On Friday nights, people line up on Welch Avenue to smoke flavored tobacco out of a water pipe at the Chicha Shack.

Once they are inside, Mohammed Ali places coals on the top of the pipe, called a “hookah,” heating the tobacco and creating flavored smoke. Pulse managed to catch up with Ali, owner of the Chicha Shack and senior in management.

Paul Nemeth: Why did you decide to open up a hookah bar?

Mohammed Ali: Because I’m the first mover in the market.

PN: How did you get interested in hookah?

MA: Well, it’s from back home [in Lebanon]. It’s a tradition. Back home we smoke it in restaurants, coffee shops, cafes. I mean, it’s almost everywhere. I went to different states here, and there’s a lot of people that go to hookah bars and coffee shops. Americans really like it.

I thought in Iowa, it would be something new for people to try. It’s interesting – fruit-flavored tobacco.

PN: What’s your favorite flavor?

MA: That’s tricky – I like different ones. I like cherry-mint, I like double-apple, I like lemon.

PN: I know some flavors are stronger than others. Which flavor is the best to start with?

MA: I would say start with a light flavor like strawberry, mixed fruit or mixed berry. Those are good to start with. Apple is a problem for many people. They get buzzed off of it.

PN: I bet you’ve met a lot of interesting people. What is the funniest thing you’ve seen on the job?

MA: I’ve seen a few funny things. This will tell me some people are not experienced with hookah: They come with their friends and when I go to grab the charcoal to prepare a hookah for them, there will be some people using a lighter on the top. This tells me they have been doing something illegal at home. So that’s kind of funny.

PN: What else do you see a lot?

MA: So many people think the charcoal is the flavor, and some people will ask for two flavors like cherry-mint. I go to prepare the hookah for them and put the two pieces of charcoal down, and they think one piece is cherry and one piece is mint. This is funny to me.

PN: How often do you smoke hookah?

MA: I would say I smoked every couple of days – every three days – because I have the shop. I smoked whenever I felt like it, but now I have this deal with my professor. He told me I am addicted to tobacco. I said, “No I’m not addicted.'” He said, “Okay. If you can go without smoking until the end of the semester, that will mean you aren’t addicted.” I did the deal with him and since then, I haven’t smoked. Sometimes I’ll have to smoke for customers, and that’s fine as long as I don’t make one for myself. I’m in the midst of a deal – but after that, I’ll go back to smoking.

PN: When are you really busy?

MA: I would say on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. You know the weekends – it’s busy. Between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. – that’s the busiest time. We upped our hours up from 6 p.m. until midnight during the week and on Friday and Saturday until 2 a.m. in the morning, sometimes until 3 a.m.

PN: Being open late on the weekends, how do you deal with the drunk people?

MA: That’s why I try to close at 2, when the bars close to avoid people who are wasted, but sometimes I cannot help it. They knock on my door and tell me they want to smoke really bad, and I’m too nice. It’s an issue for me [and] it’s a problem for everyone. They come in and they vomit in the shop. I try my best to avoid drunk people.

PN: Have you been affected by the tobacco ordinance?

MA: Not really. Basically, when I opened my shop, this was a new code in Iowa, so they changed the law to make it applicable to everybody. The government makes money off of this law because they put standard code actions. People have to pay taxes on any type of tobacco.

For me, it really didn’t do anything to me because I started this business, and when I started it, I applied to the law, which is 22 percent [tax], and minors are not allowed to smoke.