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Traditions, trends blend together at popular lounge
Story and photos by Ethan Williams

A popular Fourth Avenue business blends traditional and cultural trends to create a welcoming and popular hangout for college students and community members alike.

But like many businesses on the celebrated strip, Sargon and Herlinda Davoudikia’s Medusa, located between Fifth and Sixth streets, is not your typical mom and pop store. Medusa is one of many businesses that house the popular college past time of smoking shisha–fruit-marinated tobacco–using the iridescent and, often times, intricately designed single or multi-stemmed water pipe called a hookah. 

Medusa house of hookah welcomes customers of all ages and offers 50 different shisha flavors. (Nathan Williams/UA Journalism)

“This is a traditional item that has become a trend among young people,” Herlinda Davoudikia said. The use of the hookah dates back hundreds of years in the Middle East, said Sargon Davoudikia.

The sweet aroma of fruit permeates the main room of the lounge, mixing with the Arabic music to create a cultural, but youthful setting that keep the mood lively and laid back.

University of Arizona students and alumni are among Medusa’s regulars.

"Fourth [Avenue] is an ideal location because of the U of A students ,” she said. “[They] know more about hookahs than other people."

Hookah use has picked up popularity, seemingly, because most users prefer the sweet-smelling and tasting shisha to the regular tobacco in cigarettes.  According to the Hookah Company's hookah history, this trend started in the U.S. and Europe during the experimental '60s, and recently had a revival and can now be found around every college campus.

"[Hookah is] totally different from a cigarette and hookahs smell better," said Therron Todacheenie, a UA alumnus. “You don’t get that cigarette breath and your hands don’t smell like cigarettes."

With over 50 flavors of shisha offered at Medus, Herlinda Davoudikia said that there is a flavor for everyone, ranging from more conventional flavors such as mint or apple, to specialty flavors like 'Guavalicious,' Skittles and W ildcat Special .             

“Our shisha is five-star shisha,” she said. “The best.”

However, because hookahs are a popular trend, there are many hookah bars and lounges around Fourth Avenue and Tucson alone. Lounges like Smiley's and The Casbah Tea House are found along Fourth Avenue as well, but what sets Medusa apart for its customers seem to be the price and ambiance.

“This place is nicer and cheaper,” regular Chris Sanderson said . Sanderson added that he preferred the hookahs over cigarettes because of the shisha’s sweet and flavorful taste.

Sargon Devoudikia said that he designed his lounge to be American but still culturally Arabic. 

"I tried to bring culture,” he said, “but at the same time, thinking about my customer's comfort.”

At Medusa the average fee for sitting and smoking a hookah ranges between $5-7 per person, depending on the size of the group; the bigger the group, the lower the price.

Medusa also sells shisha for $7 per 50 grams of five-star shisha or $5 for the four-star and three-star shisha.

Medusa is open late seven days a week, later on Friday and Saturday.