Seven Key Things to Know About Hi Flora, Minneapolis’s New THC-Infused Restaurant and Temperance Bar

Hi Flora, a new vegan restaurant and temperance (alcohol-free) bar by chef Heather Klein of Root to Rise, opened in Uptown Minneapolis on June 18. The restaurant takes an innovative approach to THC, offering it not only in canned beverage form but also as a five-milligram tincture that can be added to drinks or sprinkled over food, infusing dishes like mushroom street tacos, fried maitake sandwiches, or avocado cacao mousse with a touch of cannabis. There’s no alcohol on the menu, at all — but Hi Flora does offer a number of euphoric, state-altering drinks.

Hi Flora has an expansive patio that’s bordered with flower, herb, and vegetable boxes, and a street-level area where dogs are welcome. Inside, the former Common Roots space has been transformed into cozy, mod space with ample seating and low, lavender-colored lamps. Current hours are 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday. Here are seven key things to know after the restaurant’s first week.

• During the restaurant’s grand opening, the fajitas and the lion’s mane mushroom steak — marinated in a beet sauce that’s a tangy, peppery approximation of traditional steak sauce — were the most popular dishes. Also, the quesadilla. “People are going crazy about the quesadilla,” says Klein.
• The THC tincture isn’t oily, like some others — it’s water soluble and dissolves immediately in a drink. Made with beets, it has a tart, fruity flavor that complements many of the dishes, especially the rich, chocolately avocado cacao mousse. “It can be this pow of flavor,” says Klein. “You can put in a little at a time so that you’re really getting that microdose effect if you’re not as comfortable experimenting, and save the rest for later. Or you can take it as a shot and it’s still absolutely delicious.”
• Klein will be bringing more “lunchy” dishes into the fold over the next few weeks, including a sweet potato burger, a wild rice burger, potato skins, tempura seasonal veggies, parsnip fries, and a few more entrees, drinks, and desserts. For dinner, fettucine, “scallops” made with king oyster mushrooms, and “Hi jumbo shells” — a mac and cheese-like dish drizzled with pesto and chili oil — are also in the works.

• She also plans to introduce brunch service on the weekends, which will feature an eggplant BLT, hemp waffles, avocado toast, hash browns, a purple potato quiche, and a virgin Bloody Mary. Hi Flora will serve bagels, too, as an homage to Common Roots’ popular fresh-baked bagels. Within the next few weeks, she hopes to expand hours to 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
• Hi Flora offers a number of canned THC beverages, but they’re not the only drinks on the menu. There’s a lemonade made with kava, and Klein plans to add kava bottle service in the coming weeks. Two teas are made with blue lotus, a flower with mild psychoactive effects — one, the “Dream Tea” is blended with mugwort, sweet gale, and maple syrup. Other drinks are made with botanical spirits by the company Three Spirit. One is a “livener,” says Klein. “It’s got a lot of different caffeinated elements to it that make you feel great and don’t cause that heart-pounding caffeine feel,” she says. “It ups your vibe.” Other nighttime-geared botanicals are intended to give a chill feeling, as are drinks with CBD.
• On Mondays and Tuesdays, when the restaurant is closed, some of the vendors that Hi Flora highlights in the market space behind the restaurant will be teaching community classes. “A lot of them are very educated in botanicals, healing herbs and roots, things like that,” says Klein. ‘We’re including ‘Cooking with Cannabis.’”
• Klein went to school for interior design, and transformed the restaurant’s interior — complete with moody lighting, plush sofas and chairs, and a pastoral mural — herself.