Pride of the Mediterranean

Late review but came here about 3 weeks ago with a friend. We wanted to smoke hookah and we were hungry. Our first option was Sahara but there hookah starts at 1. We found out this place was serving early so we decided to try it out with high hopes. When we got there it took literally 20 minutes to get acknowledged and there was only 1 customer there. We let that slide and ordered some food. The food was alright nothing special. We both just got appetizers then went outside to smoke. We ordered a flavor that the owner kept insisting on saying its the best. We tried it and were completely disappointed. I have been smoking for 9 years and I’m pretty experienced. We decided to leave and pay but our bill came to 80 dollars for hookah and 2 appetizers!
Definitely not worth the service and Definitly not worth the price. Never coming back. We went to 724 after for real hookah

Wow, just wow! Just left this excuse for an establishment and am shocked at the entire experience. We get our bill which includes 20% gratuity (which I probably would have added even though the service wasn’t great) for hookah and a few beers and then find out its cash only. The service was terrible and I am shocked that there are no signs stating it is cash only any where in the entire shitty and dirty restaurant. Stay far away from this place. I would give this place a zero star rating if I could.
Bottom line: if you are going to add a 20% gratuity and be one of the very few places in SF that is cash only and not a cheap dive bar — have it in plain sight for your customers to see! I use my chase preferred card every time I eat out in the city for points, I am so glad I even had my debit card with me!

Great local spot, the service can be slow and sometimes they only take cash, but the food is well prepared and the hookah patio is pleasant for a late night bite.

The food is great. Hookah is good. Very good atmosphere. Best hookah place in SF, one of the best middle eastern places in SF.

Overcharging customers, rude customer service and cramming customers on the patio are not the best ways to keep customers from returning. The owner/​manager annoys everyone with his opinions and his personal issues– no need-​TMI! We ordered a different tobacco head because the previous hookah was horrible; they charged us for two hookahs! If your product is no good thats not the customers fault!
I believe tourists usually come to this dump and get ripped off and by now, people that live in the city are aware of the bs and don’t go as much. The servers were good but their manager irks me. I suggest stop being cheap, adding hidden costs on bills and accept credit cards. Oh and to the owner– who cares to hear about your problems!!! Just serve your customers without sharing personal info!

For over a year, I loved going to pride, but recently I’ve been turned away. Last time I went in they had a slideshow on the big screen of people pointing and kissing guns with music playing in the background. Not going to lie it made me really uncomfortable, and I will never be coming back.
Also, they charge a 20% gratuity automatically but hide it on the bill… so don’t ever tip. The main guy there is super sketch and overcharges everyone.

I would give it zero starts if I could. First of all, the hookah for two is only limited to two choices: apple and strawberry. The varieties they have are reserved for their more expensive options, obviously to save on tobacco.
So, I ordered strawberry but it had the aftertaste of apple in it, as that is too strong and if you serve any flavor in a hookah where you had apple before, you’ll taste apple all the way! So these guys don’t know the first thing about hookahs and flavors!
And when I asked for the check, which came up to $ 19 something, I noticed these words written in pen on the check: «cash only»! When I objected that I didn’t have enough cash on me and there was no sign or warning about this cash thing, the waiter just shrugged and said they take cards for +$ 20 checks, a cheap act to save on card processing fees! So, I said charge my card for $ 20, but he ended up charging $ 21.5! I didn’t bother to object to the waiter again, but I’m never going back there, ever…
As for you, I definitely recommend going there only if you want to get crappy hookah and be overcharged. You can hardly get a better choice for that!!!

Nice place from the outside but Tony, the server, is a very unprofessional guy. While all tables at the restaurant were available and no reservation on any of them, he refused to sit us at the table we wanted. He also refused to call the manager and totally didn’t mind us leaving. Very disappointing

I’ve never hookah’d in the city before so my boyfriend asked his friend where’s a great place and she recommended Pride of the Mediterranean.
ATMOSPHERE:
There was indoor and outdoor seating. To smoke hookah, you have to sit outside. If you’re just eating, you will be seated inside. The ceiling and the surrounding exteriors were beautifully decorated with Middle Eastern-​like decorations. The seating was comfortable as well. Although, it was packed tight and it was easy to eavesdrop on your neighbors next to you.
FOOD:
Yes, you can eat AND smoke hookah! I ordered the chicken shawarma with rice and mixed veggies. When you check-​in on Unilocal,you also get a free appetizer with your entrée. I chose to get falafel. After waiting about 10 minutes, my food came out, and it became the center of attention. Why? Because it looked good, smelled good, and tasted good! I devoured it within minutes and risked getting a burnt tongue. The falafel was tasty too! It came in three pieces with mixed veggies.
Oh, there’s a one-​drink minimum to hookah. I opted out of the alcoholic beverages and just got a bottled water which helped with hookah.
CUSTOMER SERVICE:
I personally was able to speak with Sharky, the owner, about his hookah and he recommended the flavor «love» which became my favorite. It was also his most popular flavor and he personally created it! He told me brief history of his restaurant and he was accommodating. His staff was great too! They were very friendly and treated us like friends.
I honestly don’t know why this place is rated 2.5 stars on Unilocal.I had a great experience and I definitely recommend this to people who like to smoke hookah and to people who love Mediterranean food!
Can’t wait to come back again! :)

Ok what?! This place sucks. The owner specifically is so rude and really needs a lesson in customer service.
I was showing my 2 friends from SoCal around SF. We were having a great time wandering the city eating and drinking. We happened to see this hookah place and thought it sounded like a great way to end the trip before I had to take them to the airport. We walk in and no one greeted us so we decided to try picking a table to sit at inside. The owner (we know this because we asked him later) then comes out as we’re picking a table and we’re like, «We’d like to hookah! Can we sit here?» He says no we have to sit in the patio. Ok that’s cool. There were 3 men there, each with their own hookah, each sitting at their own table in the same row. So we’re sitting at our table ready to order and the owner is just giving us the evil glare standing by the door the whole time, and so were those 3 guys! It was honestly really uncomfortable. It felt like we wandered into uncharted territory. We ask if we can order and you know what happens? He doesn’t even walk over to our table to take our order — he literally raises his voice as he’s still leaning by the door and asks «yeah what you want??» SO RUDE!!! Wtf? What kind of shit is that? My friends and I honestly wanted to just leave! But we only had a short amount of time before we had to head to the airport so we figured we’d make the best of it. Also there’s a 1 drink minimum per person when you do hookah just fyi. Anyways, the rest of the time the fat old owner is just chilling, laughing, and chitchatting with those 3 men customers, who we figured out were his friends. That pissed me off seeing how differently he was acting! Then, a new group of customers come in and he walks over to greet them, he’s smiling, comes over to take their order, offers suggestions and everything! Ugh!!! It’s one thing to be a full time asshole but it just makes it worse when you’re only as asshole to us and you’re clearly trying to rub it in our face!
F this place x10!!! I have no doubts that this will go out of business. With an asshole owner and a small dirty establishment you will not last long and that’s the truth!

The place smells horrible, the food is horrible, service is horrible. And the worst thing is the owner Adnan wouldn’t stop talking about him self what amazing great guy he is and how bad was his first white wife.
I want to pull my ears out from him and his stupid stories that I have no interest on hearing. I can see why his white wife left him and his kids went with her. I went there twice and I am going to cry if someone force me to go there again.
Oh yeah don’t be trapped in going there and pay so much money for stupid tea and hookah.

I’ve been coming here for years, but will not be going back again, nor ever recommend anyone to this place again. I felt it was improved under the new management, led by a great guy Sharky, whom I spent a good amount of time chatting with. In previous years, the other owner would just have a table with his friends there and the whole staff just seemed to care about taking care of the family & friends, but totally disregard their customers — the ones who are paying the bills! Yet, I like Sharky and his handle on things, so I started going back again and bring friends for good food and some hookah.
However, I went in the other night with a friend and the service was awful (mainly by the total asshole chef, «Tony»). They mentioned Sharky is out of town in Dubai, and the service with him gone was a 180. I typically always order the mansaf, yet last night it was just one big bone and a huge slab of fat with barely any meat on it. Didn’t seem like the chef gave a shit at all about his craft and served straight garbage for the price.
One issue I’ve voiced to them that I feel is losing them repeat business is that they won’t accept credit cards after 11pm during the week and 12am on weekends. It’s 2016 guys, you need to meet customer demand. Instead, they make the customer go to an ATM to get cash and come back to pay the bill — just to save a small % in fees (and likely not pay taxes on the cash). Why make the customer go do work?
I had brought this up to the nice server who helped us (trying to help your business grow with ‘repeat business’), since there were two guys that were sitting a few tables away that seemed pretty irritated that they had to go take out cash and come back to pay their bill. (this is not the first time i’ve seen this with other customers and have experienced this several times in the past with disgruntled friends of mine about this too).
Then «Tony» comes out of the back and tells us we need to leave in the next few minutes. they won’t take a card, since we were short on cash by $ 20 for an $ 80 bill we accrued within 30 minutes of being there. «okay, that’s fine. we’re finishing up.» (as my friend goes to get more cash to pay the bill, and leave a 25% tip for the nice waiter) Then «Tony the asshole» starts running his mouth on us. I told him, I know this is not your decision about accepting credit cards at certain times of night, but what we’re saying is you’ll likely keep losing ‘repeat business’ because of this, hence the disgruntled gents that left before us, as i said they didn’t seem too happy about it and likely won’t come back soon. You’re pinching pennies but losing lots of dollars. Doesn’t make business ‘cents’…
Tony’s reply was literally an «F U» to us while we were giving helpful advice and he didn’t care one bit about it, no matter how sincere and nice were being to help them (note: we’re both genuine businessman). I asked if he is an owner or has any investment in the business. He said no. As an employee and THE CHEF, wouldn’t you want people coming back to eat more of the food you make? Repeat business from happy customers is good business, right? Yup. But not for Tony, who seems to speak for the owner while he’s away. Instead this asshole
And, because of «Tony the asshole», we rescinded our tip for the waiter (should have asked for exact change, but did leave a few bucks — just not the generous tip) yet hopefully the nice guy will get his loss from Tony.
It’s not surprising that there are so many 1 star reviews on here, yet i’m positive many people would give negatives based on their crappy experience with the service here. Sharky the owner is a legit guy, but needs to most likely clean house again to get people coming back (if ever), yet based on these reviews, I’m surprised this place is still in business.
Recommendation: Avoid this place if and only if they replace the staff and improve the service immediately. Food is good, but not worth the bullshit service you’ll receive.

Best hookah in SF! This is the perfect spot if you’re looking for a chill spot for hookah and drinks. Would highly recommend the Love flavour.
The owner Sharky is a great guy with the most hilarious stories. He also makes a mean stuffed lamb special once a month that’s incredible!
One of my favourite spots in SF!

I love it! I haven’t hookah’d in 2 years so when a friend said she’d discovered a hookah spot with food I thought I’m in! The prices range from $ 15 for two to $ 25 for four and there’s a nice assortment of flavors, we chose Love which was suggested to us by other customers and the owner himself. It’s a nice flavor that’s smooth, fruity, sweet and delicious! Loved love!
Now for the food, we settled on hummus and each ordered the chicken kebab plate which included the kebabs, rice and some really yummy mixed veggies. So delicious! I was particularly impressed with the hummus which was one of my favorite things served but everything was fantastic! Great food great hookah! Great ambience! Ohh and bonus they had the Warriors game on! Will definitely be back!

This place does not deserve to be in business. I live in the neighborhood and have been there twice before I swore off the place for crappy and rude service. A month back they hung out a huge banner claiming a ‘new management’ so tried this place out again with friends. And the only change — they fired the old manager!
Well, wish they would fire the owner too! He creates dumb rules like ‘all smoking hookah are required to order a drink’, well a group of 4 of us, out of which only 2 were smoking hookah and ordered 4 drinks, 3 beers and a water (though technically we should be required to order just 2 drinks) and he had the audacity to literally take the drinks off our table saying we each need to order a ‘drink’.
This establishment has no place in the hospitality biz! Am surprised they’re still in business.

Absolutely horrible service.
They threw us out of because we didn’t order «enough» drinks. I love hukkah but will never return to this place. Even 1 star is too much for this place.

The hookahs were nice and the outside seating was comfortable, but didn’t really feel that welcoming overall. The fact that you have to pay with cash after 11pm is the weirdest requirement I’ve seen in a while.
I wish they would be a little bit more flexible with their «enforcement» of rules. I know it’s their right to set them, and I can choose to go other places, but, like I said, the environment itself is nice and the food quality seems pretty good.
For example, everyone smoking a hookah must have a drink. Fine, I know you want to sell drinks, but if we have six people, and we buy six drinks, does it really matter «who» drinks them? You’ve made the same amount of money vs. all of us buying one. I guess this is more a tip for the consumer: if someone in your party doesn’t want to drink, just have them order something and have someone else drink it. It isn’t worth the hassle to try and discuss the mathematical equivalent with your server.

I wish I could leave half a star. We came with a friend to have hookah. The service was terrible and when we got the bill the gratuity was already included (for a table of 2? really?). Also we tried to pay with a card and they said that they accept only cash when a few months before they were happy to accept credit cards when we came for dinner.
The server was rude and our hookah would not start, tasted burnt and didn’t work throughout the entire time. Our neighbors table hookah also didn’t work and everyone was asking for the waiter to fix their hookah. the owner/​waiter was more interested in smoking his own hookah then serving customers.
The wine was shit… a small pot of overly sweet tea is 9 $… its water!
I would avoid this place… There are much better options all over San Francisco.

Great location
Beautiful services
Try the Mansaf or Maklobah
Everything great
I like them a lot.

Mo is the best. He’s extremely attentive and will mix whatever flavors I like. Always welcoming us with a kind hug and friendly smile. I love coming here for hookahs and their hummus and falafels are quite enjoyable as well. Even though I’m not extremely hungry I still nibbled on the falafels because it’s just that good. I always order the mango mixed with melon it’s fruity and light and I can definitely taste the combined flavors in the hookah. Very attentive at refilling my coals.