Smoke on This: Hookah Lounge Coming to New Lenox

Smokers might not be able to enjoy a cigarette indoors anymore, but a new hookah lounge opening in New Lenox next month looks to provide a different kind of tobacco experience.

Mr. Shesha's is planning to open early in June at the location where Cafe on Cedar was at 398 N. Cedar Road. Owners Ehab Moustafa and Ahmed Ansari and liked the growth in New Lenox.

"It's a new developing area," Ansari said. "It's on the uprise. And there isn't anything like it offered there."

At the Village Board meeting tonight, the owners will seek a shared parking plan with . Because there isn't much parking at the location, the businesses would share spots because the hookah lounge likely wouldn't open until the evening, after The Cozy Fireplace closes.

Besides that, though, village planning administrator Robin Ellis said there aren't any other issues facing the hookah lounge. The business would sell some canned beverages and possibly coffee but is not seeking a liquor license. No food would be sold, either.

Ellis said there aren't any smoking laws affecting the business, either. Hookah lounges are exempt under the state's smoking ban if they qualify as retail tobacco shops.

Customers must be 18 or older to smoke at Mr. Shesha's, and Ansari stressed the difference between hookah tobacco and cigarettes. At a hookah lounge, tobacco is placed inside a clay bowl, which is then covered by a piece of foil with small holes so the coals can heat up the tobacco. Water is added half way inside a vase and a hose is attached. Each customer gets his or her own hose tip to use when they are smoking. 

Ansari said there could be about 100 flavors of tobacco to choose from at Mr. Shesha's, including apple, watermelon, mint and pink lemonade. The ingredients include fruit pulp, tobacco leaves, molasses and glycerin. There are no tars and less than .05 percent of nicotine in hookah tobacco, compared to 6 percent nicotine in cigarettes.

The hookah lounge will also have TVs, board games and free Wi-Fi.