Hot Box Cafe

This is a great headshop/​vapor lounge in the Kensington Market area. You get a free drink with the $ 5 cover charge which is a great deal! They have indoor seating as well as a patio area with picnic tables and ample shade.

I will go back today, so this review is going to be updated.
Because i feel my experience was so bad it must have been a one off.
So i get in i pay the $ 5 entry, i get my free drink. I asked to borrow the host’s personal grinder… Vapor central rents them out to you and has papers on the counter to take. So i find some screwed up tiny papers from my purse. I sit on the edge of somebody elses table… Because they only have about 4 tables and they were full… And roll my joint.
I dont know if they have actually do have an upstairs im not aware of or something, but hey.
So i go out on to the patio because you cant smoke joints inside, only vape, the second i get outside i realise some old man is following me. He asked if he could sit with me, he seemed harmless so i said yes.
Note to self — start being more of a bitch.
He was the weirdest man, wouldnt stop talking bullshit to me. At first i was nice cause i thought he had like learning difficulties or something, but he wouldnt stop.
Constantly playing happy hardcore on his phone for me, which i said i didnt like so hed find another happy hardcore song that i would like. He was making up stories about being from the same town as me, (which is in another country) telling me his mum was an orphane from there and was an angel from heaven, that hes very god like too and so precise about everything he could be the royal family. I just let him talk, but after a while i started calling him on his bullshit because i was sick of it, but ive just walked in, never been here before, i dont wanna make a scene. Everyone else here may know him… and like him: s ?? So i didnt want to have a go at him. But he gets worse and tells me hes the worlds best killer, trained in the army, yet is sat in sweatpants in kensington market café? he wouldnt leave me alone.
Eventually 2 other guys come over, about the same age as the odd ball, to try and butt in to the convo and «save me» by inviting me to the private upstairs where you can go and theres only a few people and they watch movies and smoke.
That did not sound like a safe thing to do… With 2 middle aged men… One of whom looked homeless and had really dirty hands, i could barely see his face under an old sagging hoody and a mass amount of white beard.
So i was left with 2 choices,
1. Sit with nutcase and talk about being a deadly assasin.
2. Go to the private upstairs that looked like somebodys bedroom, with 2 older men id never met.
Needless to say i just left as fast as i could, on my way out the other guy apoligised for the nutter and said hed attempted to «save me» from him. Nice save dude… Invite me anywhere else other than a private upstairs!
After writing this review, i have no idea why im going back. But if anyone tries to talk to me while im there im just gunna tell them to fuck off away from me.

Love this place! The staff is super friendly and always willing to provide helpful info.

Arizona Cherry Lime Rickeys? These guys know the way to a stoner’s heart.

I loved this place when they were at their old location. I miss the honey oil drinks. This review however is about the price gouging of their merchandise. I think anyone considering a purchase from this store should do their research first. The 300% markup on their G Pen vaporizers is ridiculous. I will never shop here again.

I can’t feel my face.
Ample drink supply, lots of friendly people… why WOULDN’T you come here?

LOVE THIS PLACE! U gotta try the vaporizers out when u go… U get so freakin ripped lol
The only shitty thing about this place is thats it is mandatory to buy a drink if u want to sit and smoke ur doob, and they arent exactly as cheap as timmies lol but close.
Overall its a good place, sometimes theres creepers sitting on the patio but if u keep ur face in ur own stash u wont notice them lol

I visited the Hot Box Café as a non-​smoker, hanging out this Sunday just past with a visitor to Toronto who had visited this place at its Baldwin Street location and liked it. I like the place, too, simply as a place to hang out if you want to smoke a joint, or hang out with people who do.
The café, located behind a store, is shabby but fairly clean, with a patio well-​stocked with furniture (chairs and benches, tables, et cetera). The $ 5 entry fee still applies. I’d not go back unless I was with someone who wanted to smoke a joint, but it struck me as a comfortable and safe place to do so.

191A Baldwin St = Old location
204 Augusta Ave = New location
I’ve only been to the new location.
It’s $ 5 to get in. I’ve sometimes received a free drink that was included in the cover.
The place is small and shabby. There’s a store at the front (Roach-​O-​Rama) and the lounge is in the back. There’s no door or curtain between the front and the back though. Would be a nice touch.
No more than 10 tables inside with Arizer vapourizers scattered around (free to use, ask the staff).
There’s a pool table, a TV, a few video game machines, and some board games. They also sell snacks.
You can vape inside but you can’t actually smoke inside until later at night (until the shop closes or the live entertainment starts, if there’s any that night, or until the staff says so).
They have a patio with seats and tables and you can smoke cigarettes there too. Some of the seats have shelter for rain. There is some cool artwork on the walls. You might run into some interesting characters out there.
The first time I went here, I checked their business hours on their website. Turns out those aren’t accurate. The second time I went, I called beforehand and they said they’d close at 10pm. I got there at 8pm and they were already closing. Pretty annoying. Just go really early to avoid disappointment.
My third visit was successful. I went on a Thursday and there was live stand-​up comedy. It ran from about 7:30pm — 9pm. Not every comic was good but these things are usually hit or miss. The $ 5 entry fee did not include a drink on comedy night.
Some of the staff were friendly and helpful. Others were completely useless.
They had really trippy music playing through an old-​school system. It was some of the best music I have heard in any vapour lounge.
Despite seeming run-​down, the place has a certain charm. The patio is a nice feature which I’m fairly sure no other vapour lounge has. The lack of separation from the store is an issue though and the fact that they sometimes seem to close at random hours can make it really difficult to plan a night out here. I’d give them somewhere between 2 and 3 stars.
(Side note: I don’t know exactly when the old location closed and when the new one opened but I’m fairly sure the transition took place in mid/​late 2012 and early 2013. Keep that in mind when reading reviews as they may be referring to the old location. There’s an online Toronto Star article about it if you want more info.)

This is a rather unfortunate scenerio as the concept of the place is not a bad one just executed incredibly poorly. The establishment itself is extremely shabby and run down in appearance and the cleanliness is questionable
The inside is extremely small and cramped, add the humidity and heat of Toronto’s summers and you have a pretty uncomortable equation here. To the back there is a small outdoor patio/​seating area that in theory could be rather quaint but with the limited picnic tables strewn about it’s hard to find a table you don’t have to «share» with a complete stranger.
It looked as if they had the option of a rooftop area with a ladder leading up but it is not open to the public apparently.
The menu does not offer any alcoholic drinks and contrary to your tastebuds leanings considering the activity you’ve chosen to partake in, all they have is healthy food options. Which I’m sure many would embrace in other environments but NO FRIES… really?!
They do offer a fairly impressive selection of smoothies and blended beverages, with the ability to add flavor shots as well. The prices, for what you are getting… rather steep especially considering the service is not top notch either. I was neither offended nor impressed by the waiter who was pleasant enough, but like many of the other reviewers state, not attentitive.
There is an after hrs club environment after a certain time but I have never attended and know next to nothing about it therefore cannot comment in any detail about it, but it is an option that is available.
Not a place I will be frequenting but I am not adverse to visiting again either

Been here a few times in the past and it was pretty much only for the novelty. Now that the café is by itself they made the idiotic choice to cover the walls in chalk boards for people to draw on. Thus every table in the joint is covered in dust. And as people moved about you could see and taste the chalk in the air. Pretty much the ultimate turn off in a restaurant. Thee food is priced considerably higher than the quality received and the friendliness of service really depends on which of the stoners kids you get there. Almost every time I’ve visited the café the service ware had not been properly cleaned. If this place didn’t allow you to dine to and toke it would be empty.
To save yourself some money, roll your joints at home and smoke in the many parks throughout downtown.

Je pense que je comprends pourquoi le monde chiale sur cette place là. La phrase qui sort le plus c’est: Quand j’étais a Amsterdam. Je dois admettre que j’l’ai entendu pas loin de 7 fois et que je faisais parti de ces 7 là. C’est juste différent d’un Coffeeshop d’Amsterdam. Le staff n’est pas très orienté sur l’efficacité de servir les clients car ils sont eux-​même vraiment gelé et qu’ils né le cache pas vraiment. On dirait qu’ils né sont pas vraiment là pour faire du cash. Ce n’est pas la seule place du genre a toronto, mais c’est sur qu’ils ont de bons shows, de la musique, ça devient plus party en soirée. J’y suis allé 2 – 3 fois durant mon séjour a Toronto pour satisfaire les besoins d’un ami. La place en soit a de bons drink et de la bouffe de munchies pas mal bien, mais clairement, y manqué un hmmpff.
I think I figured why people bitch about that place. The sentences I’ve heard at least 7 times during being there was: When I was in Amsterdam. I was part of those 7 I guess, but point is, it’s not a Amsterdam Café (Coffeshop) it’s pretty close but instead of having sober staff that are business oriented and in the moad to make money with the casual pot smoker renting his vaporizer or simply smoking and having typical white people stoner conversation. Which is basically: Remember when we were high… Oh shit I’m so high. I still like the idea of normalization of cannabis even though if I’m not smoking and Toronto as a step further than Montréal to almost legalize weed.

3.5?
In Toronto you can smoke weed pretty much anywhere, I didn’t see much point in coming here as they obviously don’t put a lot of emphasis on anything other than sitting around stoned. That assumption was true.
The tables have vaporizers, which is the only way you can consume marijuana inside, other than that its just like a bar, except no alcohol.
It’s pretty cool how you can add a flavor shot to any drink, buddy had a strawberry lemonade and it tasted great. I would go for a iced tea/​lemonade with one of the many flavor shots.
I got a milkshake which was pretty good, but I’ve had better for cheaper.
Our waitress was kind, although she screwed up my order (I ordered a raspberry milkshake, she brought me blueberry) and completely ignored us after initially getting us our drinks (after she took her sweet time doing that) I know were stoned in here but that doesn’t mean we aren’t going to notice that it takes you 20+ minutes to get my drink.
I didn’t expect the best service but this was kind of weird, they put strong emphasis on not loitering as well as make you spend at least $ 4.20 (during the 2 hours I was in there they kicked 2 people out). If they want you to keep buying stuff you would think they would inquire when we’ve had empty glasses for 40 minutes.
I really didn’t expect much but its almost like they’re trying to have lackluster service, although if that’s a huge issue for you then maybe this isn’t your type of place.
The music was really good, the DJ was good as well but I kind of wish he would talk about something other than pot/​being stoned. I know that’s why I’m in here but seriously it’s not THAT interesting and its not like we need a reminder every single song. Often they play chill beats from various genres but sometimes they play shitty dubstep/​popular music (why is it so popular if it sucks?)
For what it is, its a nice place. There really isn’t anything special about it though, just do what everyone does anyways and smoke outside before you go to your favorite hangout.
It’s Toronto, were baked all the time anyways.
* came here a few more times, can say this is pretty much the experience.

My brother and I met my buddy Harry ‘HP’ Potter, at Hot Box Café, early on a Saturday night (believe it or not but HP’s real name is actually James Dean). Since I’m an Elitist, I don’t abuse substances; Therefore, I was skeptical when HP suggested we go to a ‘Vape-​Lounge’ (as he calls it). Aside from the $ 5 cover, my experience was a decent one overall. Now, keep in mind that I did not «hit the vape» and therefore cannot vouch for HP (that is, I cannot speak from a professional-stoner’s standpoint). That being said, if I were a stoner I probably would have complained when the ‘Vape’ that HP was renting short-​circuited. Nevertheless, shit happens and the staff made a good effort to get a working ‘Vape’ to our table ASAP. Additionally, the chocolate chip cookies were decent. Probably the best part about Hot Box Café is that it is less than a five minute walk to ‘Kom Jug Yuen’ (known in popular Hipster culture as ‘Kum-​Jug’). I will definitely be back, and maybe next time I will «hit the Vape on 260°C».

Cool place, I’ve been here a few times with friends. Do not expect a classy café, The Hotbox is essentially one room painted bright lime green. There’s no art on the walls, instead, the walls are covered in chalkboards and there’s chalk on all the tables. During the weekends or lunch times, they may be full. If so, don’t wait for the waiter to approach you — he/​she won’t. Just leave. If you see there’s a spot available, just seat yourself. The waiters are too chill to concern themselves with the service you receive.
You can rent a vaporizer for a $ 20 deposit, the money is returned to you at the end of the session. Their vaporizers are of fairly good quality. Bring your own weed. Do not attempt to buy or sell or bum weed. You have to be 18 to enter — yes, they do ID. Even though weed smoking is allowed, cigarettes are not.
The smoothis are alright (blueberry isn’t the best). The sandwiches and other munchies are of alright quality and fairly priced.
All in all, a fun joint (pun intended) to smoke some weed, draw cool shit on the walls and satisfy the munchies.

I wouldn’t go there again for a meal but ok if you want a smoothie.
PS The waiters often forget your order but I guess that goes with the territory.

My friend runs a room here at the Hot Box, and invited me to perform a spot here. Not one to ever turn down an opportunity to perform, I figured this’d be a great place to try out some new material. I knew that this was a place that let you light up and enjoy the smoke of the weed, so this’d be the first opportunity that I had to see what doing comedy in front of the stoned would be like.
The Hot Box Café is found in the back of the pot-​paraphernalia shop Roach-​O-​Rama (
), and has booths that run the length of the café. The décor is, well, pretty much what you’d expect from a place that lets you smoke weed. Pretty eclectic, but yet fairly understated all things considered. The back patio is enclosed and quiet, making it a pretty nice place to sit back and roll up. The menu at the café is, surprise surprise, snack-​based. Some sandwiches are available, but they cater more to the munchies crowd than offering a full-​blown meal. Not necessarily that big of a deal for me, but if you’re so inclined, go to the hot box and have a seat and a snack… preferably around 4:20.