Egyptian Cafe – (765) 743-0500
130 Northwestern Ave, West Lafayette, IN 47906.
A little over a year ago I wrote a review about Egyptian Cafe two weeks after the opened. It wasn’t a very good review, but boy have they changed. In fact it is the new rendezvous for me an my friends. Following are reviews of their food, hookahs, and service.
Hookahs
Egyptian offers three different hookah prices. The only difference between the different levels is the tobacco. They all use the same type of hookah.
- Premium ($9.95): Egyptian uses Layalina tobacco for their premium hookah. It’s not exactly premium tobacco but they do a good job in packing the hookahs. The refills for premium hookahs are $5.95.
- Skyzz Flavors ($12.95): Uses Skyzz tobacco and is a little better than the premium. I personally like the premiums better. Refills for Skyzz flavors are $6.95.
- Golden Layalina ($18.99): This is Egyptian’s best tobacco. I think it is overpriced for West Lafayette. I have not tried the tobacco yet so I don’t know how good it is.
The hookahs at Egyptian Cafe are generally very good. They are packed well and the hookahs themselves are of good quality. If they made longer (deeper) holes in the hookah bowls (so that it smokes better), they would be almost perfect.
Food
The food menu is mostly Middle Eastern food as well as sandwiches and burgers. There is not much to say about the food. It is good and not expensive. I especially like their chicken sandwich.
Service
What separates Egyptian Cafe from competition (Hookah Lounge) for me is service. We (and most customers) go to a 
lounge to sit down, relax, and have a good time. Quality service is what makes that happen. By quality service I don’t mean servers going around couple times a minute to make sure customers are OK. Neither do I mean that in this case the hookahs come out fast (a good hookah takes as long as a well done steak to make). I mean friendly employees that like their jobs and employers who value their customers.
At Egyptian,
- Employees treat the customers as friends not as customers which makes all the difference.
- They don’t rush you to order and keep ordering.
- The owners/managers realize the importance of repeat customers and those who go there often. They don’t necessarily treat the repeat customers different than others but make sure that those customer know their business is highly valued.
These 3 basic but important points are what has made Egyptian so much more successful since last year and what has caused Hookah Lounge (the competition) to lose so many of their repeat customers.
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The Egyptian Cafe in Broadripple is the same way. The food was not that bad, but all I ever ate there was fries, lol. The coals they use ARE very bad indeed, plus they do not let them heat all the way before bringing your hookah which is annoying. The service was mediocre and could use some work. Overall I would give Egyptian Cafe a 7/10 for lack of hookah knowledge and cheap supplies.
This place is one of the most popular places around. You sir, are not good with reviews. the food there is good, the hookah is good, service, well that could be better, but over all i think Egyptian is great. and since its constantly packed, i think many others do too.
I’m not so sure about “Most Popular” and “Constantly Packed” terms – I certainly disagree with the later.
I still stand on my position regarding the food. I’m not even comparing Egyptian’s food with what I consider good Middle Eastern food as they don’t get even close. But comparing to Blue Nile and The Hookah at West Lafayette, I consider Egyptian last in terms of food quality.
That said, I would say Egyptian has a more relaxed atmosphere than the other places and that is very important for a hookah lounge (beside having good hookahs of-course)
[...] at Egyptian Cafe in West Lafayette trying a new mix: Premium Nakhla Peach + Skyzz [...]
Egyptian Cafe is one of the best places around, They have the best hookah’s in town and the best service compared to other places. The hookah’s come out fast and are always fresh full of ice and smoke very well. And we never have to wait for another coal. Me and my friends love going there either to study during the day or late at night to party and smoke.
The last comment sure does look spammy but I approved it anyways.
Gee thanks Nima : /
i am probably one of the best persons to comment on this place, as i have spent countless afternoon sitting at egyptian smoking lazy afternoon. Be it an all nighter or crazy exam days egyptian was the best place to chill afterwards. the flavors are good. You should try asking for josh as he can bring you some good flavors which are not on the menu but are off the hook.
Yeah josh is ok but yeah i do have to say since i worked there i can have a few good things to say as well
being that i did invent some of the flavors there and have all the mixes memorized as well