Cafe Amasi

This review is based on the HORRIBLE service we received on a Saturday while at Amasi. First lets start with the good stuff. Their hookah is pretty good and reasonably priced. Definitely enjoyed that part of the experience. Secondly, I had a gyro plate which was also pretty good. Even though I ordered it with hummus and the pita bread came out 20 mins after my food did. See I already started on the bads. There were so many bads. So first when we got there we contemplated on valeting or self parking. Why is the self parking $ 5 and the valet $ 5 too? Makes no sense. You cant see the valet sign is $ 5 so if you didn’t know and just self parked you would be annoyed. Okay so then we got seated. There was live music playing on the patio but it was extremely loud so we decided to sit inside. That didn’t help much cause we were still having a very hard time hearing one another indoors. Ordered our hookah which was out in a timely manner and coals came by decently. Then we got a real feel of our incompetent waitress. I mean before you start a job, you should at least know a little bit about what you’re doing right? Well this girl definitely didn’t. There was 6 of us at the table and we all ordered food and drinks. Not only did she mess up on the order but it even came out cold. Oh and not to mention that she thought it was okay to bring the drinks out with the food. Where have you ever heard of that. Its drinks first always. Fine one mistake we got over it. Then we ordered a pot of tea, if there’s six people sitting at the table why would you only bring out 4 glasses? And we thought maybe she couldn’t hold all 6 on the big ass tray so she would come back with the other two. Nope she sure didn’t. We had to ask and she had the audacity to say oh I didn’t think everyone wanted one. That’s not your call. Okay fine that happened here is the most messed up part. When we asked for our check we asked for it to be split. Two of us on each check. She couldn’t understand so she asked my friend to come up to the POS system with her. SHE DIDN’T KNOW HOW TO USE THE POS SYSTEM! My friend who has never waited a table or messed with a POS system in his life was separating the checks for us. Then we asked her to just split one of the checks down the middle evenly and she fucked up on that too saying the system wouldn’t do that. How many places have you been to and asked to split the check, you just put the amount manually on one card and manually on the other. There was an automatic gratuity added of 18%. THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL SHE DESERVED 18%. Gratuity is given when it is deserved, I wouldn’t even tip her 10% and I told her that to her face. She was upset and kept saying I’m new, I’m new. Well if you’re new ask for help. Though I may go to Amasi again, you better believe there is no way I am gonna have this waitress again. She is a tall women, a little thick, curly hair, and doesn’t speak good English. AVOID HER AT ALL COST!

Probably the smoothest hookah I’ve had in Houston in a long time. That alone merits 5 stars. I wish they would add more flavors (hint: Pan Masala) but the Rose Mint w/​orange head is on point. Charcoal changes are a hit or miss, depending on how busy they are, but since the coal is high quality you won’t need new ones as often. Don’t leave this place without ordering the lemon mint drink, a little on the sweeter side but oh so refreshing!

I hate a place who can’t cater to all crowds. Anytime I’m here with a group of 8+ they just plain and simply… SUCK! Food becomes kids meal size, service sucks, and mysterious extra charges are always added to the bill. On top of all that. they charge for you to bring a cake and celebrate a birthday…
On a positive note: Place is good for smaller crowds. The hookah guys got their side of the business on point.

Amazing place!!! The hookah is simply amazing, they have a happy hour special on the hookahs for $ 7.99 and they are just as amazing as the nights! The food is great, tasty and delicious! The smoothies, by them selves they deserve a 5 stars rating, they are amazingly good. The service is also really good, it gets hectic at night but all the servers are there to help you and provide you their services.

I like the interior it’s so pretty and classy. very very clean … food is great I love their drinks … prices are good too overall great place to hang out with friends

Service is medicore, some servers are attentive, others are not, just depends on who you get. Hookah is so so, I prefer Sinbad. No ice tips??? Something I can deal with but would like it if they offer it. In my personal opinion, I would not bring my child here due to all the smoke. But apparently it’s «family oriented» so children are allowed here. Policies here are no cuddling, no kissing, no sitting on top of someone’s lap, etc… since its a family restaurant. So if your looking to be mushy with your significant other, go somewhere else! Lol. Never tried the food but heard it’s alright.

Good Hookah, but the food can be better maybe my trip out to Dubai a week before spoiled me.
The service is fast and fantastic, I prefer the outdoor seating on good days, it doesn’t have the vibe of the Bedouin tents of Mawal. The indoor seating is more plentiful for bigger parties then Mawal and very comfortable. Food-​wise I felt the Shawrma was very dry even for Shawrma, the Hummus has was very oily and had a strong lime taste even if it’s Olive oil it’s excessive. The hookah was easily comparable to the Middle East and extremely flavorful. If i’m here it’ll be for hookah, lite food and tea. I don’t suggest parking across the street, get there early to park in front or in the rear.

So I went to this place on a Friday with friends and family, we were six people total.
Got there around 8:30 ish, waiter was attentive and we asked to seat in the covered patio, which seems like a huge plastic party tent. It stared to feel pretty got soon after we got the table since there’s no ac in the patio, except for fans.
We ordered drinks and the cold combination appetizer –which was really good– but took forever to get to our table, I was surprised since there was just us in this huge hot patio and another table of two!
The food wasn’t bad, but the naan bread was cold and hard! Not fluffy and warm, old! I thought they served fresh of the oven, it seems not because I asked for more and it was worst than the first one. By the time we were ready for the check, our waiter was nowhere to be found, we waited about 15 mins to get his attention, and after 30 more minutes of waiting for him to come with the check, we decided to get up and walk to the register where he was only to wait some more and have us follow him to the register by the kitchen door –which was super uncomfortable because it was super busy by all the other waiters carrying food–
So really, the live music was the only good thing about amasi café, but that’s not enough for me to come back.

PROS: The hookah is good (peach mango). Some of the waiters are nice. The ceiling and entrance of the area is really pretty.
CONS: The foods sucks, overpriced. I hate how the rice is yellow. NEVER get the hot chocolate. It’s in a small cup and it just tastes and looks like warmed up chocolate milk. Didn’t even put whipped cream on top. The owner/​owners are disrespectful to the coal guys.

Chicken Shawerma Arabic style, try that it is awesome.
My friend tried the lamb chops, he loved it.
I liked the hookah, the mint lemonade and the desert. All good.
Parking is a b****. Some dude decided to work on one of the sides of the building so he blocked one way to the rear parking lot. Park across the street. Thats what I did.

I start every place with a five and knock off points based on food and services.
The Parking:
I start with the parking because this made me drop major points for them!!! Needs to be mentioned. Used to be that on a busy night you would have to valet in the front and self-​parking would be across the street for free — which is reasonable. No longer — I understand that they must pay for additional parking and are trying to recoup, however — I was upset when I asked to self-​park they guy lied to me and said the valet was full. So they charged me $ 5. The guy told me if I didn’t like it I could wait for the valet to open up a spot for me, but it might be a while and it would cost me $ 10. This drove me to just self park. I wanted a ticket or receipt for confirmation of parking there and he just told me «no ticket, don’t worry,» then he repeated this twice more. As I walked in, I saw a car dropping off for valet and asked the tenant if the valet was full. He said they had plenty of room. I asked him how much it was and he said $ 5 (the same as the self parking) and not the $ 10 the douche in the self parking told me it was. Little things like this reeks of shadiness and is enough to drive a business away. Management needs to get on top of it.
The Service:
It took us 30 minutes just to get a waiter. Came in with a party of eleven, albeit during a rush (around 9 pm on Saturday). Still, management should be able to handle it, to which they didn’t. I could perhaps understand 10 minutes max. Our waiter was attentive, but was hard to get a hold of because he was so darn busy. But we stayed after the crowd died down and he was still MIA. I had to get up to find someone at least twice; once is too much.
The Food:
Once our order was taken, it came out pretty fast. The seasoning and taste was great but a bit cold. I like my kababs hot. Their juices are amazing and desserts fabulous. We ordered four (meat) mixed platters, two (veggie) mixed platters, an appetizer combination and about four pots of tea and waters (hungry Russians).
The Price:
The price here is fair and reasonable. It is comparable to Wasfi’s if not a bit cheaper. I’ve stopped attending some of the other places on principle because for charging $ 4 for a canned soft drink for example. Water bottles are 99 cents, reasonable. Their hookah happy hour is great at around $ 7 bucks. I go there sometimes to work on my laptop although the wifi is not so great.
The Hookah:
Their hookah is great. Taste, cleanliness of the pipes and the coal boys are great with good attitudes and constantly checking if you need charcoals (can’t go wrong with the Chapeen Guatemalan’s). Some of the other shisha places are nowhere to be found and ironically, the slower they get the harder they are to find, and then they act like their doing you a favor when you ask for coals. Not this place, they are on point for now.
The Ambiance:
I would give it a one-​star but give it a two because the pricing, coal service and food taste along with the ambiance is good. It’s a clean environment and they’ve spent some money to make it more than just a hole-​in-​the-​wall. Just need to work on some of the management issues.

Ok, so i’ve been to Amasi a few times hoping that their food will get better, but it just didn’t happen yet!
Here is my list:
Pros:
— The place is nice and have many variations, so you can seat in different atmospheres.
— Service is fine, waiters are friendly.
— Hookah is fine, means not bad, but also not the best, I’ve had better.
Cons:
— Two items in the menu were not available in the kitchen, so the waitress apologized for that saying they don’t have it. (Of course, I understand this will not happen everyday, but just not good even if it happened once)
— Food (in general) is by far the worst I ever had in any Mediterranean restaurants in Houston.
— Forcing valet parking in not a good idea, I’ve seen some people parking far away to avoid it!
Also, today there were a couple of waiters smoking hookah (it looks like they were off work though) but they were talking and laughing very load, I was really annoyed by their attitude, I just think if workers want to hang in their work place after or before work times should pay more respect to the place and behave!
I hope Amasi will enhance their food soon!

Advertise a full bar, however allow NO alcohol on premise! Dissapointed in advertisement on Unilocal

Amazing Hooka’s over here. The staff are very friendly and very helpful… i really love hanging out at such places with my buddies… Hope it’ll get even better with the passage of time. the prices of the food and the hookah is very nice and affordable.(y) Hats off

I came back here, no more parking charge, everything is good from now :)!

Minus a star because this place forces you to park valet. I am coming to eat hummus not to go clubbing! Shisha is good. Service is most of the time on the spot. Food is yummy. I personally didn’t like their rice. But the hummus with meat, desserts, and shwarmas were tasty. The first time I went the waiter refused to make my shwarma like I wanted because he was afraid the chef would get offended, lol. Weekends are fun here because of the live music. It has a good mix of people. Singles, Arabs, non-​Arabs, families, and whatever else. You can sit outside in the patio with nice heaters or if you are party of 5 or more on the big couches. There is a place up front with Arabic style seating but it seems like mostly guys so I usually sit elsewhere. Definitely one of the top places to go for good food and shisha. Shisha is decently priced too.

The food was fine. Hummus with meat and pinenuts was great. The mixed grill had awesome veggies and rice, but the meat itself was honestly pretty dry. I’m also positive the pita is not made fresh there, which I tend to expect at places these days.
As far as the service, it’s a bit tricky. Our waiter was very friendly and attentive. Very polite. The problem was that he didn’t seem to speak even the most basic of English. To an extent, I don’t mind speaking slower (and perhaps using more basic words) anywhere I go if I think my waiter or waitress isn’t a native speaker, or isn’t totally conversant in English. I think it’s pretty common, and it isn’t some huge inconvenience for me to speak a little differently. Unfortunately, our waiter wasn’t even at that level. I tried asking him if the tea was sweetened or unsweetened and he didn’t understand me. I asked him a question about an item on the menu I didn’t recognize, and he sort of stammered through until I told him it was OK. I asked if water was free or if there was a charge and after telling me to wait a second, he brought me a bottle of water, which while polite, doesn’t answer my question. I’m not mocking this guy or trying to be mean in any way. A job like this is great for anyone to learn a foreign language. I’m just saying as a customer, if you as management see you have a staff member who doesn’t yet have command of the language, assign someone who does to the table that needs it.
I have no opinion on their hookah. Nor on the desserts or other drinks besides the tea (don’t get it.) After reading some of these other reviews, though, I’d say may be cautious of what’s being said. They seem kinda fake, yeah? I went on a groupon, I’d suggest do the same if you’ve never been there. At least that way you’re saving some money.

I was surprised by their service, there are so many waiters, but none of them seem to be working. Waited for more than 30 minutes to get my check. Food was ok, but my experience was ruined by the bad service.

Good food. Good hookahs. AMAZING KUNEFE!
There isnt really «outdoor» seating, well there is but its facing a wall.

Two check-​ins in two days. One with my father, the other with my mother. One during the day time, the other during the night. Sat outside on one occasion and inside the other time This place is the latest addition to the shisha cafes in the area. Seriously, there are five other café within a one mile radius of this place.
My dad is a huge fan of this place, he gives it a ⁵⁄₅
My mom says she has been to better places. she gives it ³⁄₅
I, on the other hand give it a 4.33 333 333. Why? Breakdown as follows:
The hookah-​5/​5
The food ³⁄₅
The atmosphere: ⁵⁄₅
The service ⁴⁄₅
The prices ⁵⁄₅
location and parking ⁴⁄₅
The hookah did take a while to come out but the smoke was thick and I enjoyed it quite a bit. It’s nice that they have specific shisha for each flavor. This helps the taste of the hookah be consistent and fresh. At 11.99, the price is just right!
The food: when i was with my mom, we each ordered a shwarma sandwich and while I enjoyed the fries, the sandwich was not so great. (6.99 each). One great thing is that they do not charge 10.99 for tea pots, like other places (cough SHISHA EXPRESS). They charge a modest 3.99 but i can see them raising this in the near future. When I was with my father, we ordered many plates of food. The best? Hummus! At 4.99, the hummus was fresh and authentic. The worst? The sambousek. Again, 4.99 but so not worth it. It the furthest thing from actual real sambousek and I was quite disappointed.
The atmosphere: They have live entertainment outside typically on the weekends. It’s nice if you like arabic music.
The fact that they have heaters outside to keep people warm makes this place perfect for the upcoming cold months!
Inside: the lighting is bright and the décor is quite classy and simple if you ask me! Quite impressed how spacious this place is.
The service: it can get slow at times but the manager checked on us a lot my first visit and made the waitress be on top of her work. The second time with my dad the service was perfect. Shisha always had coal at the end, I guess that is the most important part.
Valet parking at night, self parking during the day. i didn’t have a problem with it. The valet was actually nice enough to go to my car during the rain to get my phone I left in it. I hate being forced to pay for parking but i don’t really mind at this place.
Overall, this place is a solid 4, maybe 5 if they can work out food and service issues. Quite impressed and look forward to coming here again.