South City allows its only hookah lounge: New owners of former Dahab restaurant can serve hookah after city’s policy change

Prior to the current owners acquiring the 1429 San Mateo Ave. location, the establishment, Dahab, had been operating as a restaurant and hookah lounge, however, it had received several notices of violation for doing so, among other unpermitted uses, by the city’s code enforcement department. The current owners acquired the property last year and hope to continue similar services, including hookah, with the city’s permission.

“The front building has been a restaurant use since at least 2004. More recently code enforcement has issued notices of violation to the previous business owner for unpermitted construction uses, use of hookah without a use permit in 2022 and 2024, conversion of the rear storage area into a banquet hall and unpermitted outdoor seating area,” Principal Planner Billy Gross said during a recent Planning Commission meeting.

The current applicant purchased the property in 2025 and has been working with the city to bring property back into compliance, he added.

Last year, the city adopted an updated tobacco retailer policy to mirror the county’s ordinance, which prohibits flavored tobacco or product enhancer, however, the City Council grandfathered in applicants who started the process before the city adopted the amendments.

“The applicant had submitted the use permit application a couple weeks before the City Council took final action,” Gross said. “This is the only application that can come before the city, and if this were approved, this would be the only such use that would be allowed within the city of South San Francisco.”

The hookah provided would neither contain nicotine nor tobacco, which would still keep it in compliance with the county’s ordinance, Gross said, and only those 21 and over would be allowed in the hookah lounge, which will be separate from the main restaurant area.

“It really comes down to, not is this an allowable use, but do the operations remain compliant and are things looking strong at the six-month and the 12-month check?” Commissioner Aysha Pamukcu said during the meeting.