Sawah Diner & Hookah Cafe

Awesome place. Staff does their job and then some! Mariam, really takes care of her people. Will go again soon.

Sawah hooks it up! Came here for the first time and they really make you feel at home

My boyfriend and I were looking for a hookah bar to hang out for a bit, and we came across this one by accident. We had actually intended to go to the place next door and went into Sawah by accident.
The hookah was amazing. We got the Starbuzz house mix and the flavor was delicious. The hits were some of the smoothest I’ve ever had. It was also a very good price for a hookah. The couch we sat on was comfortable but looked kind of dirty and had a few holes in it. Not a big deal.
However, I gave this place 3 stars because of the ambiance. When we got there the Soccer World Cup was on, which was a pretty huge deal for the servers apparently. They had the TV volume extremely loud which was annoying because I have absolutely no interest in Soccer. If I wanted to watch sports I would have gone to a sports bar. The servers pretty much acted like soccer was more important than the customers, which might be true, but you should at least try to fake it. Whenever something good happened they would start screaming and yelling. When I go to a hookah bar I intend to relax, and this was near impossible with the soccer game happening.
When the game was finally over, they turned on some pretty crappy music. I know music is subjective but this was literally Top 40 music from at least 5 years ago. And it was loud. So it kinda just seemed like the servers did what they wanted and didn’t really give a crap about the customers. Overall it was ok, but there’s a hookah bar right next door (the place we intended to go) that seemed a lot better.

Over all the hookah are really good. The service was amazing very attentive. I ended up getting the orange min it’s really strong I loved it. Def will be back

My friend and I stumbled upon it by accident tonight. We mistook it for a different place and didn’t realize until we had already ordered. It’s very small but it’s really great. The hookah was perfect! Strongest hit I’ve ever had. You could actually taste the blueberry flavor which was a big deal to me since I’ve never tasted it any other time I’ve smoked. The bathroom is super tiny! I had to take the trash an out of the bathroom so I could move around to use the toilet!
The server was nice. It would have been better if he had been a bit more attentive to us though. The vibe in here was really chill. I felt like I could have stayed in here for hours!

I actually liked it. Initially I was taken aback by the neglected look of the place, old chairs, and slow service. My friend and I were even debating whether to stick around or just go up to the neighboring hookah place. We overheard the table next to us asking for some food items and the waiter telling them that they ran out of many things because they had a huge crowd the day before. Then he came to us, we ordered our hookah, and we waited quite a while but then the hookah came and it was really good and smooth. The waiter turned out to be a chill nice guy and quite accommodating, it was not very crowded, so we moved table. Yes, the chairs outside look like they were old, uncomfortable and rusty, they don’t bring you water, or anything unless you ask, no one is going to come check whether everything is ok unless you ask, but then you can actually have a conversation without being constantly interrupted and after all the hookah was great, the service when solicited was fine, the people watching in the street was also great. What else to ask for on a chill Saturday afternoon. I will be back, when I have plenty of time on my hands, and perhaps will give food a chance (as long as they actually have food to serve).

I went to Sawah a few nights ago. My friend and I were looking for a low-​key hookah bar with good food. This ain’t it. The bar was low key. Much better than the crazy one next to it. However, the food sucked. My friend ordered calamari. It was clearly straight out of a bag (ok fine, it’s a bar) but had no flavor and was terribly overcooked. Pretty much everything we wanted wasn’t available.
I was thinking that «food of the region» might be a better bet, so we also ordered spanikopita. It was very greasy and limp. I had the lamb shish kabobs and they were mediocre. Not bad, but definitely not memorable.
The server was nice, but fairly absent. When I checked out, he asked how it was, and said it was «oookay» with a slightly pained look on my face. He said «hopefully it’ll be better next time.» Doubt there will be a next time.
On the flip side, if I’m looking for a hookah bar without food, it is the most authentic, and the hookahs were reasonably priced.

This place was very very very chill and lowkey. I enjoyed it so much because it wasnt crowded at all and very inexpensive. I found it looking for a hookah in g town but this one popped up. Called and call for pricing and ID and said 18+ so i was defiantly in and ready to go.
I got there and it wasnt crowded at all which was awesome! Pretty small place but ofcourse they had tables outside but thats like all hookah bars. We got the most expensive one, 15.99 and had some water. Didnt get anything to eat because i wasnt hungry but nxt time ill defiantly try it. It looked like a place to defiantly come and get hookah and do homework all day until you get tired. Defiantly a place to bring friends and have a good time. Me and my gurl finished after only one coal and grand total was 22 $ and we was there for 1hr and 30min and all worth, defiantly worth it

This place has awesome Turkish Coffee and French Fries. Hookah safari melondew is a nice touch. Add ice for cool smoke.

Alright, so clearly I was having such a good time, that I didn’t realize I checked into the wrong place. Here we go, one more time:
1) Order the fries. Lovely seasoning, thin and crispy — just how I like ‘em.
2) Safari Melondew Hookah — add ice! Refreshing and easy on the throat. Mild for us beginners.
3) Coffee lovers — try their signature coffee. It’s just good for your soul.
4) The owner — super cool, easy going and attentive.
5) The spot itself — cozy, friendly and warm on a cold, winter day.
6) Music — *bobs head*
7) TV — they have one. Lol
If only I lived here!

Best shisha /​hookah in town. Have plenty of flavours that you can choose from. Good customer service from staff and shisha is not expensive. I usually go for bluemist with slight touch of mint at times from starbuzz. Its almost around 15 $ and their Chai is best if you’re into Tea.
Atmosphere is very relaxing along with good comfortable seats and music.
I tried their pizza and it was good too.

Good hookah, good seating, good service, good view and reasonable. So pretty cool!

Do not order delivery from this place. I placed an order online via
waited over an hour and half. Tried calling the restaurant and no one picks up food never came.

Stopped by here last night for the first time. It was recommended by some friends who had visited earlier.
Really loved the place. Really cool spot. Extra friendly and accommodating staff with good food and good hookah. Will definitely come back.

This Is a great place to be in Adams morgan. You’ll be in for a surprise with the friendly staff, that always take care of your needs. Do visit this place in dc, open till 4am on the weekends. It’s never too packed and is always a great experience!!!

So this will probably be my favorite place to come to for a chill early afternoon or afternoon spot for a daytime smoke. I don’t have lots of friends who smoke and are available to hang with me at that time, so I was a little iffy going in by myself. Like most people, wanting to try out a place but don’t have anybody who would want to go or isn’t available to try it out with you, I’m always in that predicament. I get off work when most people are just going in or are at work and won’t be out till much later.
I passed by this place on my way to get my nails done and got a good look at the place before coming in here myself. It looked pretty chill and there weren’t a whole lot of people in the café at that time.
I came to a Friday and I’ve just been through hell with school and work combined and thought about trying out the place. So I took my laptop, got off work and headed to Sawah’s. This was my first time smoking anywhere in DC (I have a mini-​hookah at home) but I wanted to try this place out.
I got there and the person there was nice and accommodating. I got Al-​Fakher mint and was $ 14.99 a bowl, which I thought was pretty pricey considering that this was my first time in a hookah place EVER in DC, but found out from the girl there, that it wasn’t that bad compared to others out there.
The bowl is pretty large and accommodating for one person alone. The bowl lasted me two and half hours, which in my opinion, isn’t that bad. The smoke was smooth and minty. I wasn’t pulling a lot of smoke though so I asked for another coal. Came here around 2ish and stayed until 4ish, and there aren’t people there crowding your space and it’s pretty calm and nice. So around this time you won’t feel like a weirdo for coming for a smoke by yourself, haha
Overall, great first-​time experience, would and will come back again for another chill day out by myself. I just went in for hookah and can’t speak for the food, but will try it the next time I come by.
NOTE: This is a cool place to hang out by yourself with a book or laptop if you want to go for a smoke during the day. In my opinion, I consider this place a rare chill hangout akin to that of a book café or Starbucks where you can you just relax, smoke some hookah and enjoy you-​time!

What a great spot! This place has excellent shisha. A variety of flavors are available… very smooth and plenty of smoke clouds. I ended up getting the steak tips with rice and it was delicious. If you’re in the area come check it out. you won’t be disappointed!