Cannabis Fine Dining in San Francisco: Top Marijuana Restaurants

by Jessica
friends eating gourmet dinner, top down, full table

Marijuana restaurants – yes, they’re a thing – combine two classics that have always paired well together: high-quality weed and delicious food. Not surprisingly, some of the best cannabis dinners are in San Francisco, with its favorable weed laws and top-tier culinary scene.

Whether you live here or are just smoking your way through the city while on vacation, diverse menus ensure there is something for everyone to enjoy.

Big Bad Wolf - Chef Haejin Chun

What could be more San Francisco than a first-generation Korean American chef serving up weed-infused cuisine? If your mouth has already started watering you’re not alone, as Chef Chun’s dinner popups sell out soon after she announces them on her Instagram.

Chef Chun is an artist with her food, as well. “This is a nine-course culinary experience with cannabis. It’s not just getting f-- up high and going to 7-Eleven and getting Big Gulps,” she told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Chef Chun’s offerings include a steamed egg custard served with Dungeness crab and a chicken roulade with sticky rice.

The Cannaisseur Series - Chef Coreen Carrol

[caption id="attachment_10046" align="alignright" width="555"]cannabis infused plate of gourmet fine dining food Pop up dinners sell out fast in San Francisco. Be sure to get on the email list to score tickets before they are gone.[/caption]

If CBD-infused squash blossom bisque and Asiago hemp puffs pique your curiosity, then a seat at the Cannaisseur Series is sure to delight your palate. It’s helmed by Chef Coreen Carrol, one of the top 10 cannabis chefs out there, per Green State. Her partner, Ryan Bush, is the weed expert.

The pair’s cannabis diner San Francisco have four courses, and specialize in local and seasonal cuisine with high-quality marijuana pairings.

Both Chef Carrol and Bush want folks to know there’s more to cannabis cooking than weed brownies. “We were kind of banking on there being enough people out there like us who loved great food and smoking,” Bush explained to Culture Trip.

The Enlightened Series - Chef Joseph Paire

Across the bridge in the East Bay, Chef Joseph Paire is serving his own take on cannabis and cuisine at the Limewood Bar & Restaurant. Here, you won’t find weed-infused food, but you will find curated dishes that are carefully paired with marijuana.

“We’re pairing to the notes in the strains,” he shared in a chat with The Mercury News.

Here, a main course might be a lamb loin with endive, exotic citrus, and smoked lamb belly ragout, followed by a chocolate bar with fermented banana and salted caramel for dessert. Imagine how weed would lift those flavors.

Opulent Chef - Chef Michael Magallanes

Another marijuana restaurant option in San Francisco is Opulent Chef, Chef Michael Magallanes’ private dining and catering outfit. Also named a top cannabis chef by Green State, Chef Magallanes cooks up meals he infuses with ice-water bubble hash.

“I do a French toast stick infused with cannabis, topped with sea urchin and pickled rhubarb,” he revealed. “I do coffee-roasted carrots with savory chocolate ganache infused with hash coconut oil and dried chiles, like a play on mole.”

Chef Magallanes likes to let the flavor profile of the cannabis that he cooks with shine through, which adds to the overall dining experience.

Red House SF - Chef Christopher Russell

What about a Caribbean cannabis dinner in San Francisco? You bet, as Chef Christopher Russell of Red House is bringing his Jamaican heritage to your plate, with fried plantain cups with ackee and saltfish dip and head-on spicy shrimp served on pureed cauliflower, for example.

“My mother Chef Sharon taught me how to cook at age 10 and her grandmother taught her at age 10,” he shared with Tastemade. “I have been trained in the heritage art of preparing and cooking traditional Caribbean dishes.”

Chef Russell works with Bad Bwoy Eats, who helps infuse the cuisine with microdoses of THC. That way, your buzz stays smooth for all five courses.

Cannabis Dinners in San Francisco: A Growing Trend

It's true that most cannabis dinners in San Francisco consist of popups. But, it’s only a matter of time before full-blown marijuana restaurants open for business in the area. With such an incredible diversity of chefs, foods, and strains, the possibilities seem endless — and delicious.