by Melanie T.

I've only come here for the hookah, so I can't judge on how good the food is.  I'm giving it a higher rating mainly because of location, and the fact that it has a bigger outdoor seating area than the other hookah places I've been to.  If you do come here, I highly recommend the mango lassi....probably one of the best I've had.

by Amy V.

I used to go to this Prince's location the summer after it opened two years ago, so perhaps the prices have gone up since then. But it was a great place to hang out and do something relatively cheap with friends in Adams Morgan other than going to a bar. The outdoor seating is great for people watching and getting fresh air when smoking the hookah. Lots of good flavors of shishah to choose from and you can mix flavors if you'd like. I haven't eaten anything else but pita and hummus here, so I can't comment on the food.

by Liam D.

Love me some Hookah after a long night at the AMO bars and Prince Cafe offers the largest selection and environment. There is another cafe across the street from Prince cafe called Queen's cafe or something, but it's super sketchy, tiny, and all in all not that great. Prince Cafe has a patio, which is clutch because you can watch all the drunken fools (like you, most likely) wandering around the strip. Smoke some Double Apple, it's the best flavor they got, and order some hommus or middle-eastern food - they have lots of it that is not too expensive and a tasty treat for your post-drinking hunger. It's no Amsterdamn Falafel or Pizza Mart, but at that time of the morning, anything will do....

by Vivian K.

ahhh.. for the people who love to continue their night life til sunrise, prince cafe is the perfect extention of a nite in the adams morgan area.. after you've drank yourself to oblivion, danced the nite away at anzu and chloe.. and paid a good $15 for a martini in sake, it's time to wind down, and relaxing with a big hookah and some crappy food while sitting outside of prince cafe. the summer time is prolli the best with the seats outside; with the warm summer breeze blowing your hair til it looks like you've been through a tornado...  most of the time, we order a hookah ( which make sure you don't drop that plastic cap mouthpiece thing, or you're going to get herpes)...  that's maybe apple or mango or some other odd flavor that you never thought you could get in a hookah and start puffin' away..  and then get some chicken with rice or lamb with rice...  don't get me wrong, the food is average, sub par, but when you're drunk, and relaxed with hookah in one hand and a water in the other.. you really don't care as long as you don't get the shitz in the morning. the best part is that this place is opened til 4 and if you're lucky and you parked there, or live nearby or just don't care and will call a cab back to the metro station that you parked at, you're set for at least another hour of fun...  so you and your friends can people watch, laugh at the girls throwin' up on the street, pick out the people that are really prostitutes til 4 and then get up and head home for a good nite's sleep. THE GOOD: it's a hookah bar.. you can't go wrong..  everyone's happy go lucky and it's opened late... also the fact that you can people watch at 3 is awesome.. THE BAD: there's no alky-hol so make sure you hit this up after you're done drinking, and the food is sub par...  it's in adams morgan so it's convenient after a nite of drinking, but not convenient if you're trying to get to the metro before 3. THE UGLY: make sure you love smokin' because if you don't, and you're not good at it, you'll have a sore throat in the morning.. also, although the hookah itself isn't expensive, if you order food your  share of the bill always ends up at least $12.

by Hanitizer H.

I cannot say this is a great place, but I never had a bad experience there, the service is lame, the managers treat you as you will never come back. It's too dark, but I like the Arabic Music videos that they play on the screen. I do not blame them for charging for water since most people come in and sit for long hours...they need to pay their bills too. But they need to mention it to you ahead of bringing them to your table. It's a good place for a quick stop, if you wanted a classier places, there are plenty, but these guys offer OK food selection.

by Katie K.

Wow, I've never been so aggravated at a restaurant.  Ever!  They were so rude and inattentive and everything took a looooong time.  I was tempted to just walk out after ordering (I've never done that before) because we never saw the waiter and our sandwiches took at least 45min!  And that is after waiting 15 minutes to order!  As soon as we sat down and ordered a hookah, we got a speech about having to order food or drinks with the hookah, and we were like, yes, we want to order food, but we have to look at the menu, and he was being very strange and rude about that (they won't give you a glass of water, you have to spend a couple $ on a cheap bottle).  So, we got the hookah and the waiter disappeared.  We almost walked out.  We ordered the sandwich, disappearing act happened, and we almost walked out again.  No "sorry this is talking a while" or even eye contact or anything.  The sandwiches we got were ok tasting but very dry and didn't come with any sauce or anything.  I wanted to tell everyone coming in to turn right around.  It was that bad.  Please, never go there!!!

by Carlo C.

Hookah is always a nice, chill end to a night, and their buffalo wings are AMAZING! No joke.

by Hand B.

For anybody trying out a "hookah" bar for the first time, Prince Cafe is a nice place to start. You basically learn to expect everything you'd get at one of these places. First of all, it's crowded. It's always crowded. Loud and crowded. It's packed with college kids so after a couple of visits expect to be half deaf. Second of all, the service is terrible. But that is pretty much what you get at these places. You can usually get seated fairly quickly. They'll cram about 8-9 people into a table that should legally seat 5-6 people. Fire hazard, what fire hazard? But expect to wait very long for anybody to come to your table, expect even longer for them to bring the food and hookah. The food is actually pretty decent. The Arabic music they play is an acquired taste. I grew up in the Middle East so I can tolerate it. The hookah is excellent. But don't try the fruiter flavors. Just get the mixed tobacco one. You'll probably have to share the mouth piece with your table since they seem to have trouble bringing out extra mouth pieces.Why the 5 stars? Because I've had some awesome times at this place with some great people. At the end of the night, you forget about the bad service and the unsanitary restrooms and you are just chilling, a little buzzed from the hookah perhaps, and just enjoying yourself. That's what smoking shisa is all about.

by Nishan K.

With all due respect to my fellow Yelpers, I think the food at Prince Cafe is pretty good.  It's not the best indian food in the world, but it's definitely not bad either.  Try the Chana Masala and Chicken Buriyani.  Both were tasty and perfect for a late night, post-partying meal in G'town.  Never been a big fan of the hookah, but they're at virtually every table when you're sitting down, so I imagine they're decent.

by John B.

Norbu and I came here looking for a place on 18th street where we wouldn't have to drink.  The patio area looked nice and inviting and quiet, on anotherwise racous Adams-Morgan night.  And a pleasant time, it was.There was only one waitress on staff, and she was scrambling all over the place and taking forever to arrange our hookah and Aloo-Gobi, but she was working hard, so I tipped her well.  Unfortunately the kitchen was severly depleted for some reason, and so our eating options were limited.  FYI, this place does not serve liquor...but the tea is good.After the bars closed it got Packed, and then our waitress was really stressing out.  Lots of drunk folks ending the night with Indian food and Shee-sha.  It was fun people watching and the hookah was appealing, too.  Definitely merits a second trip.

by Alyssa B.

I LOVE this place; the hookah is good, it's not too unreasonably expensive (there's a $10 minimum, which they're sometimes strict about and sometimes not). Mostly I love hookah. The food isn't great, as people have mentioned, and they usually don't have at least half the menu. The first time we went, my friends tried ordering a chocolate milkshake, which they didn't have, and then a vanilla, which they did, though I couldn't get ice cream... strange. Anyway, the drink that appeared was definitely not a milkshake, it was some sort of creamy dairy drink with cinnamon, cardamum, and other delicious spices that was maybe the tastiest thing I had in DC all summer.Needless to say, I tried ordering it the next time I was there and just got a plain vanilla milkshake. Ah, well, there's always next time.

by Tim L.

The Hookah: We ordered a jasmine strawberry mix shisha and if that wasn't available, just strawberry. They brought out just jasmine. Didn't get tongs with it either and I had to steal it from a table that just left. That said, it was standard hookah. Nothing more, nothing less.The Tea: We ordered black tea. They gave us two Lipton tea bags in a teapot. I would have expected at the very least loose leaf but I guess I'm just a tea snob.The Food: They were out of menus so we had to wait a while to order. We ordered the hummus, falaffel, and shrimp buriyani. It took a while to come but everything was delicious! I never really heard much about the food here but I think that this the food is what makes me want to come back.The Ambiance: Great. We sat on the patio. I love sitting back and watching the madness of a weekend night in the city go on. The Service: Sucked, even for a busy Sat night. Food, tea, and hookah was slow. I can understand the food being slow but hookah doesn't take long and tea should take no time at all. I'll make a disclaimer that I was pretty buzzed so my impression of the passage of time is probably not too accurate. When the food came out, they gave us one fork to eat the shrimp buriyani. Since we couldn't track down a waiter to give us two more for more than 5 minutes, we just ate with one fork. Anyway, we were done smoking and were just chatting when they handed us the bill (unsolicited, but whatever). I took it and we continued to chat. The guy just stood there waiting for me to pay and grabbed it back off the table before we even looked at it. We told him that we hadn't paid yet so he put it back and continued to stand there. We figured that it was time to go anyway so I put my card in. He said "no card." I asked him if he simply meant they didn't take Amex or if they didn't take credit cards entirely. Apparently they don't take credit cards at all, contrary to what it says on yelp and my friend's previous experience. Maybe it's a new thing. Good thing we had enough cash. Then I noticed that they had added an 18% gratuity for our party of 3. Who the hell does that for a party of 3??? So the guy is still standing by our table when we get up to leave. We were not loud or obnoxious (even if we were, we were outside on the patio). There were many other tables still sitting there and it was probably around 3:45 am or so. I don't know when they close (not that it matters... you don't kick out customers) but it sure didn't seem like any other tables were going to leave any time soon. So I don't know what the deal was with that. I'm sure that with our food order, we were paying way more than all the other tables who only got one hookah to share between like 8 people and no food. It was like a $60 tab for 3 people. So what was with the rude service?The Last Word: I'll come back. I'll double check the credit card thing but until then, I'll make sure I bring enough cash. I'll give the service another chance but if it gets repeated time and time again, then forget it.

by Timothy M.

In terms of authenticity, I really enjoyed this place.  It was great to sit and drink some REAL Lebonese coffee and partake of some hookah goodness.  Got to watch some Arab news channel and hear some of the guys who worked here chat about politics.  Pretty interesting.They allow cigarettes too, so it's a nice place to take a break and chill for some intelligent conversation with someone.  Can't comment on the food, but the coffee is delicious and authetic.

by Chang W.

Typical comment you overhear from drunkards walking by as you're smoking a hookah with your friends:"Oh snap, that dude is smoking from a bong, boooyeah."Ok, I added the booyeah, but the rest was verbatim.

by Tu-Van L.

If this location is like the Georgetown locale, this place offers a small-portioned yet tasty plate of baba gannouj.  It's smoky like that at my favorite baba gannouj place Levante's, and they also have pretty good hommus.  I had their sampler plate that included other stuff - wasn't terrible but wasn't great enough for me to remember.  Wide selection of hookahs to enjoy.  Haven't tried but they smelled good.

by p l.

so apparently me and my group "fit the description" of some people who skipped out on their bill the previous weekend, so they tried to add 50 bucks to our bill!!! I kid you not, I could never make this up. Needless to say, it got pretty heated but finally the manager realized they made a mistake, but he was only partially apologetic. On my way out I told him their food sucks too, horrible imitation of indian food. Eff this place...

by ml k.

Years ago I used to come here fairly regularly.  Back then the food was good, hooka enjoyable, great atmosphere.  Then I think they changed management becuase very suddenly it started sucking.  I had a regularly date here weekly with a friend.  We continued going a couple of times after it started sucking thinking it was a one-time sucky thing.  But no, it was permanent.  She got way disgusted when she saw a rat inside once, and that was it.  We moved our business down the street. Then, two years went by and I'm in Adams Morgan with friends.  All the other places are crowded, but Prince Cafe, not surprisingly, is practically empty.  I warned my friends that the place is no good, but they said they didn't care.  Boy did it go lower then even my already low excpectations.  They brought us a hooka that didn't work.  When I mentioned this they brought a second hooka that also didn't work.  I smoke hooka fairly regulary and I own 2 so let me say (1) I know when a hooka isn't working and I find it insulting when a place intimates that I dont' know what I'm saying; (2) it is not that hard to make a good hooka; (3) the hookas they served us were awful.  Also they messed up our drinks and when I said something, the guy serving us was very rude about it.  So now I know, no matter what, even if you have to wait in the cold snow for a table to open up at the place across the street DO NOT GO TO PRINCE CAFE IN ADAMS MORGAN.  by the way, I always had a better experience at the one in georgetown, so don't stop yourself from visiting that one.

by Eric P.

After an entertaining argument with the waiter who insisted they "make the food" yet there is no "chef on duty so no specials can be made," we were told that water can not be provided for free.  This should have told us to leave, but no, we stuck around and waited for the food, which ranged from OK (the vegetarian kabob) to downright awful (pork that looked like the treats a cat leaves in a litter box). There is no liquor license either, so we couldn't drown out the taste with sweet, sweet,  alcohol.Prince Cafe exists for one reason, the hookah. Don't come here expecting anything else, and you may walk away with a less negative experience.

by alexis g.

I agree with Eric when he says the real reason to go to Prince's is the hookah. Their food isn't too memorable, although their appetizers are pretty good. They have all the staple Middle Eastern foods, like kabob, grape leaves, lamb galore and hummus, so I would suggest just coming here for light snacks or if you are really into smoking hookahs. No booze but they have smoothies, which is an interesting option. The location of this Prince's is really good, because it's at the heart of the action in Adams Morgan. I would say check it out, but don't come here looking for a terrific meal. It would probably be best to just order a bunch of appetizers to share among friends. The inside of this place is very small, but they have outside seating. The inside is sort of run down, and the tables are slightly too close to each other. When I went there, they were playing music REALLY loud, and we had to ask them to turn it down. I guess they thought it was adding to the atmosphere, but it was a bit too much.

by Jessica P.

I go to this location or the one in College Park- the one in Georgetown is o-kay.  Though the service is better at the small college park location, you go to this one or the one in georgetown for the bellydancers and entertainment. Though it is dark even during the daytime and packed with college kids it's a good place to go out and be social.  I don't smoke but when I do, I go to this hookah bar which gives you a plastic piece to put over the mouthpiece .  The green apple and strawberry are really good flavors. Oh and if something is spicy on the menu..this place actually does spicy and my tastebuds love them for it!

by Rick P.

I have traveled around the world, to some pretty dismal, out of the way places in third world countries.  Prince Cafe on 18th Street, Adams Morgan is the WORST place I have ever eaten, and it's in my own city!All the reviews that start out "this place is terrible" have it right.   I don't need to describe our experience, cuz it is like those:overpriced bottled water, rude inattentive waiters, attempt to overcharge us on the bill, surly manager, broken table with the metal rim that kept flying off, nothing good available on menu.  I plan to report this place to the DC Health Department on Monday morning.

by Candice J.

I'm going to chime in with the other reviews: this place is horrible.It took 2 hours to get  in and out of Prince the last time I dined.  Get this: we were the only patrons there!  How on Earth can one be so horribly inattentive?Other reviewers mentioned:$3 bottles of water - Check.  And mine were hot.  Yes, hot.Slow service - Check.18% auto-gratuity.  - Check.  I was in such a hurry to get out of there, that I didn't notice that I had paid a 20% tip on an already-added 18% gratuity.  There were two people in my party.  So unacceptable that I don't have the words.My server couldn't have been older than 16, the fountain drinks had a funky mix.  But, hey, the food was okay.  It just isn't worth the hassle, headache and stress to eat it.

by Mike H.

Abysmal service. Would not recommend this place to anyone. Some of the highlights- walked into the restaurant for dinner, the employees quickly shooed us out telling us to wait outside as they finished their dinner. Ordered water- waiter brought $3 bottled water (we requested tap but they claimed their water was 'dirty). Finished an unremarkable dinner and we were brought a check with an automatic gratuity of 18% (we were a party of 3). Worst dining experience in DC.

by Ralph G.

I'm going to get on the screw this place band wagon. 3 dollar bottles of water -- without asking for bottled water -- is something I don't accept from any establishment. When I asked for tap water the gentleman said that the water was no good there. So what are they washing their hands and dishes with? Service was poor as well: they brought my bill to another table. I would suggest finding your shisha elsewhere.

by Duncan R.

I have never had a worse experience at any DC establishment.  I enjoy going to Soussi for hookah and a nice ambiance.  I was with some friends and my brothers from out of town, so rather than wait for a table at Soussi, I decided to risk it at Prince Cafe.  It was a big mistake.  First of all, they do not offer water for free.  They did not tell this in advance, and instead they brought out bottled water (which they charged us $3 each for) and wouldn't take them back when we said that we didn't want them.Like many other people have mentioned, this should have been our cue to leave.  But we decided to order a mango lassi, a hookah, a tea, and an order of samosas.  We waited for at least thirty minutes after placing our orders and should have taken our second hint to leave.  The mango lassi was watered down and strange-tasting, the hookah only lasted about 10 minutes (they must have skimped on the tobacco), the tea was decent but expensive, and the "samosas" were actually bite-sized hors-d'oeuvres bought frozen from the supermarket.  There were three "samosas" in all and so sparse in their filling that one contained only a single pea.A large woman was acting as manager that evening and not only was she condescending and combative, but she also pretended not to understand much of what I was saying.  I had to argue with her for over 15 minutes until she finally took the bottled water off the check (which they had taken back, unopened).  I regret having even paid for the paltry food we had received.  When I got the check, I realized they had charged me for two drinks that I hadn't even ordered.  This was not a mistake, but rather an effort to dupe me.  They had included an 18% gratuity on the check, which I refused to pay.On my way out, I heard another customer arguing with the manager about his check (they had also billed him for things that he hadn't ordered).  When he corrected this and went to pay with a credit card, the manager said that their credit card machine was broken.  When the man persisted, saying that he had absolutely no cash, she relented and charged the card without problem.This place is a disgrace and it ruined the night for my friends and me.  There is no reason to come here unless you want to support a dishonest business.

by Charde S.

I wasn't really surprised to find this place absolutely packed on a Saturday night. The wait for a table was minimal which was a plus. Once we were seated the waiter took our order for the food and the hookah. The cafe itself is a bit on the small side and a little too dark for my liking. Felt like I was in someones basement.The hookah was good, although we had to send it back for a new one because the hose/filter seemed to be clogged. The food was good. Typical middle eastern fare. I had the Chicken Tikka Masala. The experience as a whole wasn't negative. Next time I'd try one of the more upscale hookah bars with a more relaxed and less "party" atmosphere.