Wauconda’s new Inhale Hookah Lounge is the latest to open in the suburbs
Smoking is prohibited in just about all stores and restaurants these days, but it has found a new home in Wauconda — at least for one type of tobacco.
Inhale Hookah Lounge opened last week at 210 W. Liberty St., bringing an interesting and sometimes controversial activity to the village.
“It’s like Starbucks with cigarettes,” said owner Chris Gazinski, a McHenry native.
The lounge had its grand opening April 19, and Gazinski said initial customer response has been positive.
“People are excited to have something new to try out,” he said.
Because hookah is often falsely associated with illicit drugs, Gazinski said several other towns he approached immediately denied his proposal. But he said Wauconda officials have been helpful since he applied for a permit with the village about a month ago.
“We treat it like a tobacco shop,” said Wauconda Village Administrator David Geary. “We hope they do well. It just shows the wide variety of businesses we have in Wauconda.”
Hookah smoking involves flavored tobacco with a water pipe, with smoke being passed through water to cool and soften it. It originated in India and Persia in the 16th century, but its popularity has been on the rise around Chicago for years.
“It’s a soothing experience,” Gazinski said. “It creates a nice social atmosphere, a good excuse for friends to sit down together to talk and relax.”
Hookah lounges are common in many parts of Chicago, but anecdotal evidence would suggest that popularity is spreading to the suburbs.
“It seems like they’ve been popping up in the surrounding communities a lot in the past three years,” Geary said.
After seeing the success of hookah lounges in Schaumburg and Grayslake, Gazinski said Wauconda provided an untapped market.
“A lot of people enjoy it, and I think it will catch on here,” he said.
Customers must be 18 or older to enter Inhale. The lounge touts 65 tobacco flavors, from fudge to pineapple. A hookah, typically shared among two or three people, costs $5, $13 on weekends. The business also serves pastries, 25 varieties of flavored tea and other nonalcoholic beverages.