San Francisco's best (and worst) cannabis dispensaries 2020
Pot’s heavy hitters made a play for the Bay in 2019, with Berner, BReal, and STIIIZY all setting up shop in San Francisco late last year. So, yeah, there are a few new names on our radar, but the venues have largely remained the same. Harvest changed its name to Urbana, STIIIZY replaced La Corona, and Dr. Green Thumbs opened up in the old Cookie Co 415. Change is the mode of the moment, but one thing remains constant: there’s no shortage of places to get your green in the city. Luckily, The Grass Guide is here to take the guesswork out of getting high in San Francisco.
We’ve visited dispensaries anonymously, made purchases based on our needs (and, let’s be honest, our impulses), and given each of the city’s pot shops a score that reflects our experience and research. The Grass score is based on five criteria: service, selection, ethics, atmosphere, and merchandising.
Here’s how it works, on a scale of one finger to five.
1 = Just say no! | 2 = In a pinch | 3 = We’d hit it | 4 = It’s lit | 5 = Oh, hell yes!
This is our living list of San Francisco’s best (and worst) cannabis dispensaries in 2020 as we see them thus far. We’ll continue to add scores and descriptions to this page for each shop as we review them. For now, happy hunting.
SAN FRANCISCO’S BEST & WORST DISPENSARIES 2019
Apothecarium
2029 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94114
SOMA
Grass Score: 4
The Castro’s one-stop pot shop feels authentically San Franciscan, despite its Canadian backers. It may not be locally owned, but Apothecarium is all about community. The service is superb, the decor is on point, and the menu is fully-loaded.
Apothecarium SOMA
527 Howard Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
SOMA / SOUTH BEACH
Grass Score: 3
The Apothecarium Howard continues the chain’s attention to interior design, dedication to philanthropy, commitment to education, and extensive selection. Sadly, the service here is unpredictable.
Barbary Coast
952 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
SOMA
Grass Score: 4
Located between Civic Center and SOMA, Barbary Coast serves as a brief retreat from a chaotic neighborhood. The service and selection are on point, but it’s the dapper dab bar and consumption lounge that make this one of the city’s standouts.
BASA
1326 Grove Street
San Francisco, CA 94117
NOPA
Grass Score: 3
The Vogue-approved pot shop has a strong reputation, decent decor, solid selection, and dependable service. There’s only one thing holding it back: a giant sheet of bullet-proof glass.
Dutchman’s Flat
2544 3rd Street
San Francisco, CA 94107
DOGPATCH
Grass Score: 4
This weed slinger is good at a lot but its real killer feature is location. Sadly, its days as a hidden gem are numbered.
Elevated San Francisco
2442 Bayshore Blvd.
San Francisco, CA 94134
VISITACION VALLEY
Grass Score: 4
Elevated is San Francisco’s most far-out dispensary, literally. Just North of SFO and minutes from Candlestick Park, the relative newcomer has invested heavily in the neighborhood and in its inventory. It may be a trek from the city’s center, but the selection and service here are top notch.
Flower to the People
70 2nd Street
San Francisco, California 94105
SOMA
Grass Score: 3
Synopsis: In post-prohibition San Francisco, Flower to the People feels like a relic of the past. The shops is entirely lacking in style but has service and product on lock. As is, it’s a strong three. WIth a little finesse it would easily be a four.
Grass Roots
1077 Post Street
San Francisco, CA 94109
POLK GULCH
Grass Score: 4
Grass Roots stands as a monument to stability in a volatile industry. It’s been serving a solid selection with exceptional service in speakeasy-style digs for more than a decade. Feeling a little de ja vu? It’s for good reason: The Polk Gulch staple was basically the blueprint for Moe Green’s and Barbary Coast.
Ketama
14 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
MISSION
Grass Score: 1
Enter at your own risk. The selection is meh, the service is surly, and the decor might be best described as flea market hamam. Honestly, a look is just about the only thing Ketama has going for it.
Love Shack
502 14th Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
MISSION
Grass Score: 4
There isn’t much to see at this little pot shop in the mission -- that is unless you’re standing on the curb outside. This wee weed shop is wrapped in murals by local artists, but the interior is mostly just a blank little box. There’s no retail experience to speak of. Despite its size, though, the service is solid and the selection is surprisingly extensive.
MediThrive
1933 Mission Street San Francisco, CA 94103
Score: 5
Don’t let the superhero logo fool you, this isn’t a crossfit gym. MediThrive is actually one of the city’s most inventive cannabis retail spaces. This mission storefront hits all of our marks, but it’s the shopping experience that’s got us. Flower is displayed in Beauty and the Beast-style glass domes that give you a 360 view of the product before you buy it. The only drawback? You’ll have to find somewhere else to smoke that fine ass bud. MediThrive is a retail-only establishment.Updated 9/21/20: The Grass Agency can no longer recommend MediThrive due to reported racist comments made by one of its founders. More information on Misha Breyburg’s remarks can be found in the comments on the dispensary’s Yelp Page. There is no room for anti-Black behavior in an industry built by Black people.
Moe Greens
1276 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
MID-MARKET
Score: 5
You have near endless options for where to buy and smoke your weed in Mid-Market; zoning rules have made this narrow strip of a neighborhood home to the city’s biggest concentration of pot shops and consumption lounges. Still, we always gravitate towards Moe Greens. The casino-theme could easily have turned tacky, but Moe Greens found just the right balance of flashy and classy, making for an experience that outshines most in the city. The staff is friendly (and trained in cannabis first aid), the selection is extensive, and the lounge is dripping in two of our favorite colors: gold and green. They even have a dab bar for the high rollers.
Pure 710
49 Kearny St 3rd Floor
San Francisco, CA 94108
FINANCIAL DISTRICT
Score: 3
From the weird corridor security desk to the creaky elevator ride to the top, first impressions won’t prepare you for the chill atmosphere inside the Financial District’s only proper dispensary. Once you make it up stairs to the actual shop, the spot has the vibes and decor of a day spa, with the added benefit of a staff well-trained in the art and science of getting you high. There are plenty of other, better-rated dispensaries a few blocks away, but if you’re North of Market, Pure 710 is still a solid pick.
Sparc
1256 Mission Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
SOMA
Grass Score: 4
At first glance, Sparc isn’t much to behold, but it’s dedication to equity, access, community, and sustainability make it stand out in a crowded neighborhood. The service was barely serviceable but the selection is 100. Bonus: they grow their own.
Urban Pharm
122 10th Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
SOMA
Grass Score: 3
There’s definitely nothing like it, which is either a good thing or bad thing depending on your appetite for steampunk decor. What it’s lacking in selection, Urban Pharm makes up for with style personality and service. The downside of UP? Its opaque origins.
Urbana off Mission
33 29th Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
BERNAL HEIGHTS
Grass Score: 3
Welcome to the disruptors dispensary. Nothing here stands with tradition, including the shop’s business practices. The boutique-style layout is a nice departure, as is the neatly appointed consumption lounge, but none of it would exist if Urbana hadn’t evicted the building’s previous tenants.
Vapor Room
79 9th Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
SOMA
Grass Score: 4
This is not a bodega, despite what they might tell you. Vapor Room is a carefully curated weed boutique in SoMa with solid selection and Parisian-style café consumption lounge. It’s hella ‘grammable but selfies are off limits everywhere but the bathroom. (Listen, we don’t write the rules, we just follow them.)
Editor’s note: We have not received or been offered any compensation from the dispensaries we’ve reviewed.