Cannabis culture in San Diego is finally getting its Amsterdam moment. Sessions by the Bay, opening next month in National City, is making history as San Diego County’s first legal cannabis lounge. Yes, you can smoke there, and yes, it’s highly encouraged—but don’t mistake this for a smoke-filled dive. This is a lush, high-concept escape where cannabis meets cocktails (sans alcohol), all-day brunch, and immersive art installations that make you wonder why you ever settled for Netflix.
The brainchild of San Diego natives and married couple Alex and Pearl Ayon and co-owned by the Sycuan tribe, Sessions took nearly four years to bring to life. The 16,000-square-foot venue is spread across three stories, starting with an Apple Store-esque dispensary on the ground floor, a sprawling 5,000-square-foot lounge on the second floor, and—eventually—a rooftop bar with sweeping bay views.
While Sessions hopes to host guests someday and serve alcohol on the rooftop, cannabis consumption will remain a second-floor privilege, and the rooftop plans are, at present, just a heady dream until the lounge is up, running, and smoothly sailing.
Inside, the space feels lush, like the Rainforest Café sans the kitsch. Dim lighting, natural wood accents, and foliage give the lounge a moody, upscale vibe. Sectional seating invites communal vibes, while sleek dab rigs and gravity bongs offer state-of-the-art consumption experiences. Trained staff are on hand to guide guests, whether they’re looking for a microdose or a full-on sesh.
“We’ve been in the cannabis industry for years,” Alex says, referring to his and Pearl’s 15-year-long history running dispensaries through the medical era into adult-use legalization. “But Sessions is about more than selling products, it’s about creating a space that reflects San Diego’s creativity and community.”
Food is key to the experience. The lounge has paired up with next-door Kimball Coastal Eatery, which has designed a separate menu and food service specifically for Sessions. Kimball co-owner and executive chef Jorge Bendesky, who trained at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, elevates—forgive the pun—cannabis-friendly cuisine with dishes you’d expect at a top-tier restaurant.
Rendering Courtesy of Sessions by the Bay
His menu includes an 18-ingredient ahi tuna crudo on crispy rice waffles, brioche French toast stuffed with peanut butter and jelly, and salads featuring herbs grown in the lounge’s onsite garden. They’ll even have high-end mocktails, which you have the choice to drink straight or infuse with low-dose THC drink additives. A dumbwaiter shuttles food from Kimball Coastal Eatery’s second kitchen directly to the lounge. It’s a seamless operation designed to impress cannabis novices and seasoned users alike. “This isn’t stoner food,” Bendesky emphasizes. “This is food that stands on its own. But if you’re high? Yeah, it’ll blow your mind.”
Sessions by the Bay is also a historical moment for California’s cannabis industry, thanks to AB 1775. Signed into law in 2024, the legislation permits cannabis lounges to serve freshly prepared food and beverages—a game-changer in an industry long restricted to prepackaged snacks. The bill also comes with strict requirements for air filtration, which Sessions meets with a system that keeps the air fresh and odor-free.
Rendering Courtesy of Sessions by the Bay
Prop 64 may have legalized recreational cannabis sales, consumption, and production in 2016, but the reality is more nuanced. Technically, the law only allows legal cannabis consumption inside someone’s home—that’s good news for homeowners, but most rental agreements disallow smoking of any kind, including cannabis, even for medical reasons. Sessions bridges that gap, offering a safe, legal, stigma-free environment for public consumption. For activists and pro-cannabis advocates, it’s more than a lounge; it’s a space designed to normalize cannabis use while educating guests about safe consumption practices.
“We wanted to create a place where everyone feels welcome,” Alex says. “Whether you’re a tourist, a first-timer, or someone who’s been part of this culture for decades, you’ll find something here.”
Rendering Courtesy of Sessions by the Bay
To that point, Sessions is stocked with state-of-the-art consumption devices, from gravity bongs to vaporizers, all well-cleaned between uses. They also have a variety of microdosed products, as well as CBD products, designed for people who are newer to using cannabis or who prefer either a muted high or none at all. Smokeable cannabis flower, oil cartridges, concentrates for dabbing, edibles, and other cannabis consumables will be available for purchase both on the ground-floor dispensary and in the lounge.
Then there’s the art. Sessions features a 12-room immersive exhibit that takes guests through cannabis history—from its medicinal ancient roots to the War on Drugs to today’s complex regulatory landscape. Alex says each room is designed to provoke thought and inspire wonder, even if you’re just there for the visuals. “Instagram-worthy” bathrooms and a hidden installation exploring cannabis’ complicated legal past and present round out the experience.
The goal is “unreasonable hospitality,” says assistant lounge manager Steph Diaz, who has also long been active in the San Diego cannabis community. When the doors open on February 28, Sessions by the Bay will be more than just the region’s first cannabis lounge. It will symbolize how far the industry has come and also how far it still has to go. Whether you’re here for the ahi tuna waffles, the art, or the dank nugs, one thing is clear: Sessions will set the new standard for cannabis hospitality in San Diego. Spark ‘em if you got ‘em.
Sessions By The Bay will begin welcoming patrons in late February 2025 and will feature a cannabis dispensary, lounge, and a rooftop bar. Read More
