Hookava — Restaurant in Reno

I've been here twice before and had great visits.

Last night is what prompted me to write a review.

I don't know if the group last night, 10/7, was the B team but they didn't perform well.

The waitress (there is probably a better word for this) was fairly rude and made people in our group a little tense. It was clear that we were bothering her when we wanted to order drinks.

I'm fairly sure the waitress lied to my face about something in order to take something from me. Someone about 10 feet away had the same thing and this was abundantly clear. However, this thing was not taken from them. I cannot say for sure but this seemed to have a racial component to it.

Then the hookah, within 15 minutes, tasted off - it has a weird kind of smoke flavor to it and we couldn't taste the flavors of the hookah. We called and called with the buzzer and were just ignored. We didn't want a refund. Hell, I would have paid for a new bowl if I had to. Burnt is just not what we came for.

In the end, we just got up, paid, and left.

I'm going to be looking for another place to smoke. I'm too old for being treated like an inconvenience.

To the owner, I've spoken with you before. You run a nice place and have been nothing but kind to me and my group. I will delete this once you comment on it. But I wanted you to see this so that you are aware what is happening when you aren't there. The experience last night that is repeated for others will...

I have patroned this establishment several times over the years and have only been there once since they relocated around the corner and turned their hookah lounge into a bar. From a business point of view, I understand why they would want to adapt to appeal to drinkers, but they no longer offer ice tips and coconut milk which were the main reason I'd go there. Their atmosphere is lounge but their music is at a dance volume. Wasn't able to hear the friends I was sitting with without leaning in because of the volume. The color changing ceiling lights are awesome and the bathroom, while still not great, is a major upgrade from what it used to be. I would have wanted the staff person waiting on my table to check on me more often. After waiting 20 minutes for her to get off her phone and check on her tables, I finally went over to her and had her...

Ok we love this place. The atmosphere and music are great. The new staff however are not as great as prior staff. Customer service experience is getting worse each time we come. The new staff typically seem preoccupied with talking amongst themselves and smoking. Also one of the new staff seems like she doesn't even want to be bothered by assisting patrons. I've seen a few times now where a group of 3 or more staff will be talking in a circle while someone tries to get their attention and they never notice that individual. Hopefully this new staff gets better, maybe more training, otherwise the experience will never be like it used to be.

7/16/22 update - staff experience has only gotten worse and someone who we have never encounter before was extremely unprofessional and rude despite a mistake on the...