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| - Favorite parts of Sphinx:
-Superior (best) quality tobacco in a large bowl for $12? I'm sure it costs even less than that at cost, but it's still one of the cheapest I've seen, and it'll last a couple of hours.
-Drinks are hit or miss, but some are really good. I usually go for the tamer hindi- I have no idea what fruit it's derived from (unhelpfully, the menu says "sweet & sour fruit") but it's darn delicious.
-Cool atmosphere. It's inside an old church, so they still have the balcony where (presumably) the organ or choir would've been. They keep the inside pretty dark and play some Arabic version of MTV on a flat-screen. A lot of Pitt and CMU students frequent here, which is usually not a bad thing, although sometimes it gets a bit loud.
-Easy access, although finding parking is a bit difficult. The South Side is crazy for driving on Friday or Saturday night, so it's nice having a hookah bar in Oakland away from the traffic.
Bottom line: of the hookah bars in Pittsburgh, I'm pretty sure Sphinx is my favorite. I think, for the most part, it's a matter of personal preference- Sphinx has the best atmosphere and is probably the cheapest, Hookah Bookah is a bit more expensive but has (I think) the best tobacco, and Hkan is decent, but popular because they have a full bar. Try them all, because there's not a lot of rhyme or reason as to which one you like best.
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