Dutchman’s Flat: A hidden gem at risk of discovery
Grass Score: 4
Pros
Solid selection
Clean, quiet space
Prioritizes minority vendors
Location, location, location
Cons
Decor feels unfinished
Service is just serviceable
1 - Just say no! • 2 - In a pinch • 3 - We’d hit it
4 - It’s lit • 5 - Oh, hell yes!
Day Trip Itinerary
Breakfast at Piccino
Views at Heron’s Head Park
Lunch at Serpentine
Culture at The Museum of Craft and Design
More culture at Minnesota Street Project
Drinks at Dogpatch Saloon
Dinner at Besharam
SF’s best (and worst) dispensaries 2019
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If you didn’t settle here at the turn of the last century, there’s a good chance you’ve never heard the name Dutchman’s Flat. Before it was known as Dogpatch, the strip of land between the coast and Potrero Hill, served as a booming industrial zone with scattered housing mostly servicing European laborers. Today Dogpatch is one of the city’s most rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods, and Dutchman’s Flat is history. Well, almost. In 2016, a Modesto farm boy opened up an Amsterdam-style dispensary in the neighborhood that once shared its name.
Centrally located on 3rd Street, the neighborhood’s commercial corridor, Dutchman’s Flat has been serving Dogpatch for three years, in a clean, quiet space free from the overcrowding of dispensaries in more densely populated neighborhoods. The selection here is solid if a bit limited, with flower, edibles, and concentrates from some of California’s most recognizable names. You’ll find products from Bloom Farms, Humboldt Farms, Henry’s, Jetty, Big Pete’s, Kiva, and Korova, with eighths ranging from $32 to $55. Like Sparc in SoMa, Dutchman’s Flat reserves space on its shelf for equity vendors and women-owned businesses.
The design here is thoughtful, playing off the origins of the neighborhood, first settled by Dutchmen (go figure) in the late 1800s. You’ll see nods to the Netherlands in small details throughout the building, including the shop’s logo and minimalist decor. While we appreciate the stripped down aesthetics, the look borders on unfinished at times. Still, we’ll take an empty shelving unit over the Apple store copycatting happening elsewhere in the city.
If we have one real quibble with Dutchman’s Flat, though, it’s with the service. Don’t get us wrong, the staff here is friendly -- hell, we spent a good 10 minutes shooting the shit with the door guy -- but while our budtender was perfectly polite, he wasn’t particularly forthcoming with product knowledge or recommendations. We still got what we wanted and we didn’t have to wait in line for 30 minutes to get it. We didn’t have to brave the crowds of downtown or compete for parking. In a city where time and space are precious commodities, that’s a luxury.
This weed slinger is good at a lot but its real killer feature is location. It’s the only dispensary serving Dogpatch and the surrounding neighborhoods of Mission Bay and Potrero Hill. Despite the lack of competition, though, the shop is still relatively quiet at any given time. We were in and out in the space of ten minutes on a Friday afternoon.
Sadly, its days as a hidden gem are numbered. Dutchman’s Flat isn’t just the only dispensary in Dogpatch, it also happens to be the closest dispensary to the Chase Center, the Warrior’s new $1.4 billion stadium. While that may not be great news for locals and loners, it’s likely to be a boon for business. If we were you, we’d take a day and take in what Dogpatch has to offer before it's too late.