by Sarah M.
I went with Cindy L. to Hookah Bar and Oxygen Bar last weekend.The place was a little hard to find, but parking was available just a block away, which I was pleased with for a Saturday night.The sign *is* microscopic, but it had to be where it is based on the address, so it's not impossible to find.So up the stairs we went, expecting to find your normal quality hookah lounge...like, the kind you sit around a table on which they put the hookah, on comfy cushions at floor level...good mood music, good service, and chill atmosphere.Well, let's just say that very little of that was to be had at this fine establishment.The first two distinguishable factors where the blaring rap music and darkness punctuated by a laser light show. Their was a dance floor that spanned probably 3/4 of the space in the room, and about 10 black men freestylin' at the far end of the floor.We were greeted by the two friendly bartenders, a blonde-haired couple in their late 20's-early 30's that gave off a sort of early-90's alternative vibe. We asked if we were indeed at the hookah bar, as that was certainly not readily apparent. We were escorted to the dark back corner, where there was a single 20 foot (or so) bench, circled around an open-faced concrete box with 3-foot walls, in which about 10 hookahs sat. (Having done some hookah pricing recently, these were mid-range hookahs of the quality you find in most hookah establishments, in case you care).The female bartender told us that they'd started a hookah (for her and the other bartender, I surmised) about an hour before and that we were welcome to smoke it, though we found it was mostly out by then. We purchased a $12 orange-flavored hookah (great price compared to other places I've hoohahed). Not sure what brand they used, but it was a little more tobacco-y and less orange-y then I've had, but mostly pleasant (though I found myself nicotine-buzzed beyond recognition much sooner than other hookah blends, which kind of sucked because I was done long before it burned out).The bartenders were very pleasant and checked on us frequently, but not so frequently that it was over-the-top. A few minutes in, the male bartender brought us a round of redheaded sluts on the house, which I thought was really nice. My friend and her boyfriend both bought drinks, which I'm told were generously strong and decently priced (they were $5 a piece, I believe).Overall the experience was ok, but not something I'd necessarily care to do again. The rapping going on at the other end of the bar didn't fit with the mood I was looking for in a hookah experience, and though rife with language and content I wouldn't really seek in music, these guys were fairly talented freestylers. A couple of them were drunk and came over to bug us, which made me a little uncomfortable, but not enough to feel unsafe. I felt disappointed that the place seemed like it was once a bona fide hoohah lounge (and dude, despite having hookah in their name, they no longer had oxygen) that sold out to become more of a run of the mill club (and I realize it was likely a financial decision to draw in enough customers the keep the place open, or diversify as the bartender put it).So basically, if you're ok with the atmosphere being atypical for a hookah bar, then you might enjoy it.
by Cindy L.
I had a hard time choosing what kind of bar this place should be--should it be a lounge, what it is supposed to be, or a dive bar, what we really experienced? I had such a great time at at Kasbah in Austin (http://www.yelp.com/bi...) that I raved and raved about it to my pals here in Houston. We decided to partake on a little adventure and seek out the hookah bars here in Houston. I probably should've just looked on yelp before doing this (there was a whole thread about the dearth of hookah bars: http://www.yelp.com/to...), but someone found a place on citysearch and mentioned this place in downtown, so we decided to give it a shot. And hey, the place's name has the words hookah and oxygen in it, so how can we be wrong?We were wrong. Okay, well, not totally. This wasn't the nice, dimly lit, warm, spacious, and relaxing atmosphere that I expected. We looked up directions and some website said it was "across" from Cabo. We walked around a little bit and FINALLY found it. The sign was TINY! The sign said "O2 bar" and in tiny font "hookah lounge" on the bottom. There were a couple of dudes hanging outside. We thought they were the bouncers by the way they were dressed...but they said the bar was actually upstairs. When we walked upstairs...we were in for a shocker...The place was cold and pitch black, except for the laser and disco lights. They were BLARING rap music, and about 9-10 black guys (no women) were just chilling out, freestylin', and dancing. Other than that the place is really empty and dead. We 3 looked at each other with "WTF IS THIS" faces. The place was really tiny. The majority of the bar was the dance floor. I finally got the nerve to ask the bartender if they had hookahs, and he said yeah, and pointed to the back. We timidly walked back and there was a small lounge area with a booth and 4 hookahs in a pit in the middle. I asked him through the blaring music how much and he replied $10. I said, $10/person? He said no, $10 total. They already had one going that the 2 bartenders were hitting. We sat down and they were pretty courteous. They asked us if the hookah was going alright, and we said we were having a hard time smoking it, and he put on more charcoals. They also let us hit the original one, but that one was slowing going out. We got an orange flavored one. The bartender came by and gave us a round of red-headed sluts, on the house. That was pretty nice, so we got a couple of really strong drinks for about $5 each. We took rounds smoking and watching the guys freestylin' and dancing as entertainment. The other girl bartender danced with them a few times. The bartenders consistently came by to check on us. The guy bartender sat down and hit the hookah with us. He said that the bar's trying to change its image so that more people would come. I'm not sure if the rap music and the freestylin' is a regular thing, but one thing's for sure, the place was pretty dead. I also asked him if they still had the oxygen bar, and he said that they took the oxygen masks out....and he smiled and said "they were fun!"We smoked until we were hacking up orange and got light-headed and left because it was just...ODD. I really would've given it 2 stars for the whole ambiance, but the bartenders' service makes up for it.
