Al Layali Restaurant and Café — Restaurant in Los Angeles

Visiting from Vancouver, Was looking for somewhere to enjoy a nice hookah evening and randomly stumbled across this gem.

Tldr: above and beyond service, wonderful hookah, great music and beautiful atmosphere.

In the week I've spent in los angeles I can confidently proclaim that this was the highlight of the trip and here's why:

1- most importantly, the owner is directly supervising the establishment, which means you can expect consistently exceptional service

2- the hookah ingredients are top class, prepared with more than just procedure. It is prepared with passionate talent, experience, and as crazy as this sounds, with spiritual energy too.

3- the music selection is world class, you will be teleported around the middle East from the comfort of your chair.

4- Nabil, the owner, upon expression of interest, will walk you through the experience of life and inspire you. If you feel like you hit a wall, or just need a fun conversation, have a chat with him.

And to those of you who will visit, you're welcome. (also get the lemon mint...

I took my europian guests here last Saturday,I had a very hard time finding parking on La cienega, The place was pretty much empty, Some old fat women (Owner) came out from the kitchen to take us to seat (((SHE SMELL DISGUSTING LIKE DEAD FISH))), We ordered a hookah right away, it took about 15 minutes for it to arrive, which was not a big deal, but then it took another 20 minutes for them to bring the coal! After about 5 minutes, the hookah started to burn really bad, even the server started coughing when he tried it. I think they probably re-use the tobacco and just replenish the top. We decided we did not want to eat food at an establishment like this, because of the service and smell coming from the kitchen area. So, we just ordered a tea, which came 20 minutes later and it was cold. When we complained they said "it's just leftover tobacco, sorry no refunds" in the rudest tone. We immediately left and I will never be back. I reported them to the BBB and Health department at Monday... DO NOT GO...

I just left the restaurant feeling very confused and abused. I had used an app to order my food for a self pickup. I gave the person who prepared my food the order number but he asked for my ID instead. I had to walk back to my car and get it (whilst feeling very confused) and when I got back inside, I asked why he needed my ID. He proceeded to answer very rudely in very broken English to which I understood as along the lines of ‘I don’t want you to steal the food and not let the customer have it’. This was when I realized that he had assumed that I was a delivery person. I tried explaining to him that I was in fact the customer but he kept repeating himself and berating me and also shouting at me when I became impatient because I guess he thought I was ‘merely’ the delivery person. Awful, awful...