Cairo Nights

:(
R.I.P., Cairo Nights. You were responsible for some of the weirdest evenings of my life, and now that you’re gone, I have no idea what I’ll do on Saturday nights between 2:00 — 6:00am. Sleep, maybe?

The hookah is leaking, hardly any smoke. They weren’t following the limit on number of people allowed in so the Fire Marshal closed it down at 2:40am, 5 minutes after they took our cover charge. No refund.
People near by were having issues with their hookah leaking as well.

My first real Hookah experience was at Cairo and I enjoyed it. Took me a few tries to figure out how to inhale properly. I don’t really care for the flavors but blowing bubbles sure was fun. It was a great place to just chill and socialize with your friends. I actually prefer this over the typical bar scene. They open until 4am every day too. How great is that?
It gets quite busy on the weekends and the place is small. Might not be the best to bring in a huge group unless you don’t mind cuddling real close to each other. Cairo is not as swanky or fancy as other newer hookah lounges. Just very down to earth casual ambiance with an enthusiastic owner that will take good care of you.

Yo, here’s the ALL-​NIGHT breakdown!
— 44 Hookah flavors ALL NIGHT.
— ONLY $ 10 PER (with group) ALL NIGHT.
— YouTube music ALL NIGHT.
— Awesome hospitality ALL NIGHT.
— Kushy pillows ALL NIGHT.
— Blowing hookah bubbles ALL NIGHT.
And besides,
there’s a freakin’ Pyramid in their bathroom.
Check it out for yourself, ALL RIGHT!

ok, the hookahs are ok. the place is alright, the service is not too bad. But what the hell is up with the noise level.
My idea of a hookah lounge is go and chill and be able to carry on a good conversation with friends w/​o having to shout over laud music and/​or people. AND YES, it does get packed. I suppose that;s good for business, and good if you’re looking for that sort of atmosphere, but if you’re looking for a chill hookah spot, and Cairo Night is only place near by, then get there EARLY.

Hookah-​it up!
I’m no expert on hookah bars of smoking in general, but I’ve been here twice and had a ton of fun each time. The music is loud, the lights are off and everyone is always having a good time. Prices are decent, service is prompt and there are tons of tobacco options. If you’re not sure what to order, just as for a suggestion.

Hooray for Cairo Nights! and Unilocal,because if it weren’t for all of the good reviews on here we wouldn’t have made the trip from San Jose just to be in this legendary place. It is just like everyone says, loud, chill, and a blast! once you get in the hang of how to blow smoke filled bubbles your whole group will be having more fun than you thought you would at a hookah lounge! the owner is hilarious and very customer centric, he made sure we had hot coals and even brought us an extra hookah even though there was only four of us. much appreciated:) we were there for what felt like 30 minutes but in reality was 2 hours, we had to leave when our time was up but $ 10 for that long is for sure worth it. Once you get lightheaded you’re all gonna be in your own world, you’ll even feel more comfortable with the strangers around you. It was awesome, we will for sure be back soon:)
p. s. to find parking is a NIGHTMARE, be prepared.

Such a dirty place.
Loud annoying music that the customers get to change.
Annoying white girls pretending that this is a dance club.
Crowded and just plain dirty!

OMMGG!!! this place is fuckin ridiculous! Me & my 2 girlfriends went to here late at night considering it was the one hookah place in the area that closed at 4am so we thought HEY! gotta check this out…
little did we know it was a shit hole. Its as tiny as a closet! and the owner was DRUNK! and kept yelling «FUCK YEAH!!» joining the other under aged teenyboppersdrinking & smoking hookah. grinding on eachother .no room to walk an inch. smokey everywhere. music too loud. dirty EVERYWHERE tables floors etc.
dont bother…
If you come early MAYBE you would have a different experience. theres still HOPE!
Other cool hookah place in the area!!! HANDS DOWN MERRAKECH IN SF ON O’FARREL…LIVE BELLYDANCE, BAR, HOOKAH, YUMMY FOOD… CANT BEAT IT. CLASSY & YOU WONT BE DISSAPOINTED VERY AUTHENTIC ;)
G’LUCK

Last night me and couple of my friends head back to the Cairo Nights. This time even better than the last!!! :D We were at the Cairo Nights from 12:30 am to 3am and boy did we party our butts off! Me and a couple of the peepz and had come with started dancing accompanied by the music which was hooked to my iPod. The crowd was very interactive and we had tons of fun… like Khaled would say, «F#$k Yahhh!!».
This place is now my favorite San Francisco hot spot to take friends and buddies. My experience the hookah bars in the Haight Ashbury neighborhood are CRAP! Their are only boring and dull hookah bars around there. If your someone looking for a good time with an energetic environment, then Cairo Nights is for you! See you soon Mahmoud and Khaled!

I’m definitely a fan of this place. Its small but its poppin’… Lots of young beautiful people running around, music blastin, people just enjoying themselves. The owner is super friendly… :)
The best place to go after the club because they are open until 4:30am…

Some awesome things in life, by Christina Y:
1. Citrus mint hookah. Any kind of hookah, really.
2. BYOB… and pouring a nice cold Modelo into a paper coffee cup. Mmmm.
3. Lounging on carpets (I choose not to think about what’s happened on these carpets) and beanbags in public.
4. The owner acting as DJ, or should I say YTJ, as his idea of a soundtrack was just clicking different YouTube videos to blast music in the place.
5. Cairo Nights. Go here!

My hookah cherry was officially popped last night. It was as special as I would have imagined thanks to Cairo Nights.
B-​Y-​O-​and-​B are pretty much the 4 greatest letters in the English alphabet and they got all four of them on lock. There is a liquor store across the street and CN has cups for patrons getting their drink on in between puff sessions.
The owner is all so a superb DJ with a set list as far as the confines of YouTube can stretch. This is really fun because he’ll play any request you have as long as there is a video of it.
I’m not much for smoking so I can’t really give a detailed explanation of the tobacco products, but I can say that the atmosphere and staff make this an awesome hangout.

Cairo, you indeed deserve my 5 star rating. The owner is so so nice, I love him! The atmosphere here is extremely laidback and friendly, and the music is pumpin’. If you want, you can just go to the back and change up the music yourself. Everyone dances and parties on the floor, it’s so fun!
It’s really easy to make friends here and just have a chat with your neighbors, and I’ve never felt so alive and myself until I come here!
The hookah flavors are nice, the owner was upset at me because I downgraded the place by 1 star hahaha, and he told me that if I don’t like a flavor, let him know and he’ll do what he can to get that 5 star rating.
Well really, Cairo deserves it. Excellent service, great price, nice flavors.
Well the first flavor I tried wasn’t a good mix, it was Coconut and Guava… I don’t get why my friends asked for that.
That wasn’t acceptable, so the owner gave us White Peach. YUM.
I have a great time coming here, except that one night recently my friend just randomly collapsed and was dragged outside (for fresh air). And everyone thought it was me!!! So embarrassing gosh.
Anyway, it’s $ 13 per hookah, $ 13 for mix, and $ 7 for refills. Owner gave us discount of $ 15 because he loves us so much and we love him too. =)

Shisha, hookah, nargeilah, whatever you want to call it, I’ve partaken a few times while traveling overseas and it’s always been a fun experience. This was my first try in San Francisco and since it gets top reviews on Unilocal,I was sure my truly shisha addicted friend and I would both love Cairo Nights.
We came a bit early and ended up missing out on the crowd, which meant that while we got the coveted window seats with the cushions on the floor, we were pretty much the only ones around.
The shisha was cheap at $ 13 each with Starbuzz brand tobacco used. The shishas themselves were old and broken down looking, and possibly dirty too. We were given plastic wrapped tips to smoke out of, which made us both feel better. Still, lemon mint tasted just like apple which meant that it hadn’t been cleaned out properly.
The tea we ordered was not really minty and rather than being served in a teapot, it was given to us in paper cups with lids and sleeves.
Khalid was very nice and accommodating to my friend’s numerous requests for a smoother shisha, and he all but admitted that most customers have no idea what is good and what isn’t, so he doesn’t normally bother. But he was a good sport and my friend’s teasing in Arabic didn’t bother him too much.
It was also a really nice surprise to find that Khalid had knocked 50% off of our bill thanks to my adorable Egyptian friend who totally put him on edge. For that alone, I’d probably come back and try again, this time later on in the night to see what the crowd is like.

When I first wrote about my fantastical night here, I t’was a Cairo Nights virgin. No mas!
I’ve been back so many times it’s kinda ridiculous so an update was necessary. Where else would I go from 2−4am without Cairo?
There are 58 mentions of Khalid on here thus far, and by all means Khalid is the man. I can roll in with people everywhere and I know it’s only going to be seconds before he belts out «Justin!!!» Makes me all gushy inside.
But an unsung hero of this place is Eddie. If you’ve been here he’s likely kept your coals locked and loaded all night long, hooked you up with a glass of water perhaps, and he always offers a warm welcome as well. Eddie, this update is for you, you’re 5 stars just like Khalid bro, keep it up.

As I get older, I am always up for alternatives to SF clubbing. When hookah was suggested for a birthday outing, I jumped at the chance.
Cairo Nights has been hot on Unilocal for a long, long time. We finally came out to see what the hype was about.
Good thing we made reservations. The place gets PACKED and HEATED! So packed that we kept having to squeeze in, and the someone one of us got their seat taken away? No good.
As previous Unilocalers have mentioned, $ 13 for every hookah, maximum two people per hookah. We had a party of 10+ and ordered five: cola, kiwi strawberry, sour apple, white peach, and Cairo Nights fruit mix. $ 70 lasted us for two+ hours, and gave us many hilarious photos to remember the night.
Also when I walked in, I saw a lot of tables with coffee cups. Then we pulled out our 12 pack of beer and realized duh, we had to pour the beer into the cups and then hide it under the table.
One restroom for the entire place. No lock. I had to push the mop in front of the door for safety precautions.
Shady, but cheap. Go at your own risk!

I know that people often express the sentiment that they could live in a bar, but I could ACTUALLY live here. I mean, the place is roughly the size of my NYC apartment, and a lot more fun.
Khalid, the proprietor of this tiny establishment, would be my roommate. We would get along great. Khalid is a big fan of Akon, Michael Jackson, the Backstreet Boys, Ludacris… so if you know me, you know that is all I listen to. Like, ever.
His excitement is so contagious; if at any point you ask him how he’s doing, you’ll get back and emphatic «Awesome!» And you believe it, because Khalid IS doing awesome.
Sure, he might drop a coal every once in a while. So what if it burns a hole in the sheepskin rug in the front; spray a little air freshener… it’s all good. I’m no neat freak. As long as he puts the cap back on the toothpaste, I won’t piss in his hamper.
Either way, you should definitely come hang out. We don’t have anything to eat or drink, but our place is BYO anything. Feel free to pick up some beer, wine, Thai food, whatever you need and bring it on in. The wi/​fi is free too, because you know I can’t live without the internets.
You might smell a bit like hookah when you leave. OK, you might stink of it. But the shisha was top-​notch, the company was great, and you had a fucking blast. So quit your whining.

God Bless Jessica, for turning this non-​shisha smoking sista (yes, you can still love this place even if you don’t smoke) into a devotee of Khalid, the owner of this tiny hookah lounge in the Trendyloin.
Things I love about Cairo Nights:
— Khalid is always in super high spirits and is so welcoming to everyone.
— It’s open from 4pm to 4am, and Khalid runs the whole thing by himself 7 days a week.
— Free wi-​fi so you can Unilocal all you want from 4pm to 4am.
— BYOB AND BYOGrub. Bring in food from across the street, A La Turca or Osha.
— Ikea shag carpet by the window, perfect for a big group to lounge on. I hope that thing never catches on fire.
— Candles/​décor are from ROSS. I know, because the price tags are clearly still attached.
— Music playlist includes AKON and Michael Jackson. With some Backstreet Boys thrown in for good measure.
— Everyone is just really chillaxed.
To sum it up in one word? AWESOME.

It’s often the places which I adore, and I mean truly adore, that I have the hardest time writing about.
Cairo Nights is the type of place that I hope continues to stay under the radar (because it’s super tiny), but it’s also the type of place that I feel it is my Unilocal duty — to make sure it continues to exist, by being one of many to help spread the word about it.
Cairo Nights takes me back to Doha, Qatar. Easily.
I was first introduced to this place last night –by my co-​worker Alex.
The owner Khalid is Egyptian and knows his stuff. He’s hilarious, young, adorable and charming. He welcomes people in with open arms. He’ll let you pick the music if you ask (he’s a huge fan of Michael Jackson, Hip-​hop (Akon, Eminem,) Bob Marley, and other catchy stuff). He’ll let you bring in food and drinks. He’s all about people really enjoying their time in Cairo Nights — so there’s no pressure to hurry up. The shisha is amazing and top quality — and shipped in from Egypt (there are probably about 30 unreal flavors). The pipes and pillows are also all shipped in from Egypt. They have free wi-​fi (yes, you read that right, free wi-​fi) and — above all — the prices are right. You can split a pipe for 13 dollars. A pipe that will last you all night (Khalid will also make sure to constantly check in on you to make sure the coals are restocked and burning properly.)
The flavor we tried was citrus mint — which was a dream to smoke. Light and refreshing. But with a kick. Even if you don’t smoke shisha (it’s not necessarily the best of habits) — you can still enjoy the fun intimate atmosphere here)
Oh and the coolest part about this place.
Get ready…
Are you ready yet?
It opens at 4:00 pm and closes at 4:00am. Yup. If you’re tired of bars, and hangovers — take your mellow butt over to Cairo Nights. Be sure to bring a pack of cards, some food, and some water — and get ready to talk and puff the night away at Cairo Nights.
AWESOME!