it was the meeting place for me and my old friends when we returned to Portland. I just recently went to their new location, for a second time, and was again disappointed. The crowd was loud and obnoxious, the music was even more so (not to mention it repeated itself during the short time span my friends and I were there), playing old music which seemed like it was straight off of a "Now That's What I Call Music 15" CD. Another complaint I have was the "two persons per hookah" rule, which the teenage staff enforced by what seemed like their whim. The shisha was overpriced as well - $12 for a *small* bowl of Al-Fahkir? I could very easily buy a tub of Al-Fahkir for myself with that money if I was home with my own hookah (which is what I plan to do if it ever comes down to going to this place again).
Lastly, and the reason I'm actually spending time to write this review, is that when I checked my account the next day online I noticed that my bill was $13.20, as opposed to the $12 I intended to pay. They added a tip for the laborious task of them finding the time to stop smoking with their friends and slowly bring out our overpriced smoke. While I'm not exactly rich, I'm not about to waste the gas money it would take for me to drive back out there and chew out those arrogant little kids. Enjoy your $1.20, maybe you can use it towards something useful like college. Avoid this place, absolute trash.
On the brighter side they do have nice clean hookahs and good coal service - although you hardly need it if you're only smoking a small bowl.
