Ali Baba has over 25 different flavors of tobacco. The hookah on the left is set up for someone to enjoy a cappuccino-flavored hookah, and in the other is a watermelon and jasmine mix. (Photo by Liz Dzuro)

Located in Delray Beach between a pawn shop and a car dealership, the Ali Baba hookah lounge could easily be missed — if it weren’t for the giant camel on its front steps.

Hookah bars seem to be popping up all over South Florida, but Ali Baba prides itself on being college-kid friendly. It offers a 20 percent-off student discount, has hosted FAU fraternity events and doesn’t serve alcohol.
The inside of the lounge is small, dark and loud, but the patio outside is twice the size, offering couches galore and a more relaxing atmosphere.

The Middle Eastern menu offers more than 25 different kinds of shisha, the flavored tobacco used in hookahs. They have food ranging from buffalo wings to lamb kabobs as well as teas, coffees and desserts. Try the baklava!

A DJ packs the place on weekends, turning the hookah lounge into a club. But for a truly relaxing experience, go on a weeknight, order a cup of tea, and Rand (the hookah technician guy) will take care of you like you’re royalty.

Ali Baba
2709 S. Federal Highway
Delray Beach, FL 33483
(561) 272-9696

Liz Dzuro
Senior Photographer

At Purple Lotus, the only things on the menu are liquids. The downtown West Palm Beach kava lounge has been mellowing people out for six years with the relaxing effects of this South Pacific Islands drink, which is made from the root of the kava kava plant.

These shot-sized drinks are other cultures’ way to take the edge off. It is used in islands like Hawaii and Fiji as a remedy for anxiety, insomnia and pain.

“Kava is the grim reaper of stress,” says Purple Lotus co-owner Jim Scianno.

But the taste isn’t something to be desired. If you can put up with the flavor of dirt for the few eternally long seconds it takes to down your “shell,” it’s worth it because afterward you get to eat fresh slices of pineapple, kiwi or mango to get that earthy taste out of your mouth. And within 30 minutes, you’ll be feeling pretty good.

If you’re looking for a more intense effect, you can make the kava stronger by mixing it with kratom, an Indonesian leaf that is said to have opiate-like effects. It creates the Purple Lotus’ most popular drink, the Black Pearl.

Purple Lotus
312 S. Dixie Highway
West Palm Beach, FL 33401
(561) 659-1924
www.myspace.com/purple_lotus_kava

Every “shell” is served with freshly-sliced fruit — pineapple shown here — to help get rid of the strong aftertaste of the kava, a bitter root that tastes like dirt. (Photo by Liz Dzuro)