Comments on: Shisha Cafe – Persian “pub grub” without the “pub”

By: ieat

ieat — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 21:52:16 +0000

Farah – Thank you so much for reading and commenting. If you are the business owner then I commend you for taking a hands-on approach to managing what people say about your business online. I’ve only seen one other establishment do this. You are well-spoken and polite.
But, let me please defend myself. First of all, my apologies about the Persian misnomer. Nevertheless, your website says you serve Mediterranean food. Second, I never said that the food tastes bad. Third, thanks for the input on the bottled water. I completely understand and think that was a wise move. Fourth, I only write from first hand experiences. How much “better informed” can I be than to actually put the food in my mouth? I’m just telling it as I experienced it. Lastly, I would be happy to return to try the food again (read my comments on Big’z). Any recommendations?

By: Farah

Farah — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 17:13:09 +0000

Well, it’t always interesting to hear what others have to say- first we are NOT a PERSIAN restaurant we are a Middle Eastern- Arabic Style food cafe meaning we are very casual. It is called a cafe because we have many that come and smoke and eat or just eat and hang out for two hours. Back home people play backgammon, chess, and checkers at cafes like this.
Secondly, if our food tastes so bad why are we always getting people from other cities in Texas and the Middle East come to try us out after their friends or family have been eating at our cafe. We take pride in what we serve- the hookahs, food, and drinks, including bottled water- when we first opened we had people order one hookah for six people and order tap water and they would sit for four hours or so- that is not going to help us is it? We can’t serve other customers if we have such tables taking over our space so we decided on bottled water and for your information, many restaurants/cafes are taking the same approach?!
Third, we are almost finished expanding our cafe so that the indoor space has doubled and we have built a patio outside- I ask if our food and service is so poor like you say, would we even bother?
I ask you to come by again and try our food in early January when the dust has settled from our renovations (including the kitchen) and then make a judgement but please be better informed when you write something that will be published.

By: Marie

Marie — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 21:28:03 +0000

Thanks Hicham, The review sounds really flip and uninformed to me, even after the ’semantics’ comment. I frequent the place often and for the food, as well as, the atmosphere. If it’s such an awful place, I wonder why it is expanding? I am 50 years old and of course a lot of young people go there, but I found it refreshing and the staff very nice. Just for kicks, I lived in the Middle East for a long time and I should think San Antonio, as big as it is, should have more places like Shisha’s.

By: ieat

ieat — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 21:46:34 +0000

Hicham: coupla things. 1) Persian, Middle Eastern, Semantics (sorry). 2) I’ve had Middle Eastern food numerous times that is quite good, so I do have a barometer to compare to. 3) The bong thing, just some humor. 4) Shisha looks like a great place to hang out with friends. In fact, just the kind of place you would find me were I several years younger and sans kids. However, my main critique is on the food, which I found lacking. But, thanks so much for reading and for the feedback.

By: Hicham Hachem

Hicham Hachem — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 00:14:13 +0000

Nice elaborate review. I think that before giving such review you should 1st learn the cuisine. Persian as you call it is a very specific type of food that is originally in Iran. Shisha Cafe offers Middle Easter Food that is served in a totally different area and pretty far from Iran.
As you mentioned yourself, this is a cafe that offers food. Sorry that you got disappointed. If you go visit it again, you will notice a big expansion happening. This means only the need of a bigger place needed to accomodate the more and more customers. Shisha has become our usual hangout because of the Friendly People, service, hooka that is a very old tradition, way older than the USA (that has nothing to do with your drug’s large bong as you describe it). The Food part, is not the best food ever but is good. As mentioned, this is not a diner but a friendly hangout that offers a lot that others do not offer. There are even to large screens where video music is played, middle easter and american. During sport season Spurs fans gather to watch the game and enjoy friends and hookas.

By: saytown

saytown — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 14:44:24 +0000

Thanks for the warning. A relative of mine said he went to Shisha too and was just as disappointed – only his issue was with the atmosphere (not sure if he actually ate anything substantial). He has been to Shisha bars in the DC area and it seems this one did not come close to measuring up.