San Francisco Restaurants Celebrate 4/20 With Deals and Discounts

April 20 is usually a busy day for restaurants near San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. About 15,000 people — many coming from miles away — typically make a pilgrimage to its Hippie Hill area (aka Robin Williams Meadow) for a (since 2019, legally sanctioned) celebration of cannabis and its culture. Between the appetite-stimulating powers of cannabis and an event peak of 4:20 p.m. (4:20 at 4/20, of course), dinner service at restaurants in the Sunset, Richmond, and Haight was typically jam-packed. But not this year.

This year, the city’s shelter in place means that any sort of gathering in the park — or anywhere else — is strictly forbidden. In a tweet, Mayor London Breed threatened to arrest folks who violated the order, saying that celebrants should instead “order food. Watch Netflix. Stay home and stay safe.”

This year, observers of the “holiday” have a multitude of virtual events (SFist has a good roundup here), and restaurants that in past years offered 4/20-specific dine-in specials have moved to a delivery plan, instead. Here are some local spots that are offering delivery and takeout meals focused specifically on the holiday — and remember, as they are considered “essential” businesses, San Francisco’s cannabis dispensaries remain open for business.

San Francisco fried chicken destination The Bird is known for its 4/20 specials, and while this year is obviously different, the show’s still going on. For 4/20/20 the restaurant will knock $4.20 off any Caviar delivery order of $20 or more from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Use the promo code WKHWLQ here to get the deal.

LeBron James-Backed pizzeria chain Blaze Pizza (the name is a reference to its three-minute order to serving speed, not to what one does with a blunt) offers diners a free upgrade to its “thicker, ‘High-Rise’ dough” on April 20, a bit of wordplay that offers a bit of a savings. Its 3251 20th Avenue location offers delivery and pickup; online orders can be placed here.

Before it was an international empire, Ike’s Sandwiches was a (surprisingly controversial) storefront in the Castro District, which might be one of the reasons it’s long embraced the holiday with great gusto. This year, the chain offers two free bags of chips with every sandwich order. Online orders for free delivery or pickup must be placed via the Ike’s app, and its 901 Polk Street location is open for walk-in takeout orders from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Insomnia Cookies, an East Coast bakery chain named after its late-night cookie delivery business model, is offering six-packs of cookies for $4.20 on April 20. Its 362 Kearny Street location offers curbside pickup, and orders can be placed here.

Panda Express, a national Chinese fast food chain founded by Andrew and Peggy Cherng in the early 1960s, will let hungry patrons snag four of its Panda Bowls for a total of $20 on April 20. (Typically, they’ll run about $7 each.) Its location at 1480 Fillmore Street is open for takeout and delivery, and online ordering is here.