Rockford’s only hookah lounge reopens with new ownership, BYOB drinks

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
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ROCKFORD — The city’s only hookah lounge has reopened with new ownership and a new rule that allows patrons to bring their own alcoholic drinks into the social space.

Lit Hookah Lounge, 2510 S. Alpine Road in front of the Alpine Village shopping center, celebrated its reopening Friday night with a ribbon-cutting ceremony with the Greater Rockford Arab Chamber of Commerce and Alderman Mark Bonne.

The lounge, which closed under previous ownership more than a year and a half ago, is designed to offer a relaxing, laid-back atmosphere with an upscale ambiance for you to hang out with friends while sampling a selection of hookah flavors.

“It’s for the people who are looking for — after a long week — to relax, have a drink, smoke a little bit of hookah, listen to some good music and be in good company. No more, no less,” said Heythem Sahori, a member of the family that runs the business. “Hookah is definitely a cultural thing … bringing a little bit of culture here is never a bad thing.”

Hookah is popular in several Middle Eastern countries and parts of central Asia. Opening a lounge here was an opportunity for the family-run business to bring it to their hometown, Sahori said.

“We’ve been in Rockford a majority of our lives, if not all of our lives,” he said. “We’re just people looking to bring something that we love to Rockford in a safe environment.”

The decision to reopen Lit hinged on City Council members creating a new rule that allowed for patrons to bring their own drinks into the space, something aldermen referred as a BYOB, or bring your own bottle.

That rule was approved 10-4 in September 2023 after weeks of debate.

“Hopefully this will help create a vibe in this corner of town that helps bring back more vital businesses and more interesting businesses that people want to come from all parts of town to check out,” said Bonne, the 14th Ward alderman who had advocated for the BYOB rule.

Bonne said BYOB was a necessary component to allow for the business to successfully attract customers. He emphasized that the B stands for bottle — not necessarily booze.

“It’s hard to get people to stay here for hours if you can’t eat or drink,” he said. “If you look at Chicago and other places in Illinois, the vast majority have BYOB.”

Hookah is an elaborate water pipe for smoking special flavored tobacco in a social setting. It’s considered to have the same potential adverse health effects as cigarette smoking, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

Lit offers a wide range of flavors for you to select from in a lounge with cushioned seats that surround the hookah. There are also plush booths, a trendy photo wall fitting for selfies or Instagram photos and VIP rooms for a private gatherings.

Lit is the only hookah lounge in the city of Rockford. There is another local hookah bar — Jack’s — in Machesney Park.

There are a multitude of such lounges in Chicagoland.

“This is a place that we used to have to drive two hours to go to every weekend,” Sahori said.  “We brought a little bit of what we love here.”

Lit Hookah Lounge | hours and contact

Where: 2510 S. Alpine Road, Rockford

Contact: 815-904-6980

On Facebook: Go HERE

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas