BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The end of smoking in restaurants and the growing popularity of non-smoking bars is leading to a rebound in the cigar bar business. Birmingham's latest entry in the fast-growing market, Highland Cigar Lounge & Hookah Bar, is expected to open Friday behind the popular Highland Package store.

Owner Jimmy Gorji and his brother David spent three months building out an old storage room at the back of their store into a posh bar. Patrons will be able to buy cigars from a selection of 30 to 40 brands ranging in price from $6 to $20, David said this week. The bar will offer liquor and beer from the selection of 55 brands the package store sells on tap.

The brothers expect to capture customers who have just had dinner at the nearby Hot & Hot Fish Club and Bottega restaurants, and to grab a share of Birmingham's hookah-loving immigrants from all over the Middle East.

The hookah, for the uninitiated, is that octopus-looking water pipe from which Middle Easterners have smoked flavored tobacco for centuries.

The brothers, who spent 20 years working in construction after immigrating to the U.S. from Azerbaijan, did the work themselves to keep costs down, David said.

"The space was there, so we put it to use," he said. "We might as well do something with it."

The new bar will be managed by Luke Hampton, who has worked at Marty's and the Wine Loft.

This item appeared in The Insider, a weekly column in The Birmingham News.