AVONDALE — A colorful ’60s diner is ready to welcome patrons in Avondale, but they won’t be leaving with full stomachs.
The diner-themed storefront is home to Avondale’s first weed dispensary. Bud & Rita’s, 3425 W. Belmont Ave., opened this week after a year of work to finalize the space, get city clearance and hire budtenders from the area.
The dispensary takes over two long-empty storefronts. A grand opening this weekend will include giveaways, raffle prizes, and free coffee and food from nearby local businesses, including coffee from Dark Matter Coffee, dumplings from Joong Boo Market and burritos from Moonwalker Cafe.
Customers can also enjoy 30 percent off all products for opening weekend.
Nature’s Grace and Wellness and Green & Randle are behind the dispensary, their first Chicago spot as a duo. The team wanted to open another dispensary in Little Village, but the plan was rejected by the zoning board after neighborhood opposition.
Sarah Zematis, of Evanston, founded Green & Randle in 2015. Nature’s Grace was founded in 2014 by the O’Hern family, which runs two dispensaries in Peoria. Its grow center is in Vermont, Illinois.
Bud & Rita’s is named for the grandparents of Patrick O’Hern, director of marketing for the dispensary.
“It’s a great inspiration for us as a family, and we’re having a lot of fun with it; it’s bringing fresh energy to the initiative,” O’Hern said.
The dispensary’s diner theme comes through in its bright colors and interior diner table and stools, as well as its signs and fonts.
In addition to the retail space, the spot has a second attached storefront for customers looking for private consultations on cannabis products. That spot will also serve as a community event space.
Bud & Rita’s owners hope it can be a local destination for all cannabis-related items, and they are partnering with local businesses to encourage customers to shop local, they said.
As part of its Shop Local program, people who shop at businesses such as Dark Matter Coffee, Moonwalker Cafe or The Brewed can get a 5 percent discount in store if they bring in their receipt from the neighboring businesses, said Marketing Director Cynthia Guzman.
The business’ Budrista Club, a free loyalty rewards program that partners with the company’s other dispensaries and local businesses, has hosted a variety of networking events, workshops on cannabis culture and DJ and movie nights around the city. Having more space to host events at the dispensary is an extension of the program, Guzman said.
Future promotions may include nights out at partnering businesses, art shows in the consultation space, mental health workshops and more.
“The community aspect [of the dispensary] is going to be huge, given that Avondale is a really diverse neighborhood,” Guzman said. “We’re excited to tap into that and become a very good neighbor.”
Bud and Rita’s is open 9 a.m.-9 p.m. daily and has secure, high-end cameras and two guards patrolling the site.
The dispensary is about a mile and a half from Ascend Cannabis Dispensary, formerly MOCA, at 2367 N. Milwaukee Ave., and a mile from Grasshopper Club at 2551 N. Milwaukee Ave.
An unrelated effort to open a weed shop in Avondale fell through in 2022.
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