Prince Cafe

by shieva r.

I've been here a couple times and it seems to be one of the better Prince Cafe's as far as food is concerned. The hookah seems to be the same from one Prince to the other though.My big issue:One night a few friends and I decided to stop by for some good ol' fashion hookah to end the evening on a good note.... the weather was amazing so we took a seat outside and ordered our hookah and some food. We were having a good time, relaxing, talking, just enjoying the evening.... then it became time to go; we asked for the check. We got the check and everyone stared for a while, confused. "Um guys, why do we have a 20% additional charge?"We asked, the answer was we had to pay an additional charge to sit outside!!! To sit in uncomfortable cheap metal chairs!!!! Something about the owners having to pay additional therefore we were paying additional... whatever.This made me angry, if it wasn't for the waiter being such a good guy, feelin' our pain and even chipping in on our owner bashing(he was really into that), who knows what i would've done!!Now this isn't an awful place, I'll most likely be back again one day but next time oh next time you wont catch me sitting outside!

by Lo G.

The actual place itself it pretty grimy and run down with burns in the tables from the shisha.The wait staff have good days and bad days about getting the orders right, but the food itself is above average.  The bread is great and the buttered chicken is a favorite with the people I work with.

by Khalid S.

Wow! There's only one review and they seem to hate this place already lol... I thought the Shisha was worth it, and even the appetizers were alright. Service was definitely below average. No one would come and take our order, so my buddy and I started looking pissed, in the end the manager himself came and took our order which was nice I guess. We had Falafel and Gebneh Bil Tamatem which were both good. We went on a Sat. night, and the place was packed. Nice, lively atmosphere!

by Fuz K.

Shady.... We walk in there on a Sunday afternoon, after shopping in Georgetown, and we wanted to relax and smoke some hookah. There were two other patrons in there. There was no one at the counter or anywhere to be seen that was serving the customers.We waited too long (I forgot exactly how long) for the guy to finally show up from the back, take our order, then come back with our hookah, only to forget that I ordered a water. Then when we were ready for our check the guy was nowhere to be found again.Not only that, the place is simply a dump with crappy tables, chairs and wall "art".This is not the hookah lounging experience anyone would want.

by Robert F.

This review is based on the hookah and water only.  I did not eat food here. Here are my grievances:1. A small bottle of poland spring water costs $3.002. The hookah tobacco that was suggested to us the waiter had absolutely no flavour.  He told us it was the chocolate/strawberry flavour.  I tastes none of those things. 3. The bathroom is horrible.  Slimy, greasy, throbbing and pulsating with some kind of nauseating, primordial vitality is how I'd like to describe it.  4. A man who appeared to the be owner sat high on the hog outside with his victims, I mean customers, as he goofed around with a laptop and funds from $3.00 bottled waters flowed into his online accounts.  He had the audacity to park his BMW on the curbside and bark orders to his slave/employee. If you are drunk and your senses are dull, it might be worth stopping by for smoke or two.  Otherwise, be more respectful of your own intelligence by visiting a more humane environment.

by Candace H.

A recent compliment prompted me to check out my review and update according to experiences in the last year.I've been grateful to find several better shisha places than Prince.  However, I still afford Prince three stars because it reminds me of an authentic Egyptian institution - grimy floors, bad food, wide range of patrons, walls covered in smoke residue.On the other hand - there is an Egyptian woman who has been working there at least since last summer and is happy to accommodate me should I need to engage in a bout of nostalgia about Cairo or speak to someone in egyptian Arabic.  They always have mango juice on-hand, and Melody Arabia plays front and center.  My love for Prince is simply based on all of its hole-in-the-wall features... I've embraced its ugliness.Prince of Georgetown used to be the only shisha spot in the area - until Zenobia opened up and kicked up the competition.  Zenobia doesn't have indoor shisha space, so on a cold winter night in Georgetown, Prince is the place to be.  Unless you want to hit up Mate.  Other than that, Georgetown night life is dead to me. This Prince Cafe location is one of the better ones in the area.The space is huge.  The waiters…

by Kirkles A.

I think this place keeps in business because it's really the only hookah option in Georgetown. Typically, I avoid Hookah bars because I own my own pipe and smokes cost $1 max, as opposed to $12 in an establishment.  I went to the Prince because I happened to be in G-town with a friend and we both had a craving for some tobacco.  It took the waiter about 10 minutes to realize that we were seated despite the fact the the cafe was not crowded in the least.  He took our orders with the requisite $10/person minimum and then took another 10 min to bring our hookah and drinks. The shisha itself was dry and flavorless.  The smoke was thin and weak and reminiscent of when I've tried to use tobacco that had been dried out for a few days.  Basically, it was a waste of $20 and an hour.  I'd definitey never return and I don't feel bad saying so.  This place doesn't even make an attempt at an inviting atmosphere or quality product.  Avoid at all costs!

by Meg G.

3.5 stars because I get the feeling that this spot is serving up a little authenticity, and not so much concerned about impressing its patrons with ambiance or memorable experiences.  This is not one of the more famed hookah joints that you find in Adams Morgan or northern VA.  However, when in Rome (Georgetown).... So stop by, and try it for yourself.  I've never ordered real food here.  Occasionally I'll get a side of fries, and I always order tea.  When smoking shisha outside of a friend's house, or in any restaurant/bar that many people frequent - tis best to keep the flavors you order simple.  Don't go in here trying to get some mango/passion fruit and then wonder why you feel queasy at the end of the night.  There are music videos for entertainment at night.  Unless you're going solo, it's best to just enjoy the company of your friends and get a break from all the window-shopping/perusing you've done during the day.

by Chlo S.

I usually come here for the hookah, and for that I like the place. Their flavors are good, I'm a fan of the non-fruity varieties they have. Ordering food can be a hit or miss, like other people said service can be beyond lacking and things tend to be overpriced. The minimum charge also makes it harder for a larger group to hang out- everyone has to get something, you can't all just share a hookah or two and get out. (Which I guess is their point, but still)

by Stephanie T.

I would seriously rejoice if this place burned to the ground tomorrow.I stopped in just last night for a bit of lounging, tea, and hookah for my friend's 21st birthday. Our night had started off on a great note until we convened here for a post-fete hookah session. Ideally, this could have been the perfect night cap to our lovely outing, had the atrocious waitstaff at Prince Cafe not sabotaged it.Let's start with the atmosphere. Prince Cafe Georgetown is the perfect setting for an independent film about European low-lives. (I am NOT, however, suggesting that those who dine at Prince fall into that stereotype.) I'm instantly reminded of the scene from Danny Boyle's Trainspotting where Ewan McGregor's character desperately dives into "the worst toilet in Scotland" to retrieve opium suppositories for his final hit. The dim, blue-tinted, flickering fluorescents lend themselves to creating this unpleasant environment, along with the generally derelict facilities.(Not to mention, their WC is comparable to "the worst toilet in Scotland". This might just be "the worst toilet in the District".)Once seated, the eight of us ordered an array of teas, hookahs, and drinks, totaling to approximately $50-60. Upon ordering, we were instantly (and rudely) reminded by our waiter that the minimum order was $10/person. Ridiculous. Prince Cafe is a grimy hookah lounge that just so happens to serve food - not an upscale dining experience with hookahs on the side. It appears that they failed to remember their place in the restaurant food chain.But I digress. We politely explained our situation to the waiter who dramatically acted as if this was a huge inconvenience to him and his shithole-of-a-dive and pretended to accommodate us by "letting it go just this time". (Let's get real here - why would we want to eat two dinners? This place doesn't even serve alcohol, what the hell would we spend $10/each on?) We thanked him and apologized for not realizing the policy beforehand (sorry, we don't scrutinize the fine print of the menus of every restaurant we dine in). Instead of accepting our apology and truly being accommodating, he scowled at us and REPEATEDLY reminded us of this asinine policy throughout the hour we stayed there. Not only was it repeated at least four times, he pressured us to buy more drinks, get desserts, more hookahs, etc. I honestly cannot understand how someone would be dense enough to think that this selling tactic would actually work.It's a shame that our experience had to put a damper on our fine evening. The most infuriating part of all this is reading the similar reviews and realizing that this isn't just a one-time fluke - Prince Cafe Georgetown just sucks 24/7/365.Postscript: Sorry I didn't have much to say about the food/hookah/whatever. I only tried their tea and hookah and both were pretty run-of-the-mill. For $10/person, you could just buy a freaking hookah to split with your friends.