A West Hollywood sex shop established in the early 1970s has opened a luxurious dining room in the city where patrons can consume top-notch food and cannabis at the same time.
The Pleasure Chest’s owner launched the Irie restaurant and lounge last fall and says its debut was the culmination of six years worth of labour.
Freelancer Lindsay Maharry from the pot education platform and marketplace Leafly dined and smoked at the location last week. She was quite impressed with the entire experience.
The restaurant/lounge is part of a larger entertainment complex created by the sex store called PleasureMed. It is comprised of Irie, the wine bar Hind and a dispensary. Alien Labs, Garden Society and Northern Emeralds are a few of the small-batch California cannabis companies with merchandise on the Irie menu.
“The way that Irie normalizes consumption, allowing us the same tier of luxury as fancy diners and wine enthusiasts, almost brought tears to my eyes,” Maharry said.
We visited a new fine-dining cannabis experience in West Hollywood, Irie by PleasureMed.
Never before have we had such a gorgeous space to enjoy weed. đź’š
Full review đź”— https://t.co/Gn7YJD2bMt pic.twitter.com/j3yObl06xw
— Leafly (@Leafly) January 14, 2024
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Patrons pay for cannabis separately with cash
Despite being able to enjoy multiple courses of food and cannabis at the same table, patrons will have to pay separately for flower, blunts, infused drinks and other pot products with cash.
There are currently about 15 other cannabis lounges in West Hollywood. However, PleasureMed has received a significant amount of attention for its distinctive atmosphere.
“Its truly unique dispensary-bar-hybrid-weed lounge is a playground for the senses,” Forbes writer Lindsey Bartlett said.
The sex store vibe has carried over into PleasureMed to a certain extent. LA Times photographer Robert Gauthier spotted a stack of vintage Playboy magazines in the Irie lounge last November.
“Its sun-soaked dining room is dripping with plants and feels like you’ve walked onto a movie set,” Bartlett said. She says it’s unlike any other lounge on Santa Monica Boulevard.
Photo credit: Robert Gauthier at the LA Times
Cuban vibe
The Pleasure Chest’s owner, Brian Robinson, had actually considered putting PleasureMed inside of the main California sex shop. “Because what’s better than sex and weed?” he said.
The adult store chain’s West Hollywood location is right next to PleasureMed and they share the same parking lot. The new complex was designed by Studio UNLTD in Los Angeles and its overall theme was inspired by the apothecaries of Havana, Cuba.
“People are really mixing their sexual journey and fulfillment with cannabis,” Robinson told The Hollywood Reporter.
The Pleasure Chest has stores in California, New York and Illinois.
West Hollywood has more dispensaries per square mile than any other city worldwide. California was the first state to legalize medical cannabis in 1996.
The Golden State raked in nearly US$6 billion in revenue from medical and adult-use cannabis last year. Most other American states only generate a fraction of the cannabis revenue California does.
rowan@mugglehead.com
