Kava Bar & Hookah Lounge

It’s kind of small, but the music is good. Bar was closed unfortunately when I visited, but you could just go down the block for drinks at Mother’s. I think it was a little less crowded than usual for a Thursday since it was a little chilly out; I’d love to come back in the summer!

THE PLACE to be Thursdays for the best salsa, bachata, and merengue; the best dancers, the best venue… Nothing else in Gainesville can touch it. This is also Gainesville’s only after-​hours venue, open until 4 AM for your after-​party edification. Great drink specials and owner/​dj Tony keeps the party strong.
¡Dale!

awesome place to go after the bars close. open til 4am on the weekends and the music is usually quite pumpin’ and going late. I am not too sure about earlier and during the week i did catch an icky salsa night, but not my thing. the hookas were ok, and the kava is, well, kava. Still for Gainesville, pretty progressive if you are a late night person and don’t want to let it go when the bars close…

This place has a lot of potential but unfortunately the lack of taste in music and the poor ambiance just leaves you feeling blah.
They serve kava which is a kind of dirt and water mixture that leaves your mouth feeling numb. I don’t really know if kava is supposed to taste like that but it was not good at all. I don’t think they serve alcohol.
They have hookah and I actually didn’t think the mint hookah was bad but its not worth going there for the hookah.
I went on a Lebanese night so I expected more exotic music but what they ended up playing really didn’t inspire people to dance. There is really no designated area to dance either which is kind of awkward.
It looks like they didn’t even try making the place appealing on the inside. They did attempt to make it feel like a lounge with low seating and mats but it was still pretty bare and unattractive.
Basically if you are looking for a place in Gainesville for hookah and a middle-​eastern feel, this is not the place to go.

It just wasn’t that great. Sure, they had hookahs, but they weren’t too strong. They likely use cheap tobacco. Our coal was promptly checked once, and then never checked again.
The music was sub par and people tried to dance to it, but it just wasn’t worth it. They really didn’t have the variety of middle eastern music that they should have, considering the guy who owns it is Egyptian.
Btw, kava tastes like earth. Its not like «drinking in the rainforest» at all. Try taking some fine dirt, mixing it up with water, and drinking, thats what it is.
It is not really an intoxicant, I didn’t feel a thing. You’re not relaxed, you don’t feel mellow. You just wonder why the **** you just drank something that tastes like mud?
Oh. It also makes your mouth dry later, and possibly a bit nauseous, that you want to eat something resembling normal food.
Don’t go here. I wanted to like them, I really really wanted to. I love hookahs, middle eastern music and I’m down for anything that helps me «mellow» out. But sadly, kava is not the right venue. Its threadbare on the inside, the people are too relaxed and take forever to get stuff out and its cramped and music is bad.