Sahara Cafe & Bar — Restaurant in Jacksonville

I have only been here a few times, but my experience this evening may be my last. On the occasions I have visited in the past, the atmosphere was great, the food was great, the drinks were great, and the staff and service were outstanding! Shout-out to Julian!

This evening's experience left a lot to be desired. My friends and I went to Sahara's to blow off a little stress by having a hookah and a few drinks. The mood was chill, the environment was vibing and everything was great until they turned the music off only to turn on the NBA All-Star game. Now I love basketball just as much as the next guy, but if I wanted to see and hear the game, I would have stayed home or went to a damn sports bar! We were one of three groups of people that questioned the change, but we actually spoke to our waitress and asked to have the music turned back on. Our waitress took our concern to the bartender, who appeared to be the keeper of the house's sound system, but he basically said to hell with the patrons on the left side of the house and kept the game going. That being said, Sahara's Cafe & Bar is basically now a sports bar to me, so if you looking for good music and a chill atmosphere, then choose to go somewhere else....

Sahara's was my go to hookah lounge but the past few times I've gone it's been not so great. Every time there's been music playing so loud you can't have a conversation with the people you're with. I went on a Wednesday and found no where posted that it was karaoke night but it was and we weren't warned ahead of time that it would be very loud if we sat outside. The DJ was playing obnoxiously loud older rap music then followed it up with vulgar renditions of some popular songs. The karaoke itself wasn't bad as the people who chose to sing did a great job despite the words being off or just completely wrong on the screen. One more thing that bothers me every time I go is the amount of plastic being used. They open and put a straw in your drink for you, if given the option I would choose to not use a straw at all but if you get multiple drinks or refills you get a new straw every time. It's a massive waste and is just adding to the amount of plastic waste you produce while smoking here, as you get a brand new plastic hose, wrapped in plastic, and plastic tips also wrapped in plastic. They also leave about 8 tips at a table of two people which doesn't...

Changing from 4 stars to 1 stars!

Basically we spent $80+ plus $22 tip.

We got 6 Jagerbombs and 2 Long island's and a hookah.

One long island had some weird brownish crumbles. Server Lauren and Bartender/Manager Ryan had no idea what it is, but Lauren took the drink away and never really said anything about it besides not knowing what the hell the weird crumbles were in the drink. Neither one cared until we actually told them few times.

We went to Ryan and he said they make their sour mix from scratch and that the mix is probably old. I said "expired?" And Ryan said "yes expired". Although Ryan and Lauren did express some sympathy, it felt ingenuine.

In the end we were given a total of $10 for "our troubles." This is less about money and more about the service and goods they serve, as we go there regularly!.

Oh and the hookah had large white particles, which were likely old shisha, this is normally not an issue but it is an indication that the hookah bases were not properly cleaned.

Honestly regret going there this today and should have gone elsewhere like Habibis or other...