Cafe Mawal

Great vibe, good hookah, and great service! Haven’t been here in few years but I can see lots has changed. Renovated everything!!! I love the coal guys are on Point, Jason the manager is the MAN! Always checking on us and everyone else! The Waiter, wish I remembered the name was very polite and the food was also delicious. Last I’d like to comment on the Valet with it being so busy and they only have one way in and one way out of there back lots where most of the cars seem to fit. My honest true opinion is that they do a wonderful Job and give a heck of a service. Also they except credit cards by the way where most valet don’t so that’s a plus. If you have any problems ask for Amir the valet manger was very helpful to all departing guests. Defiantly must visit spot in Galleria Area overall have my Recommendation to EVERYONE.
Oooooh Goooooood fresh juices BTW forgot to mention!

This is walkable distance from my apartment but I never tried. Last night me and my husband thought of trying some hookahs and walked in. I must say it is the best place to hangout at nights. They have good flavors to choose and food is OK as my taste buds are too specific for non veg. I would definitely recommend this place and we will plan to visit again.

Best place ever to relax and enjoy your night.
We went me and 3 of my friends on a Saturday night. We had a blast everything was on point.
Delicious food and fresh juices and hookah was omg just amazing.
Hint: Ask for the manager his name is (KASSIM) if I’m not mistaking he does the best hookah mixes.
Plus he made sure we were happy since we got there till we left even tho he brought us some charcoal himself because the hookah runners were busy how sweet!
Amazing experience definitely will be back again!

Bruh. This place is the bomb diggity. The atmosphere is absolutely amazing. Everyone’s having a good time and happy. DJ plays some good music. The food is absolutely delicious as well. Some of the best Mediterranean I’ve had in Houston. Had the mixed cabob and wow. So much flavor in every bite. Bread is also nice and fresh. Not stale like other places. Everyone should come here and try this place. Oh. They also have hookah ;)

Great Ambiance. Good service and definitely must visit for Hookah and Outdoor seating. After reading all the reviews, as of the last 6 months this place has changed. World of a difference renovated the place much better Service from the waiters to the Valet guys. Its worth paying the $ 5 if you ask me because of the busy crowds nearby.

First of all, I want to comment on the great vibe this place gives off when you first enter through the back parking lot. I really like how there are more private, relaxing sections with booths and then larger, more open areas to sit and dine under the lights. Great spot to hang out with friends or nice date night!
This was our first time here and we were visiting from out of town– we were unsure whether to seat ourselves or wait to be greeted by someone and escorted to a table. It was just inconvenient to have to find a server in the building to only find out we seat ourselves. There should be a sign that guides us to do so
Good priced hookahs. Our server was somewhat helpful with the flavors. The house mixes should have a description of what’s in them to help both the server and customer out. I think she just started guessing after a point because there are so many flavors in them. We got the WOW flavor, which my boyfriend liked but I didn’t. But it smoked well though and the coal guy was always around, which we appreciated a lot.
The food was good. We got the cold appetizer, which I would save my money and just stick with the hummus dish next time. The chicken Schwarma (spelling?) was a little small, but reallyy good and very filling. Our server didn’t smile once, but was attentive.
Overall, I would come here again. It’s a really nice place to dine and chill, the bathrooms are very clean, the staff is attentive, reasonably priced dishes and hookahs. Everything was good, although I really do wish our server at least tried to fake smile :|
Heads up: 15% gratuity is added to your check. It was just us two, so I’m not sure why it’s added for a small table. We normally tip much more than that so I was disappointed to see that

So I went here the other night after a friend of mine was raving about the outdoor patio, I read reviews before I went for sure and I was very Impressed with the whole experience. The atmosphere is Amazing and the food was Good! Nice diverse music and the service was on point. The Charcoal guys came very often to make sure we were ok and the manager Jason also came over as well an Introduced himself and let us know if we needed anything to let him know, while the place was packed!!! Now that’s service! Our Server Bash was the best very polite and didn’t mess up a single thing on our order, Seriously. Also last thing I read all the reviews about the Valet parking Issues and Honestly I have to give them a shout out on this Very Nice and polite guys and actually worth paying to park instead of the hassle of trying to find parking in the Area as it looks like the surrounding areas are busy as well!
Café Mawal has my recommendations for anyone looking for a cool hangout spot, to take the family or just go to actually have Mediterranean style food. Oh yea Very good Smoothie to.

I would give Café Mawal a 5 if it weren’t for two things: Terrible Customer Service and the Hookahs aren’t as good as they used to be. I don’t know why the Hookah isn’t great any more. Maybe they don’t clean the hookahs? I’m not sure.
The waitresses don’t frequent our table and so I have called the store to remind the staff of our Soda refill that was requested 10 minutes prior to me calling or we would have to get up and go inside to talk to the staff. This is my main concern. I can’t stress this enough. I don’t know what I have to do or say to catch the owner’s attention and have him address this issue.
The food is amazing and the Garlic Sauce is pure crack. They have a playground, which is perfect because most my friends have kids. They previously renovated so everything looks 10 times better than before. I am really impressed with the physical improvements to the place.
Oh and parking isn’t the best, but it isn’t a big deal if you go when it isn’t busy. Otherwise, they charge $ 5 for Valet. Before it was cash only, but they take card now.

Poor service. Bad food. Very expensive. Charge for water. Not a whole lot to say. Used to be a great experience but this time lots of staff just sitting around very unhelpful. Hookah came out with soap in the water. Mandatory tip.

This is the worst establishment I have ever stepped a foot into. Terrible service, horrible management, Bathroom situation is a joke! Unsanitary and disgusting! The play ground is hazardous and dangerous for children, I am truly shocked that it’s open for business. I can’t even touch on the valet parking situation (yes, it’s that BAD) — There’s no way possible that this place compliant with any of the city’s rules and regulations. This was def. my first and LAST visit. This is a misrepresentation of what Arabs stand for.

DO NOT LET THEM VALET YOUR CAR!
A friend of mine invited me here last week. The valet drivers severely scratched the paint and dented the front passenger door of my car all the way past the back passenger door of my car and not one of them said a word to me. Went back to the establishment the next morning — left my name and number for management/​owners to call me and still haven’t heard a word from them. Bad business…

Horrible horrible service. Our waitress didn’t pay attention at all and instead was busy chit chatting with her fellow coworkers. Very disappointed by that. Also it’s pretty ridiculous that they don’t offer tap water.
Got the Arabian shawarma and it honestly was really dry and bland; but I came in pretty hungry so i helped myself to more than half of it.
On a brighter note, the hookah flavors are the only thing that’s going to keep me coming back. I’ve been recommended the pan flavored hookah for so long so I went ahead and got it. We decided to mix a pan and blueberry flavor, and I honestly was not disappointed. The «hookah guys» kept coming around and changing our coal, so it wasn’t the same «smoothness» (not sure if that’s the correct terminology but oh well) throughout. I would recommend you tell them not to change the coal and to rather just blow off the ash yourself.

We had an awesome waiter, wish I got his name):
The outdoor seating is very nice at night. We all got gyros and I fell in love. Great quality/​flavor hookah as well. Only negative thing was the hummus wasn’t anything to write home about. Definitely will be coming back though.

Nice environment, great workers, but terrible hookah. I got a watermelon head with paan blueberry. The paan was too strong so I asked the waiter to take it back and fix it. He brought it back and it tasted the exact same. Also got a regular hookah with «Lexus» mint. I’ve had better.

Hookah = Good
Food = Good
Service = Hit or miss always have to flag people down.
Parking = A CLUSTER F**K mandatory valet 7 days a week, and the entrance is jam packed. Accidents waiting to happen due to amount of bars in the area with a bunch of shady a$$ people walking around.
Trickery = These fools add mandatory gratuity on every single check even if it’s just two people. Been coming here for years but if you’re not careful you’re tipping twice. It’s just included in the receipt if you don’t look closely. I’m a good tipper and that means I’ve been tipping 35% in the past. Don’t appreciate that

Great ambiance to relax, hang out, and smoke hookah outdoors. Taking off one point because they refused to serve tap water.

This is a great hang out spot for a casual weekend. You can decide between sitting outdoor or inside. I love the setting outside; the place is covered with trees and canopies, which gives the place a mystical atmosphere. There is a DJ and a dance floor; occasionally they will have belly dancers. The food is pretty good. I order falafel vegetarian plate with three sides potatoes, Mediterranean salad and hummus for 12.95. Cool hangout spots will be coming back soon!

This place has been around for many years and has always been a popular hangout spot for the younger generation crowd. The food is average, but I think people mostly come here for the hookahs and the atmosphere, which is their main attraction. I’m not sure if management changed or not since I’m not a regular but I went there last night on a very busy Saturday night, and it was quite packed to the point where I had to give them my name and party size to wait for a table. I was told initially that it would be a 15 – 20 min wait, but I think we got a table within 10 mins even though there was only two of us out of our 8 party group.
Their menus are good and to the point and pretty well laid out. Service, which was an issue in the past from what I remember, has improved a lot. All the waitstaff made their rounds often and checked in on us even though they were packed! Overall, I was satisfied with the service, but I think the atmosphere and hanging out with your friends enjoying the time makes up for other things that they may be lacking.

The giant-​ness of the outside patio was a pleasant surprise! And within that giant patio is a variety of seating options from floor cushions to large group to small group to regular tables, covered and uncovered. You get the point. Prices are reasonable for both food and hookah.
They have a big stage for live music and dancing. There’s even a small playground for the kids? (I saw the playground-​in-​hookah-​bar thing while traveling to the Arab world and thought it was funny there, but maybe it’s just smart). There were a lot of families the night I went, so this place really does cater to all. FYI, no alcohol served here, but come to enjoy the food (and hookah, if that’s your thing).

I’ve always dreamed of finding the perfect place to lounge around, smoke hookah, eat, and catch up with friends on a chill night. I was really hoping Café Mawal was that place because of its awesome atmosphere. (MORE IMPORTANTLY, THEY HAVE A RESIDENT CAT! HEHEHE #crazycatlady) The interior is a renovated house, which is very spacious and clean in itself, but why settle for being indoors when you could enjoy the crisp night air outside on the patio beneath dangling tea lights or lounge on the sofa inside one of their large Turkish tents? If you’re looking for the full effect, go with the latter, friends. Because you haven’t really «chilled» until you find yourself blowing O’s on a sofa inside a freaken tent.
Sadly, other than the atmosphere and tail-​less yet pretty kitty (I think the bobtail adds to her charm anyway), Mawal is so-​so. The hookah’s usually good (their specialty Watermelon or Pineapple shisha is aesthetically pleasing, but pricey) and can get pretty strong, but I haven’t experienced any problems with asking staff to knock off some coals. Food is decent; their garlic sauce is like crack. I usually stick with something simple like shawarma, but their kabob platters look big and delicious too.
Now, where Mawal really sputters is when it comes to their service and parking. Don’t expect fast service here. Food comes out slowly, and since there’s usually only 1 – 2 servers working, you don’t get checked on too often — especially if you’re sitting outside. When a server finally does drop by though, you damn well better make it count! In regards to parking, the whole situation is super annoying and confusing. Here’s the deal: they have a small front lot –where you have no idea where to park because cars are literally packed in everywhere– and then there’s a huge back lot, which you may or may not be charged to park in. In the past, I’ve managed to speed past the valet booth (seemingly abandoned, at the time) and park for free. Other patrons, however, weren’t so lucky and dealt with staff chasing them down to pay. So… may the odds be ever in your favor with that one.
When it comes to this place, I think it really depends on your mood. If you’re trying to avoid loud crowds at the more popular hookah places like Mary’z or Café Layal, are in no particular rush, and you just want to chill in one of the tents to people-​watch (or looking for free cat cuddles), Café Mawal just might be what you’re looking for.