Phantom Lounge

Five star to be seen. I had a terrible experience ended up wasting 40 $ for my friends and my hookah asked for a watermelon and mint mix got bubble gum. We got scolded but the guy bringing out our hookah about where it’s suppose to be placed and how to smoke it not to touch the coals etc. we stayed for a whole 45min and left there was advertising for a live DJ and he didn’t show up either. When I asked for a refund they basically said no that I could stay and get a new bowl so I left very unsatisfied not going back any time soon.

Love this place and the people are so friendly and nice! Always follow up on hookah orders and constantly filling coals up on your dish!

Door says it opens at 2pm on Friday. It’s 3pm when we show up. Still closed. Call the number on the door, man says he will be there in 10 minutes and his employee apparently decided not to open the store. An hour later, still closed. Multiple calls and texts later, still not open. This dude and his shop… Clown show. Never going back to that mess.

I went here after work with a group of my friends and I can say we all did have a good time. The hookah is reasonably priced, and the staff is quick to service you. I’ve been at hookah lounges in downtown where it literally takes an hour to get your hookah. This was definitely not the case here, we got ours within five or ten minutes of ordering which is fairly quick.
The atmosphere here is very nice and people are all dancing around having a good time. I’m not a good dancer, and when I dance no one here judges me. Everyone is chill and relaxed just looking to have a good time.
The only reason I give it a 4 out of 5 is because in my opinion the parking can be a real pain. It took me awhile to find a spot, and when I did it was a really tight squeeze. I know it’s not their fault but that was a little bit of an inconvenience.

Good service, good flavors, yummy tea and tv. Perfect spot to watch a game with friends.

Wow the hookah here is amazing. Ask for the grapefruit head. Instead of the regular clay head it’s a grapefruit instead so good no harsh hits and you can taste the fruit and lasts a lot longer. Randy and Rannya are the two of the nicest people you will ever meet so nice and helpful with any questions you have plus they have DJ NIGHTS on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Atmosphere is nice and chill ever one here is cool you have to try this place I promise you it will be the only hookah lounge you will ever want to go to.

My first time coming here!
This is right behind Denny’s on Mira Mar a little hidden but easy to find.
Came on a Saturday night and expected it to be more busy. There is plenty of parking and a security at the door.
There is one make/​female bathroom and someone vomited everywhere in there how disgusting. The bathroom looks very unsafe and unsanitary.
I got the sex on the beach for $ 18. It tasted like crap. I only smoked for 5 minutes or less and just left. It was not worth $ 1. The flavor was so bland and didn’t even taste fruity at all. I usually go to Fusion lounge on Camino Ruiz in Mira Mesa.
There was a dj who played today’s radio music. There was no one dancing which was really boring. This place is pretty turnt down.

Good music variety and hookah is mainly starbuzz, dont expect alcohol, this is a traditional hookah lounge.

This place over fusion any day
Service is great
Hookahs are pretty good
Decently priced
Music is just the right volume I don’t have to scream in order to talk to the person sitting next to me which is nice

This place beats ALL other hookah bars! by far! price is amazing for college students as well as anyone that wants a good time. Music always playing and the best music and they take requests! which is rare in hookah bars cause their always jerks about it! really chill owners and super friendly. Continuously asking if you need anything, they take care of their customers.

It’s the combination of the hiphop vibe, the pricing, and the hookah that makes me come here as a regular. I have plenty of other options but I somehow found myself continually coming back to this one. It’s 18+ so that means no alcohol which is the only downfall, but I don’t mind because it brings in a younger crowd. The hookah is almost never harsh, at nights the place has a sort of club atmosphere with a DJ. The staff always take the booth in the far left hand corner. Some of them are lazy They don’t allow food or drink from the outside but they sell chips, candy, and non-​alcoholic beverages. There’s a 24 hour Denny’s nextdoor for when you’re drunk-​hungry.
TIMINGS:
I almost never come in during the day time. Usually if you go on an off-​day, or early in the day it will be close to empty. But on those peak nights it’s hella poppin, and packed. I would say come between 11 – 1 for the nightclub experience and more people. After one the music gets more of a chill vibe (still hip hop though) and it’s like that until closing. If the place is popping there will be security checking for ID at the door. I usually check for that before I go in so I know if I’m going to be having a good time.
STAFF:
Mixture of lazy people who seem more interested in smoking, socializing, and flirting than helping their customers, and some really nice, competent welcoming guys, who are very friendly and will have a nice conversation with you and your group. They all know their hookah though. One thing I have noticed is that if I want something I always have to follow up, and I almost never get fresh coals without having to ask first. It’s my mixed feelings about the staff that made me reduce the stars
PRICE:
It’s very inexpensive compared to other lounges. 15 dollars for a hookah.
HOOKAH:
This place has pretty decent hookah. Ask them to surprise you and you’ll usually end up with a good mix. They use quick start coals, but you can request coconara coals I believe if you’d like. One bowl lasts a long time. One weird thing I’ve found is that this place can make you lightheaded quickly and you have to pace yourself.
VIBE:
This place has two different vibes depending on the time of day. On Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights it’s like a nightclub vibe. Loud music, DJ, lights and the middle of the lounge turns into a dancefloor. At earlier times, the vibe is very chill, relaxing, and you can have a good time conversing with friends. Music is almost always hip hop, so if you aren’t into that this isn’t the place for you.

I absolutely LOVE this place. I’ve been coming here for the past 2 years. While I’m open to going to other lounges, this is the one I always come back to.
The hookah are amazing and the service rocks! If you ever have an issue with your hookah, they try to take care of you the best they can. Everyone here is friendly.
Earlier in the day, business is slow and that’s the best time to come in and relax. The music is usually today’s hits and it’s not very loud. Very chill vibe.
The décor has gotten MUCH better since they remodeled and its clean.
DJ nights (Wednesday and Friday) can get pretty busy and loud. Come early for a seat and stay for the live entertainment. I love how the DJs take your request and actually play them pretty soon after.
Phantom has my heart and two thumbs up. There’s no other place that can compare.

I was sadly misled by fellow Unilocalers. This joint is definitely a 1 star for a Saturday night. We Über-​ed to get here and it was completely empty. Didn’t have alcohol and bad music. We promptly Über-​ed ourselves right out of there.
I do not recommend this as a spot to spend your weekends in the area. I would much rather do a Karoake lounge or coffee house for that matter.

Best hookah I’ve smoked! I’m a hookah smoker so I know when someone has hookah. They have dj nights some days of the week; was interesting actually. The manager Leo is awesome, my hookah wasn’t working as good as before once not only he fixed it in no time he also brought me a free drink as well. Highly recommend.

Wednesday night at 11pm we had to wait outside for a little over 10 minutes because they were at max capacity… which is great. Very promising.
Only issue is that they have squatters that get 1 hookah and essentially smoke nothing but coals after their bowl is done; then they dance like they’re at a club or a high school dance.
Music is for bumping, no wonder nobody wants to leave. If only they could expand to be able ro serve more people.
Jarhead alert since MCAS is close by… makes for great entertainment though.
As for the hookah… it was great. Sex on the beach with a hint of mint watermelon is great too. Coming back again but probably at closer to midnight to avoid the youngins.

Showed up last night after thirsty thursday at the club. I was surprised when I stumbled upon this place and it was EMPTY. and I know why… why u ask… because the hookah sucks! I asked for two hoses because my cousin had a cold and the guy said we dont have double hosed hookahs. Uhhhh what?! Some hookah lounge! Btw the only ppl smoking when I got there turned out to b the ppl who worked there. I asked what the dude would recommend to smoke and he said tangerine. and it tasted like garbage and was harsh. I looove smoking hookah but this experience was lacking. Ive been here before and it was chill. But this night was a little toooo chill. Wah wah wah

I go here pretty often now and I love it. So much better than fusion who is full of ratchetsss and the service is horrible. I asked them for help with the hookah because it wasn’t milky at all and they never came back to help me, we had to go up and get them to help again.
I definitely recommend coming here for good music, good hookahs, and awesome service. David is probably the best aspect of phantom.

Good hookahs. SHITTY ambience. We showed up at 845p. Got our hookahs. Then the DJ started blasting loud hip hop.
REALLY! I want to sit, relax, talk with friends and smoke. Kinda counter productive.

I got a really good hookah and it was amazing. I got a second refill but it wasn’t really happy with it, so I told them and they changed it right away for me without any extra charges. It was really nice of them since I picked the flavor. Over all pretty nice customer service.

Kudos to the owner for doing some serious damage control after reading my previous review. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to take his offer any time soon since I was in the area on vacation; however, he assured me that if and when I do come back to San Diego, he will take care of my party and me.

I’ve been coming here for about three years now, but I now go less and less since I have moved. The owners are super nice, the staff is awesome and their hookah is great for its price. It is pretty dark in here on a regular basis, which isn’t bad and they don’t sell alcohol. I used to come all the time when their DJ nights were on Friday, but now I believe they switched it to Saturday nights. Overall, a pretty chill hookah lounge with Denny’s open 24 hours in the same shopping center.

I came back here after battling with hookah withdrawals over the span of my summer. My friend and I remembered that we had a fun time here a couple of months ago and that the prices are pretty cheap so we decided to return. When we got here at around 9:30PM (it was a Monday), the place was very empty, but it made the whole place a lot more relaxed and airy.
At first my friend and I wanted to order the Wildberry Mint flavor because we recalled liking that flavor a lot, but when my friend went to order it, the owners told him that they personally wouldn’t recommend that flavor and offered to pack us something that’s «good with fruity and minty flavors.»
Since it was pretty deserted that evening, service was quick, but they had forgotten to start up the hookah for us and our smoke was very thin at first. However, it got thick and good later on. Although we couldn’t really taste what the fruity flavor was, the mint flavor was definitely cool and potent.
I docked one star from last time because my friend and I got lightheaded very fast and felt a little tired and nauseated afterwards. This also happened last time but I’d thought that it was because it was due to the pace we were smoking at, but times at this hookah joint is the only time when we get lightheaded to the point of nausea. Hmm…