Roach-O-Rama

No stars. Buyer beware — do NOT buy anything expensive from this store! I paid $ 300 for a Pax vaporizer with a great-​sounding guarantee — within a month the spring failed and the mouthpiece is jammed shut. We took it back to the store (at great effort — I’m 76 yrs. old and partially disabled) expecting a simple exchange. Shockingly, the guy behind the counter said.‘We don’t do exchanges, you’ll have to deal with the company. It probably needs to be cleaned.” There were no other customers in the store, nothing for this guy to do. Did he offer to look at it and maybe try to unjam it for us? No, he did nothing but walk away. Now we’re in endless back-​and-​forth communication with the Pax company in the U.S. trying to get the item repaired or replaced. Don’t buy anything from Roach-​o-​Rama. They take no responsibility for what they sell. The sales staff is useless, the «guarantees» meaningless, and the store’s no-​exchange policy on expensive items is disgraceful. The people running this store have a lot to learn about running a business and about being decent human beings.

reasonable prices and chill atmosphere

I just love this place. Friendly vibes. Authentic people. Cool spot (although I prefer their original location). If you want something in this area, this is the place to go.

heaven. HEAVEN!!! if it’s too expensive to fly to amsterdam, and you want to keep it on the eastern end of the map, then get your happy, herbal loving self to kensington market in toronto. bring your own goods (tip: there’s a park around the corner) and sit back and relish in the fact that places like this DO exist. ah, it makes me emotional just reflecting on this gem. $ 5 to sit in the hot box café (no ID necessary for those of you that worry*) where you can smoke vaporizers. in the outside area you can use whatever method you want! the $ 5 includes a hot or cold beverage and unlimited access to video games, wifi, board games, books, etc. the actual store is incredible and has a vast assortment of merchandise to browse through. thank you, canada, and namely you, toronto, for being awesome.
*you need to come here.

This place is my one stop shop for everything stoner related. The staff are true gems. Whether you are a pro buying seeds (they sell seeds at the right time of year) or a noob trying to impress your girlfriend, they will take the time to explain every product, hows it’s used and most importantly — you never feel like you’re asking a stupid question.
My faves are the gift packs they have. They range in price from $ 5 to upwards of a $ 100 and they are definitely the best deal in the house. You can get a bong or pipe, papers and a blunt wrap for $ 15, all rolled up in assorted holiday wrap, of course. I can’t count the number of times I’ve been running late for a friend’s birthday and grabbed one of these on the go.
Also, one of the girls who works here is an amazing artist. Her wood burnings hang at the back of the store, they’re fairly priced at $ 50-​$ 80 and she does commissions as well. Please patronize her, I don’t know of anyone more deserving in Toronto.

Let me just make one big point clear. I don’t smoke a lot of weed. If you’re a cop reading this, I don’t smoke any. Not being big on the weed myself, it’s not to say that I don’t have the opportunity to see others enjoying the odd spliff, baking an illicit biscuit, or going to buy some paraphernalia. In the times that I’ve been with folks that have done such, they have repeatedly told me that this place is one of the better places in Toronto for pro-​hemp stuff. Wow, this totally sounds like one of those, «It’s not me, it’s my… erm…friends» reviews.
Found in the front of the Hot Box Café (
), there is a wide array of items that will help you on your mary-​j-​way. Roaches (as the name would indicate), bongs, hemp clothing, activist t-​shirts, and all your other basic gear can be found here. What else would you expect from a place in Kensington Market?

Ah, just one more thing I love about this big old country; shoddy regulation of marijuana laws. That means that Roach-​o-​rama can serve its clientele the finest bud this side of BC without being handcuffed and thrown into a cruiser (right after a Tim Hortons run).
And where else would such a place be but in Kensington Market or course! Located in the middle of the most magical place in Toronto, Roach-​o-​Rama serves the city’s pot heads vegetarian and meat filled meals as well as smoothies and some other «baked» goods.
They also sell all your smoking needs in-​store, like bongs, grinders, pipes, papers, hilarious t-​shirts and weed related paraphernalia and hemp everything. Be warned: There are very serious rules about the Hot Box Café — like patronize the store politely by buying something, don’t sell weed and don’t bring in minors — things that pot heads sometimes forget.

Yes it’s true, everyone is legally and safely smoking weed at the back patio, the «Hotbox Café» where it is possible to dream the revolution (s) amongst your favorite evolutionary or involutionary new best friends, at tea-​time, which is approximately at 4:20, which is actually all the time since this is the place where time is no more and sometimes, if only for a brief moment, you can spot the, or a, «son of man» while devouring sandwiches more ferociously with each passing minute, due to «munchies» which last for hours at a time.
Do not study for your exams here.
Do not expect cops to show up, because they know about this place, it is legal. The only rules are: NO DEALING and don’t sit all day without purchasing anything.
Also at this location: various events, art shows, colorful hemp attire, bong and plant accessories… and hub information about the weed culture, locally and universally.
super secret: From 54 or 56 Kensington Avenue, it is possible to get to the roof of the building which makes the giant wall in the back patio.
From there, you can observe or throw leaves at the stoners.