Habibi Cafe — Restaurant in Alamo Heights

No one greeted us when we walked in and when the waitress finally came over she said, with an irritated tone, we could just sit wherever. So we went to sit outside since the tent area was being used for hookah and neither of us smoke. When the waitress then came to us, she first forgot to bring menus and when she came back and handed them to us, she asked what we wanted and didn't bother to describe the menu or what was offered (but interestingly, they don't have tap water here - only water bottles). We got our food, which was excellent, but about half way through our meal, some patrons from inside the restaurant decided to come outside from where they were smoking hookah and proceed to light up cigarettes upwind of where we eating. The waitress even came and gave them extra beers, but no consideration for us who were trying to eat our meal smoke free. We finished up quickly and then walked to the front to pay and leave.

In conclusion, great food, but the staff and patrons were not what we expected. Recommend listing this restaurant as a hookah bar...

Quality service, affordable, it's my favorite hookah in town - and I've tried MANY. I've been here a few times now and every single time has been lovely. The service is friendly and knowledgeable. Our servers are always sweet and quick to recommend any food or shisha flavors if we're being indecisive. Every time, they're great recommendations. I've had the house hot tea, and it's delicious. The hummus is simple and creamy - a fave. Their Greek salad is only $5 and it's probably my favorite thing. The hookah is only $15 for starbuzz which is totally reasonable, especially for the quality of service you're getting along with it. The only cons I have are that there's a 2 person limit per hookah. I can understand a limit, but 2 is too few. 3 would make more sense to me. If my 2 friends and I come, one of us has to have a hookah completely to ourselves. It's just not ideal. Pro tip: they are BYOB with a cover charge. $10 for each case of beer and $15 per bottle of whatever. Try this place out....

I hardly ever leave bad reviews, but I have to for this place. We've driven by this place countless times and decided to give it a shot. Immediately, we were taken aback by the lack of warmth or greeting. My first red flag was the fact that a guy was enjoying a hookah at a table inside. It took a while to get seated and I immediately noticed the stickiness of my menu. We ordered waters but were given and charged for bottled water, the food took over 20 minutes to come to our table (aside from the guy with the hookah, there was only a couple at a table beside us), and the food was so, so bland. I ordered the chicken shawarma plate. While the chicken was ok, the salad was haphazardly thrown together and the rice was slightly crunchy. Our waitress never checked in on us or anything.The whole experience was a total waste of my money and time. Don't go here; there are far better places to...