FREEDOM OF SPEECH

CHEBA HUT ROLLS INTO FORT COLLINS

Restaurant Review By Danny Byers
Published: January 1st, 2004

The Cheba Hut recently rolled into Fort Collins and began selling what it considers the best dank in town. It sells it all, Nugs, Pinners and blunts. And yes, it is perfectly legal. This is not an underground drug business but a “toasted” sub sandwich joint that is very committed to one thing: Marijuana.

ATMOSPHERE
Although fairly new, this restaurant, located on the northeast corner of College Avenue and Laurel Street, is already kind of busy and cannabisy. Its many fans, which keep the restaurant well – circulated for various reasons, are cleverly shaped like cannabis plants and near the entrance is a gigantic inflated joint. Posters of stars that would presumably consider the Cheba Hut a favorite, such as Cheech, Chong, Jerry Garcia, Janis Joplin, and John Belushi, cover the walls. The environment is rather relaxing and subdued. With classic rock hits playing in the background and an old school Nintendo arcade game waiting for your quarters, the Cheba Hut has more than just food. It also has quality entertainment that appeals to straight-edges who come for the food and the stoners who come for the experience as a whole.

MAIN COURSES
The Hut offers 25 different oven-fresh sandwiches that all have names that reefer, whoops…refer to THC. Some examples: the Cronic (BBQ Beef), Endo (Reuben), and Hydro (Egg Plant). The sandwiches come in small, medium, and large but are amusingly labeled Nugs (4”), Pinners (8”), and Blunts (12”).

The Jamaican Red Blunt, a spicy grilled chicken breast with green bell peppers, jalapeños, black olives and cheddar cheese, is particularly delectable because of the spiced chicken that tastes similar to fire-hot wings. It will light you up! Yah Mon. According to Manager Stan Dobbs, who has worked at all three locations (the other two are in Arizona), Jamaican Red s the shop’s most popular item.

In addition to the main meal, the Hut has soups like White Rhino, a cream of broccoli soup with diced portabellas that give a nice kick. It also has munchies like hemp brownies with sprinkled ground hemp seeds, which add a sunflower seed like taste…) The Cheba Hut does not sell schwag, a.k.a. a bologna sandwich. It’s out of stock.)

SERVICE
The staff Cheba Hut is enjoyable. Its members are the type you would expect to be served by at such a shop: tranquil and chill. Service might be a bit sluggish, not because of slacking employees, but because of some customers who can’t seem to concentrate and make up their minds…