In happy-peppy, frat house-preppy P.B., a social fix is the height of personal achievement. What distinguishes the Sinbad Cafe (open since April) from the pre-existing bars, sushi joints, boutiques and tattoo parlors along Garnet is the Middle Eastern ambience that the Baghdad-born Haddads have instilled inside: from the hookahs themselves (imported from Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey) to the festive crayon colors that coat the walls and ceilings -- ocean blues, sunrise yellows, damask reds.

Consider the hookah. So old -- the rise of its popularity dates back to 17th-century Turkey. So odd -- it looks like a bong with a thyroid condition. So misunderstood.

"If there's such a thing as 'good' smoke, this would be the closest thing to it," says Rafid Haddad, who with his brother owns and operates Sinbad Cafe, along the Garnet strip between Cass and Dawes streets in Pacific Beach. The two-dozen flavored tobaccos sold here (from banana to strawberry to mango, among others) are "very weak," Haddad points out, and they contain no tar. The base of each is dried fruit.

"The only thing you get a `buzz' off of is the oxygen," says Firas Haddad. "What you're really smoking is sugar."

More than anything else, he says, "A hookah is a social fix."

Conversation pieces abound: the three hookahs mounted atop a surfboard (how P.B. is that?) over a doorway; painted images on the west wall of some quintessentially American icons partaking of the hookah experience -- George Washington, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis; the murals on the ceiling; and a terrarium-under-glass that is the counter bar. It's inhabited by snakes, lizards and iguanas. That's live (if smallish) snakes, lizards and iguanas.

Even the bygone Diego's at its wildest never boasted reptiles -- reptilian types in Hawaiian shirts on the make, perhaps, but not snakes, lizards or iguanas.

Lounging, indoors or out (there's a spacious, lit patio), is at stainless-steel tables and chairs, with some velvet-bench seating available in the tile-floored main room. Piped-in music varies by hour, by clientele, by mood. It might be bluesy one moment, techno the next. The later the evening gets, the younger the clientele gets.

There's also a terrace out front for watching the nightly Garnet pedestrian parade. By day, you may see older customers here, lingering over their beverages as one might in a sun-baked Baghdad coffeehouse.

The Haddads sell food, coffee, tea, beer and wine on tap, and handmade cigars too, but the featured attraction at Sinbad is the hookah.

"This is a hookah bar," Firas Haddad states firmly.

If you've never indulged before, someone on staff will recommend a flavor (the premium-line tobacco is a good starter) and provide instructions, and you guys will appreciate the halter-topped Brazilian waitresses who circulate, tending to the hookahs if the coals burn out.

Besides the standard and premium lines of tobaccos on hand, a new aphrodisiac line is to be introduced soon. (Hmmm. An aphrodisiac in P.B. Would that be redundant?)

A hookah of flavored tobacco should last one person up to 45 minutes; 25 minutes for two; 15 minutes or so for three people. You must be at least 18 years old to (let's just go ahead and make it a verb) hookah.

For the ambitious Haddads, P.B. is only the beginning. They intend to franchise the Sinbad Cafe. Next stop -- Hillcrest, with the Gaslamp eyed after that, and two other locations after that.

The Sinbad Cafe is open weekdays until 2 a.m.; Fridays and Saturdays until 4 a.m.

Credit: ASSOCIATE NIGHT & DAY EDITOR