Bohemian Hookah Cafe

I tend to go on binges of not coming here for a few months, but when I do, I’m reminded of why I love Bohemian so much. The atmosphere is very calming and comfortable. The staff is always helpful and I’ve never had to sit for more than five minutes before they bring out my hookah. Their prices are awesome, too!
If it’s your first time here, let me recommend a few things. First: time. If you want to relax and bring your laptop or read a book (or write a Unilocal review like I’m doing right now), it’s best to show up sometime before 8 o’clock. Because this place, while having a ton of couches and seating, fills up fairly quickly by 10 o’clock. Second: hookah flavors. My personal favorite is the Obama. It’s really refreshing and light. I’d also recommend any of their mint-​fruit combos, like watermelon or blueberry. Third: TRY THE TEAS. Any of them. And fourth: Blackie is the owner. He’s a cool guy and has a lot of stories to tell. If you have a chance, and if he has a chance, talk to him! You’ll be glad you did.
(Since I include my boyfriend in all of my reviews, I’d like to add that this is where we had our first date. It’s a good place to go on a date. I promise.)

We stop in here every year when we visit Cincinnati. It’s always worth the thirty minute drive from our hotel. Great atmosphere! Only thing I hate is the three coal limit and the refills are much more expensive than Sahara Hookah in Sharonville.

Nice place and very chill. Great baklava and excellent hookah.
It’s on 340 Ludlow these days. I’ve had hookahs in the Middle East and elsewhere and this place really hits the spot. It works for groups and singles and I’d definitely recommend it. Try the mint tea, too.
If you’re here alone, you could bring a book and enjoy your hookah in peace.

I absolutely love this place. The owner’s name is Blackie and he runs this place nice, clean and just a great place to hang out. With your friends or alone. The atmosphere is just relaxing.

My wife and I had the most insulting experience at this «café». We got ourselves some coffee and ginger chai and were told in the most arrogant, sarcastic, and insulting manner by the barista that there is just one table for «people like us» to sit. Apparently, you can sit on a couch only if you order hookah. It doesn’t matter if a bunch of freeloaders are sitting, some even enjoying outside food, because one of them ordered a hookah.
And did I mention: the coffee was only worth throwing down the drain.
Never ever again.

I’ve been coming to BoHo for years. Great hookah and great atmosphere. I come early in the day when it opens so I can get studying done. Blackie is the owner and makes sure you’ll have a great experience. Older and more sophisticated crowd. Highly Recommend this place to many others!

I love this place! Starting coming here a few years ago when a friend and I made an attempt to go to Gypsy and realized that place was no longer for us. I was surprise and happy to see Blackie when we arrived and he was gracious and kind as always, welcoming us to this new spot.
The hookah is always done right and they have the best mint tea EVER. I cannot come here without ordering it.
Minus one star for this new policy about 2 people per hookah. Never had an issue since it’s usally me and the bestie but I could see this being a problem if I bring more friends.

I will start out by saying that I love this place. My two friends and I have been regulars for about a year now and I love the atmosphere, the chai tea, and the friendly staff. However, recently they changed their rules so that you can only have 1 hookah for 2 people or 2 hookahs for 3 people. I usually don’t smoke much when I go, I just enjoy chatting with my friends in the awesome atmosphere. So when I heard this, I was really disappointed because even though I rarely smoke, we still needed 2 hookahs. I could understand it if they lowered the prices on them but they didn’t. Unfortunately we will be looking for a new hookah bar.

This might be my favorite hangout in the whole city! It’s super convient from almost anywhere, and close to many restaurants and shops. It’s not even the hookah’ing that makes this place
The Owner (Blackie) is the coolest man I know, he honestly takes the time to get to know you. The staff is amazingly hospitable, and knowledgeable!
Large selection of hookah flavors at a reasonable price. They serve amazing teas, with a great selection of desserts. The atmosphere here is very chill, and relaxing. Music is spot on, furniture is comfy (and clean), and I love the random films.
It’s apparent they value community — Local art, business cards and involvement with Clifton events. I’ve met so many many amazing and different people. It feels like a home away from home!

I really enjoyed this hookah bar and enjoyed talking with the owner nickname «blackie». He keeps his hookah very nice and clean. Also serves this kick ass mint tea. Every time I go there I get it. It’s pretty great. Sometimes it can get over packed at times due to the size of the place. But going during a week day you should be fine.

Great selection of clean hookahs (cleaned between every use), as a hookah enthusiast this place is definitely one of the top locations in the gaslight area.
The great hookah combined with a very reasonably priced combination of teas and sweets make Bohemia a pleasure to visit with friends or simply enjoy an evening with a book and a smoke.

Bohemian is easily one of my favorite places on earth. I walk in the door, and I swear my entire body exhales a giant sigh of relief. It’s comfortable, friendly, and always inviting.
Blackie, the owner, is no small part of this relief. He is attentive to everyone and constantly working to be sure everyone is well taken care of.
I noticed a recent slew of reviews (seemingly from the same group) of some patrons upset that the hookah policy is for no more than two people. For me, this policy is a good thing. It is part of what keeps the atmosphere intimate and comfortable, and provides enough room for everyone. Though I understand, when things change, it can be disconcerting — the policy makes sense to me. As the night goes on, Bohemian is so popular that is can be difficult to provide seating for everyone. And really, if you do that math — a hookah is only $ 12. Split between 2 people for 2 hours — it’s only $ 3 an hour per person — which I think is entirely fair. In fact, I would feel like I wasn’t doing my part as a respectful and appreciative patron if I didn’t at least pay that.
Seriously. I don’t know what I would do without Bohemian! It’s my stress relief, place of friendship, and home away from home. :)

I’ve been here countless times over the past 3 years. Never had a bad experience. The blends of hookah are delicious and the chai tea is better.
Recent reviews have accused management of being rude or even racist. I’ve never seen or heard of such a thing in my years here. Blackie is always professional.
I actually talked to Blackie about the rule change from 4 to 2 people per hookah. It’s because his shop is small (seats about 50). So seating is a premium and any wasted seats are lost revenue.
Interpreting a business model as rude or racist seems asinine to me. Blackie lives off profits from this business and has employees to pay. And the rule is enforced on everyone. Not a specific group of people.

The owner used to have a policy of minimum one hookah per 4 people. Now he has changed that to minimum one hookah per 2 people. You’re a party of three? You HAVE to purchase two hookahs. Your friends don’t smoke? Though luck. The owner expects you to have your friends smoke. Ridiculous. Over the past year I’d spent more than $ 400 in this café. I will not be going back.

There are some places where you are treated like sh*t and you never want to set foot again, Bohemian is one of them. I visited this place a few days back along with 3 more friends just to hang out. Only two of us were going to smoke and so we thought we would just take one hookah with two pipes. The other two were just going to have something to drink. We were told by our waitress in the harshest way possible that we will have to order two hookahs for the table since 4 of us were there. We told her that just two of us were going to smoke, but she wouldn’t agree. So we ended up taking a hookah for each of us and it doesn’t end there. The waitress was really harsh and mean when talking to us but was all smiles and really sweet to the people in the next table. All four of us sensed a hint of racism.
There are quite a few ok reviews here, but I’m not surprised because those people are from a different race. I do also find a lot of bad reviews here from people of my race. So ends up that these guys are totally racist after all.
I wonder how they’re still surviving around the UC area, which IMO is the most mixed race part of town! Never setting foot in racist places like these ever again!

My first time at Cincinnati and my friends took me to this place. First up I’ll be the first to admit a good Hookah place. They do serve well made hookahs. The undue initial friendliness is a mask to hide lapses in service levels, any request for water or beverage has to almost be made in an apologetic manner. The profanity of the language is also intolerable, if it’s amongst friends who understand well then it’s decent but not at first. The prejudice against certain races is borderline racist.
Apart from the hookah, which can be made ever so well at home, stay away if you want to have a good time.

I used to be a regular at Bohemian for an year. Me and my roommate used to hangout there 3 – 4 times a week and we loved it. The owner of the store, Blackie was a really friendly person back then. I moved to a new apartment and couldn’t visit the place for like 6 months. I was visiting Ludlow with my friends and we planned to go say hi to Blackie and hangout there. As soon as we enter, Blackie comes running to us and says some racist stuff like ‘You Indians are stingy’, ‘You guys need to get a hookah each if you want to stay here’, ‘This is what happens when you disappear for a year’ etc. This was totally out of the blue and totally unnecessary. We left the place immediately
as we weren’t even offered a place to sit. We then went to Gypsy café where we had a great time. I will never be visiting Bohemian again.

Very nice unique place, great hookah and the tea is outstanding, try orange mint flavor is awesome.

Best hookah bar I’ve been to in Cincinnati! Very laid back, chill atmosphere and nice crowd. The owner is wonderful. The hookahs are awesome. I love their tea too!

Pros
Low key environment.
Nice/​friendly service.
Multiple options for hookah flavors
Great tea
Cons
Dated furniture
When I went they played a really weird/​inappropriate movie