This Cannabis Restaurant May Be First US Standalone Pot Eatery
West Hollywood, California, could become home to the nation's first standalone cannabis restaurant, in a sign of just how mainstream the drug could become for property owners following the state's decision to legalize it.
The West Hollywood Business License Commission approved the first restaurant not attached to a retail location that would allow patrons to buy and consume marijuana on the premises, according to John Leonard, community and legislative affairs manager at the City of West Hollywood.
The Lowell Café, in the heart of Greater Los Angeles at 1201 N. La Brea Ave., is expected to allow customers to use various kinds of cannabis indoors anywhere in the restaurant and at the café’s inside patio. The cafe, owned by a group of 11 partners including organic cannabis farm Lowell Herb Co., plans to serve brunch, lunch and dinner that will consist of farm-to-table seasonal fare. It is prohibited by state law from serving alcohol at the same location of cannabis consumption so the owners plan to serve “unique virgin cocktails” instead, according to Kevin Brady, general manager at the Lowell Café.
Other cities, including Denver and San Francisco, have cannabis lounges, a concept that offers customers a place to smoke, vape and consume edible cannabis on site, but a restaurant of this type is believed to be the first of its kind in the country.
“West Hollywood is a very progressive city,” Renee Nahum, co-owner and community representative, said of the choice to approve cannabis cafés.
The city of West Hollywood expects to have a total of 16 consumption lounges, including the Lowell Cafe and another site approved this month, according to Leonard. A cannabis café called Pleasure Med at 7715 Santa Monica Blvd., next to adult store Pleasure Chest was also approved for a cannabis consumption license this month, according to Leonard. It will offer retail sales of cannabis products on its ground floor and a consumption lounge on the second floor, Leonard said.
California is among 11 states with legalized recreational sales of marijuana at permitted sites. Its legalization initially spurred a flurry of commercial real estate activity statewide, but Los Angeles brokers have seen an uptick in interest since it became legal. The Standard Hotel Hollywood, a popular upscale hotel on the famous Sunset Strip, also petitioned the city of West Hollywood last year to sell cannabis on its property.
“I would say in the last year as a broker active in the trafficked areas of L.A., I’ve gotten a massive amount of calls from cannabis tenants,” said Jay Luchs, vice chairman at commercial real estate firm Newmark Knight Frank who was not involved in the deal.
Owners of the Lowell Café, at the corner of Lexington Avenue in the former site of Loreley Restaurant, have been working on it for three years, according to Nahum.
To open, the owners of Lowell Cafe must secure a state cannabis license, for which they are in the process of applying, according to Nahum. Lowell Café must also install an air purification and absorption system that is meant to absorb the smell outside the consumption lounge, according to Leonard.
That system is meant to help some concerns about the smell of cannabis by the property's neighbors. The cafe faced local opposition to the license at this month's meeting from a rabbi at nearby Congregation Kol Ami who raised concerns about the smoke, according to news reports. However, she had no comment when contacted by telephone Wednesday.
Lowell Café could open in about three or four months, according to Leonard.
