Do you remember that episode of “Seinfeld” when George uses a picture of Jerry’s girlfriend to get in to “Forbidden City,” a club full of exotic and beautiful women? From the outside it just looks like any old place, but once you are inside it is full of loud music, beautiful people and all sorts of female inspired temptation. Layalina restaurant and hookah bar gives off the same vibe, but to get in you don’t need a picture of a supermodel and as long as you keep coming back it won’t end up being turned into a meat packing plant… like George’s “Forbidden City.”

Located at 1596 Howe Ave., about a block down from Arden Way, this Mediterranean restaurant and hookah bar is tucked neatly into the back corner of the shopping plaza and not in a prime spot to grab a lot of attention from the street. Once you got to the front door however, you wouldn’t know it. With a slightly intimidating bouncer in the front checking IDs and enforcing a fairly slack dress code, people wait to get inside or sit at the outdoor patio area where they can choose to smoke their hookah in the fresh air. That, according to waitress/bartender/busser Sophia Cazarez, is something that Layalina uniquely offers the Sacramento hookah crowd.

“You can smoke it inside or outside, which is something that a lot of places don’t offer,” she said.

She goes on to point out the benefits of Layalina’s hookah experience. “I know it’s cheaper, it’s a lot cheaper. From Sunday through Wednesday it’s five dollars a hookah, we don’t charge per person, you can refill a bowl of tobacco for like five extra dollars. It’s really inexpensive, and the quality of the tobacco is excellent,” Cazarez said.

Layalina also offers tempting exotic dishes like baba ghanouj, which is baked eggplant mixed with garlic, lemon juice and tahini sauce. They also offer beef shawarma, otherwise known as thinly sliced top sirloin, marinated then grilled with onions, pickles, special spices and of course that delicious Middle Eastern treat, tahini sauce. Appetizers, soups, salads and dinner are offered all night only serving to enhance the overall experience of this establishment which also employs a disc jockey every night to keep the dance floor crowded.

If you want to hear him though, be sure to arrive later than the opening time of 5 p.m. He usually doesn’t start until later on in the night, and according to Cazarez, depending on the night you come you may be in for a treat.

“We have theme nights on Wednesdays, it’s Salsa night. Thursday it’s hip hop, Friday and Saturday it’s a mix of everything,” Cazarez said.

There is a moderately sized dance floor for people to, for lack of a better word, shake their groove thing. Surrounding half of the dance floor is an elevated set of tables slightly looking down on what’s going everywhere else, which gives it kind of a cool “I’m not on the dance floor, but I’m closer then I would be if I were sitting over in that corner” feeling.

Dual TV sets face each other from either side of the room playing Arabic music videos non-stop.

Matt Rascher can be rached at [email protected]