San Antonio-based cannabis-focused chef Edward Villarreal has launched his restaurant, MxiCanna Cafe, to bring classic Mexican dishes to diners during the day, and hemp-infused bites at night.
The new restaurant, located at 527 El Paso St. in San Antonio, Texas, held its grand opening celebration in the beginning of February 2023 and will begin holding its own spin on Southtown’s First Friday events with “Healing Is The New High,” exclusive events for guests aged 21 and older where hemp-infused food will be the main focus. The restaurant will also offer hemp-infused food during special, private ticketed dinners held bimonthly on Saturdays, appropriately dubbed “Satur-Daze.” The events will also feature local artists and live music to help remove the negative stigma surrounding cannabis consumption.
“I started infusing foods about five years ago, when I got the idea I could help a friend deal with the pains of Parkinson’s disease. The very first thing I infused for him was honey. My friend, who’s in his 70s, was really pleased. He said it helped with the pain, that the honey helped him more than any medication he had ever been on. That comment let me know I was on to something,” said Villarreal when speaking about how he first got started with cannabis-infused foods. “From there I started helping veterans with PTSD and other friends with ailments like arthritis, muscular dystrophy and insomnia. It’s a whole new experience when someone says, ‘Your honey helps me feel like a person. Thank you so much for helping me live again.’ The fulfillment and reward are 10 times as grand—and on a whole different level.”
As recreational cannabis legalization continues to spread across the country, many cannabis consumers, both new users and seasoned veterans, are looking for new ways to experiment with ingesting cannabis and cannabis and hemp-infused foods have exploded in popularity. Some cannabis businesses, like The Artist Tree in West Hollywood, Calif., have consumption lounges where patrons can consume cannabis-infused food and beverages that were purchased on-site. The shop offers a menu of infused teas and coffees, macarons, and infused honey and chocolate spreads that can be added to non-infused items.
Under California law, cannabis businesses are not allowed to sell non-cannabis food products, however, a California lawmaker recently introduced a new bill that would allow for eating food at cannabis dispensaries and also allow for consumption lounges to sell tickets to live events. Introduced by Assemblyman Matt Haney, Assembly Bill 374 would help support struggling legal cannabis businesses and permit dispensaries to sell non-infused food while consumption lounges can opt for “non-cannabis-infused food, selling nonalcoholic beverages, and allowing, and selling tickets for, live musical or other performances.” California previously passed regulatory framework for the hemp industry, allowing for the manufacture and sale of hemp-derived products in the state, such as smokable hemp as well as hemp-infused food and drink sales.
“If an authorized cannabis retail store wants to sell someone cannabis, a cup of tea, and a sandwich, we should allow cities to make that possible and stop holding back our economy and a service that people want,” said Haney. “Those things are all illegal under state law now.”
Other states across the country are seeing an increase in restaurants and cafes that offer cannabis-infused food and drinks. Lucky Pistil is a Detroit-based cannabis-infused catering company that offers a menu for breakfast, lunch, dinner in addition to snack options for a range of events from businesses catering to charitable events. According to the Michigan Cannabis Regulatory Agency policy, cannabis-infused and edible cannabis products must “Marijuana-infused products processed under these rules must be homogenous. The allowable variation for weight and THC and CBD concentrations between the actual results and the intended serving is to be + or – 15 percent.”
