The best cannabis dispensaries in San Diego

With slick interior design and extensive menus, March and Ash’s San Diego-area cannabis dispensaries are among the city’s best. There’s an upscale boutique feel to their flagship Mission Valley store, which features a flower bar, CBD room and clone wall, while its newest location in City Heights channels urban futurism — all exposed brick walls, neon signs and dark colors. March and Ash also has shops in Imperial Valley and Vista.

At each locale you’ll find everything from edibles and pre-rolls to tinctures and topicals, plus a collection of branded swag and accessories. If you’re toying with the idea of growing your own, check out their selection of seeds and clones from Oakland-based Purple City Genetics.

Shop in-store or order online for pickup or free local delivery with a minimum purchase of $30.

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Torrey Holistics doesn’t just selling cannabis: it’s preaching the gospel of health, philanthropy and sustainability. On its curated menu it favors socially responsible, eco-conscious brands like Flow Kana, Kiva Confections, Cann, Canndescent and Chemistry. Torrey walks the walk outside the dispensary, too, participating in monthly neighborhood and coastal cleanups. It also holds regular workshops on-site to demystify cannabis use for seniors and cancer patients. Shop in-store or order online for pickup or free delivery within 20 miles (minimums start at $45/delivery).

The family-owned and operated Goldn Bloom packs a huge range of products into a sleek and vibrant storefront on Sunrise. Its products – from flower and topicals to edibles – are selected for a diversity of needs, so whether you’re looking for a sleep aid or a pain reliever, the shop’s budtenders will steer you in the right direction.

Weekly specials like 2-for-1 edibles on Mondays and 10 percent off topicals, tinctures and CBD on Thursdays help to keep things affordable. Pre-order online or shop in-store.

The cavernous San Diego Recreational Cannabis – aka SDRC – is the city’s largest dispensary with a curated menu that goes on for miles. Looking for pre-rolls? It’s got more than three dozen types, including singles from Dime Bag, packs from Lowell Smokes and infused versions from Fuzzies. In the market for capsules? You’ll find them in indica, sativa and hybrid form from ABX, Papa & Barkley, Care By Design and Level Blends. Whether you’re new to cannabis or a committed user, this is a one-stop-shop for everything from accessories to seeds and clones. Order online for pickup or delivery (minimum starts at $50).

Pakalolo Sunshine is a delivery-only dispensary with a full menu of more than 200 products and great weekly specials like Monday’s buy two edibles, get one free offer. If you have questions, Pak Sun’s staff can hop on the phone to talk you through your options. Same-day delivery for orders of $50 and up is available daily from 11am to 8:30pm.

A 2019 refresh brightened Klover’s downtown dispensary with work from local artists like San Diego’s own street muralist, Panca. It’s a nice touch for this bright, warehouse-like space in which shoppers can browse displays of tinctures and edibles and chat with friendly budtenders on the sativa, indica and hybrid strains that will work best for their needs.

You can also dig into its curated menu online for quick pick up or delivery. Through its loyalty program, Klover offers in-store discounts and weekly product promotions.

At Mankind Dispensary, the budtenders encourage customers to get to know the scent and sight of their products before purchase. An entire wall is devoted to showing off dozens of different indica, sativa and strains (think: Sonoma Pacific Sundae Driver, Kind Republic Humboldt Frost and Almora Platinum Purple), and packaged products like edibles, topicals and CBD are laid out throughout the shop. Educate yourself before visiting with dispensary’s podcast, The Kind Cast, where staff and guests discuss everything from Covid and cannabis to CBD for pets. In-store shopping and online ordering for either curbside pickup or delivery is available daily.

Laid back Golden State Greens in Point Loma is the perfect stop for re-upping your stash before hitting the beach. Inside the wood-clad dispensary are goods from producers of all sizes — flower from Don Carlos and Tical, extracts from Hy Extracts and Ocean, and baked goods from Original Pot Co. and Dr. Norm’s, just to name a few.

Regular shoppers are eligible for a Nug Wallet which racks up credits that can be used to redeem special offers and discounts each time you make a purchase. Visit the store in person — it’s cash only but there are two ATMs on site — or order online for pickup or delivery. The latter is available from 7am to 7pm for a $60 minimum.

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California-based dispensary MedMen not only has two locations in San Diego at Kearny Mesa and Sorrento Valley, but also operates stores in most states where cannabis is legal. Nevertheless, there’s a reason why MedMen has been so successful in its quest for total weed domination: it’s convenient, friendly and relatively affordable with massive menus, a rewards program and branded pre-rolls, cartridges and flowers.

At both well-organized SD locations, touch screens give you the ability to browse and compare the products you’re interested in, while samples at each station are available for sniff tests and magnified viewing. Shop in-store or order online for pickup or delivery (delivery minimum starts at $49).

Cannabis Kingdom has no brick-and-mortar storefront. Instead, it’s a delivery-only dispensary with convenient online ordering and daily delivery between 9am and 9:30pm. While its edible, pre-roll and tincture selection is relatively bare-bones, Cannabis Kingdom has more than 60 types of flowers and 40 vape pen cartridges to choose from, plus discounts for both first-time and returning customers. There is a minimum $50 spend and delivery times average less than an hour.

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One of San Diego’s newest dispensaries, Hotbox has an open, browse-for-yourself floor plan and knowledgeable budtenders to guide you along the way. Brightly lit and spic-and-span, this La Mesa shop stocks go-to brands like Big Pete’s Treats, Care By Design and Caliva, as well as its own branded flower, pre-rolls and vapes. Shop in-store or order online for pickup between 10am and 9pm, seven days a week.

With its back-lit modern shelving and tree planter displays, Apothekare looks more like a designer boutique than one of the city’s best-stocked cannabis dispensaries. Extracts from 11:11 Cannabis Company, edibles from Big Pete’s Treats and topicals from Cannariginals are all on the menu, and that’s just the start.

Seniors and veterans get 20 percent off every time they shop and, for the rest of us, generous specials, daily deals and a loyalty program help to keep things affordable. The only thing it’s missing is delivery; products are available for in-store shopping and online ordering/pick up only.

High Octane Express is the only San Diego dispensary to deliver cannabis into the wee hours of the morning: Thursday through Sunday you can get products sent to your door until 3am. It also has one of the more extensive delivery-only dispensary menus in terms of pre-rolls, vapes and edibles, though it’s a little thin on flower, concentrates and topicals. First-time customers receive a 20 percent discount on all products and there is a $50 minimum for delivery.