Good eats and great weed go hand in hand. The whole thing about weed giving you the munchies isn’t completely true (some weed does and some weed doesn’t) but one thing is for certain — weed makes food taste better. I don’t just mean marginally better. Eating while stoned can be a downright religious experience. After taking a fat rip you start laser focusing on the varying flavors, textures, and smells of your food. Suddenly a burger goes from a good lunch to a vivid sensory experience that borders on the psychedelic.
I know this because I write about food and weed constantly. So when I heard famed stoner and musician Wiz Khalifa was launching a food concept (appropriately dubbed HotBox) to pair with his Khalifa Kush weed brand, I knew it was something I had to experience.
Made in collaboration with the virtual restaurant brand NextBite, HotBox by Wiz Khalifa is a delivery-only virtual restaurant that is currently available in Miami, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York City, Houston, and more and is actively expanding to additional cities nationwide. The food is sourced from local restaurants that meet the specific ingredients and preparation practices required by NextBite — so the dishes should be pretty consistent, no matter what city you’re ordering from. The menu is a stoner’s paradise of indulgent carb-rich snacks like Hot Cheeto dusted cheeseburgers, zesty buffalo wings, tater tots, mac and cheese, cookies, and more.
None of Wiz’s food is actually infused with cannabis. But the brand and Wiz himself confirmed in a Zoom tasting I attended that they were actively exploring the idea while also looking for ways to offer plant-based options to the menu. The lack of any cannabis-infused treats may seem like a missed opportunity, but I think the food actually stands a chance of tasting better without any infusions. Better, in my opinion, to smoke up and treat this as a post-stoned meal.
Which is exactly what I did.
The Weed: Khalifa Kush
Before we get into the menu, we should probably talk about Wiz Khalifa’s cannabis brand Khalifa Kush — currently available in California in preroll and flower form. The cannabis is sourced from Northern California’s Bay Area by Colorado-based cultivator RiverRock Cannabis and is apparently the only weed Wiz smokes. He affectionately refers to the brand simply as “KK” on social media. I’d call bullshit on that as purely a piece of marketing but, having smoked the brand, I can actually buy it.
Khalifa Kush has a pungent flavor and provides a sensory-enhancing high with a THC level in the mid 20% range. Smoking the pre-roll had me feeling good and hypersensitive to my surroundings, while still keeping me from feeling weighed down and sluggish. It didn’t have the best flavor to it (I was smoking a pre-roll after all) but the high was powerful and definitely lifted my spirits. Not a bad pairing to go with a menu launch… but with all the weed I smoke for work (living the dream over here) my tolerance is through the roof, so I plan to be as harsh with the HotBox food as I am when I’m ranking french fries, chicken sandwiches, or any other food.
Nice try though Wiz!
The Bottom Line
If you want to smoke what Wiz smokes in the studio, this indica-leaning hybrid is definitely worth a pickup.
The Food: Ranked From Worst To Best
5. So Baked Hybrid Cookies
Nope, not hybrid like a weed strain, this is simply a mix of caramel, chocolate, and pretzel, all mixed up into a single cookie that is served with a salted caramel dipping sauce. This cookie is easily the weakest link on the menu. It’s not it tastes bad — it’s a damn cookie we’re talking about — but it’s not really that good either. The cookie is dense, a bit dry and is more cookie than you want in a single sitting (which, consequently, means it’s perfect for being stoned) and despite having pretzel bites and a salted caramel dipping sauce, this thing comes off as much more sweet than it does salty.
A better balance between the salty and sweet flavors might’ve made this cookie a winner but as it stands, it’s just okay. Don’t let those stoner goggles fool you into thinking you actually want to order this. You’re just high.
The Bottom Line
Unless it’s free with the meal, skip this one, you’re not missing out on anything.
4. Taylor Gang Tots
I’m a little torn on these. First of all, tater tots, while delicious, just don’t travel well. When hot and crispy tater tots are trapped in a wax-lined paper box, the heat that emits off of them and bounces off the walls of the container turns what should be a crispy masterpiece into a soggy mess. That’s exactly what happened to these tots so if you really want these to shine you’re going to have to put just a bit of work into it. After a few sad tots, I grabbed my order, spread the tots on a sheet of aluminum foil, and threw that shit into the toaster oven for a good ten minutes until they were nice and crispy again.
The tots themselves are delicous, they’re fluffy, a bit buttery, and full of flavor, but given that they don’t travel well, we can’t rank these much higher than this placement. Especially considering if you’re stoned and hungry, you’re going to be less motivated to put the work into helping these tots shine.
The Bottom Line
Delicious, but tater tots don’t travel well so if you don’t have the patience to reheat these in a toaster oven to get them crispy again definitely skip these.
3. Bigger Blazier Buffalo Wings
My HotBox order came with the Bigger Blazier Buffalo Wings order, not to be confused with the menu’s Bigger Better Buffalo Wings, so I can’t speak to how much “blazier” they are compared to the OG, but as far as buffalo wings go these are pretty excellent. I prefer a crispier exterior, but given the travel time I knew I wasn’t going to get that. I didn’t feel the need to reheat these though like the tots. The chicken is tender and juicy while the buffalo sauce gives a nice zesty and spicy kick. The wings are served alongside a side of ranch or bleu cheese dressing and the ‘ol standard wing accompaniement of carrot and celery sticks.
The HotBox wings match the sort of quality and depth flavor you’d find from a WingStop or Buffalo Wild Wings. It’s not mind-blowing, but the wings are perfectly serviceable and I find little if nothing to complain about.
The Bottom Line
A pretty solid wing effort. Wiz would be wise to add a few more flavors, hopefully a dry rub is in the cards.
2. Fully Packed Bowl
Here is where things get really interesting. Wings and cookies are all fine and good, but the Fully Packed Bowl truly lives up to the stoner food utopia promised by this culinary concept. It comes off as a greatest hits package of the entire HotBox menu, a bed of tater tots is bathed in a blanket of saucey macaroni and cheese drizzled with the same zesty buffalo sauce used on the wings accompanied by crispy chunks of fried chicken and some Hot Cheeto dust sprinkled on top of it all. The bowl has crunch, thanks to the fried chicken (the tots still leave something to be desired) and Cheeto dust combination, and is full of savory salty flavors that serve as the perfect stoner cat nip.
You have to be high to even want to eat this thing, but from your first forkful on you’ll be pleased that you took that big rip before diving in.
The Bottom Line As decadent and delicious as it sounds. The Fully Packed Bowl combines an appetizer sampler’s worth of flavors with the form factor of nachos. It’s the most stoner-friendly item on the menu and a must order.
1. Blazed OG Cheetos Burger
I know I just sang the praises of the Fully Packed Bowl, the best stoner food I’ve had all year, but what really blew me away from the HotBox menu was the Blazed OG Cheetos Burger. I’m not the biggest Hot Cheetos fan — yes, I ranked every single flavor of Flamin’ Hot ever, but I wouldn’t count myself as a true fan and I certainly am not a fan of Hot Cheeto dust in food. I find it incredibly gimmicky. Or I should say, I “found” it incredibly gimmicky, because the Blazed OG Cheetos Burger has completely changed my mind. It might be banned in Europe, but Hot Cheeto dust is a fantastic blend of artifically spicy flavors that deliver on the heat without drowning out any of the other flavors.
Get this dust in the hands of a professional chef ASAP! The Blazed OG Cheetos Burger comes with a thick and juicy burger patty, American cheese with Hot Cheetos dust embeded into it, as well as lettuce, tomato and what HotBox is calling Thrill Sauce on a brioche bun. For whatever reason, my burger didn’t come with the Thrill Sauce but it was so good it honestly didn’t matter.
The beef has a nice depth of flavor, it’s juicy, salty, and perfectly cooked. The burger quality matches the same sort of flavor you’d find at a Fat Burger or Shake Shack. Not quite as juicy, but definitely a contender for best deliverable burger in the fast food space. If you’re going to order one thing off of the HotBox menu I still suggest you try the fully packed bowl, but in terms of which menu item has the best flavor, it’s hard to beat this. Though I haven’t tried the delicious looking chicken sandwich that is on the menu which Wiz counted as a personal highlight.
The Bottom Line So good I wish it was a double!
You can order Wiz Khalifa’s HotBox online at the official website or through third party delivery services like DoorDash, UberEats, Postmates, and GrubHub.
