Casbah Cafe — Restaurant in Jacksonville

We decided to give Casbah Café a shot hoping for a flavorful Middle Eastern experience. The place definitely has a great vibe, they have happy hour specials on drinks and hookahs which, set the mood. Though, oddly enough, the food was left out of the discount fun. That was a bit of a buzzkill.

One thing I did love was the seating setup: They have an outdoor area for those who enjoy a good breeze with their hookahs, and a separate indoor section strictly for the hookah crowd. As someone who doesn’t partake in hookah, I was very happy to sit in the non-smoky indoor section, far away from any accidental lung workouts.

The menu had plenty of options, so I started with the Batata Harra which should have been spicy, well-seasoned potato cubes drizzled in olive oil. Instead, I got what felt like someone’s last-minute attempt at home fries. No spice, barely any seasoning, just sad little potato cubes in search of purpose.

For my main course, I ordered the Swordfish Kabobs with Rice Pilaf. The fish itself was meaty, but it was two seconds away from being burnt beyond recognition. I had to perform some delicate nibbling maneuvers to avoid the charred bits. The rice pilaf? Dry enough to make me wonder if I was supposed to pair it with a drink for hydration purposes. Speaking of which, I asked for a sauce, and thankfully, our amazing waitress Bella brought out a garlic sauce that became my meal’s superhero; Rescuing both the fish and the rice from their flavorless fate.

For drinks, I went with the Summer Rose cocktail which was a mix of pineapple juice, grenadine, and allegedly some kind of liquor. Either it was a very light pour, or the liquor was playing a solid game of hide and seek, because I definitely couldn’t taste it. Presentation-wise, though, it was Instagram worthy.

My friend ordered the Old City Sampler, which at least delivered in the hummus department. The pita was soft, fresh, and hot everything you want in a carb-based best friend.

Overall, the vibe was cool, and the conversation was great, but for the price and the food? I’m not sure I’d make a return visit. Maybe if they let the food in on the Happy Hour...

I've been eating here for over 20 years and in the last week of February I had probably the worst experience I've ever had there. Let me start with the positive, they've expanded next door which looks great but that's where the good ends. I was visiting friends and was hungry so I looked at what was open and I saw they were open late so I called to verify their hours and was told they served until 1:47 yeah wildly specific so we went earlier at 1:30 as I didn't want to show up last minute. They promptly sat us, asked us if we'd like to order a drink so we each had a draft beer and I told them we were ready to order. We ordered a half dozen things to share as we always have and as soon as our server went to the kitchen they turned on very bright lights in the area we were seated so we asked to move to the patio and within minutes we were told we needed to finish our beers we ordered less than 5 mins ago, which we obviously had a problem with, don't ask us if we want to order and drink and 4 minutes later tell us we have to finish them, we're adults not frat boys, we wanted to enjoy our beers with our meal. Then the food came out and things had definitely changed, the casbah pizza was terrible compared to the way it used to be and several other items weren't up to the quality I was used to and I asked the server what happened and they told me there were new owners. When I brought up the pizza they refused to take it off as we had each had a bite of our slices, saying we had ate it and I'm like no we tried it and it's terrible, not at all like I've enjoyed for over 20 years and everything just went downhill from there. They were rude, condescending and cared nothing about loyal customers for over two decades. Needless to say we left extremely unhappy and all vowed we would never return again. Such a shame to see what has happened to this place. I would never abandon a place I've enjoyed for so long after one bad dish or one bad service but our entire experience was so extremely horrible that it will be a cold day in hell before any...

Positive rant incoming...

This is by far my favorite location for hookah & medditeraintin food! I have been to many places that have hookah and they often seem to have it as an after thought or a side hustle. Dont get me wrong, some of them have good hookahs but I am looking for the whole package with the enviornment, atmosphere & food.

When they were closed for the "quarenteen" they underwent a massive remodel & expansion. When they opened back up, there was so much foot traffic that to me it had turned into another one of the local dive bars with people packed in elbow to elbow. It lost that local home grown vibe & energy that I have come to love for well over 15years. I tried to revisit several times with the same result. I have to admit this turned me off for several years. I do have to respect the business decision behind this however.

Cut to this past weekend, I had family in town and they asked where the best hookah place was. I was hesitant but figured it had been long enough and would give Casbah another try.

As soon was we came around the corner, the hostess saw me and ran right up to me and gave me the biggest hug like I was a long lost family member. She asked where I had been for the past several years! I must have spent a half hour talking to her catching up right there at the front booth.

After that, I walked inside and felt the home grown warmth that I remembered. When looking for my family, my favorite bartended in ALL of Jax locked eyes with me. She too came and asked where I had been for the past several years.

It was so good to be back that I forgot about taking pictures. I will update soon.

To Casah directly, I am so sorry that I abandoned you! I am back, the slower chill crowd is back,...