cannabisnews.com: Pot-Themed Sandwich Shops Grow In E Valley Pot-Themed Sandwich Shops Grow In E Valley Posted by CN Staff on August 11, 2002 at 10:14:00 PT By Dave Woodfill Source: East Valley Tribune Scott Jennings' marijuana themed submarine sandwich shop business is growing like a weed in the East Valley. Soon, it will expand to other parts of Arizona.The 32-year-old owner of Cheba Hut shops in Tempe and Mesa started his first pot-themed restaurant only five years ago, but today he is planning three franchises in Tucson, Flagstaff and Lake Havasu. The sandwich shops -- which proudly display the motto "Where the only thing fried is an occasional customer" on the door -- are at 960 W. University Drive in Tempe and 1710 W. Southern Ave. in Mesa.The two Cheba Hut locations in the East Valley are adorned with ubiquitous marijuana imagery. Even the restaurant's name "Cheba" is slang for pot. Jennings went as far as to give Cheba Hut's 25 sandwiches their own marijuana monikers such as the "Cronic," "The Shwag," and "Acapulco Gold." Instead of referring to the sandwich sizes as "small," "medium" and "large," Cheba Hut's menus calls them pinners, nugs and blunts -- slang for various sizes of marijuana joints. The prices range from $2.20 to $6.89.Jennings, an Arizona State University alumnus with a degree in communications, said he worked at several sandwich shops when he was a student."Nobody was really doing anything cool . . . just selling food," Jennings said. "You got to have a ploy."He wouldn't disclose how profitable the business is, but he said it is profitable. In his own words: "In the volume of business we do, I'd put it up against anyone in the sandwich realm."Kyle Dakota, manager of the Mesa shop, which is across the street from Mesa Community College, said he serves up to 300 people during lunchtime when school is in session.He said the restaurant theme doesn't bother most customers.The idea to start the restaurant came to Jennings after he saw the Cheech & Chong film "Nice Dreams." In the film, the two main characters figure out a way to get rich by covertly selling pot from an ice cream truck decorated with images of the plant. Like Jennings' sandwiches, the various ice cream flavors in the movie all had their own weedtheme name."I actually thought it was a pretty ingenious marketing idea," said Mesa resident Paul Brice, who was eating at the Mesa restaurant with his girlfriend, Katherine Pfleuger-Riley, this past week.Pfleuger-Riley and Brice said the marijuana motif doesn't offend them and they became loyal customers after their first visit."The toasted subs are better, the food is fresher," Brice said.Jennings said his customers come from all walks of life -- from college kids to business professionals."We actually get a lot of baby boomers in here," he said. They come in and say, 'Oh, I can remember that.' It makes them kind of smile." Asked if he was glamorizing or encourage drug use, Jennings replied, "I don't want to glamorize it. I just want people to be realistic about it. It's just a weed . . . They outlawed a weed."Jennings said he chose to start his own business because he liked people, but he hated working for others. But he acknowledges that to become successful in business, a person can't be afraid of long hours and doing a lot of grunt work. He said in the first two or three years operating Cheba Hut he was working 90 to 100 hours a week."You got to put your time in. It's just now getting to the point where I can start thinking about expanding," he said. Asked what makes his customers return to Cheba Hut, Jennings said it is a combination of food quality and atmosphere."It's the non-corporate attitude where you actually look people in the face," he said. "My employees -- we're happy here."Everything's fresh, everything is made to order. Nothing's sitting under the heat lamp."Despite the restaurant's theme, Jennings said he won't tolerate employee drug use."We obviously have to be very strict," he said. "We can't have my employees coming in high." Source: East Valley Tribune (AZ)Author: Dave WoodfillPublished: Saturday, August 10, 2002Copyright: 2002 East Valley TribuneWebsite: http://www.aztrib.com/Contact: BSchuster AZTrib.comCannabisNews - Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #18 posted by Zero_G on August 12, 2002 at 09:32:24 PT Cannabis use and sandwich making... Despite the restaurant's theme, Jennings said he won't tolerate employee drug use."We obviously have to be very strict," he said. "We can't have my employees coming in high." Seems I've made some of my best sandwiches while inspired with an over-stimulated appetite. If he piss tests his workers...boycott. [ Post Comment ] Comment #17 posted by Industrial Strength on August 12, 2002 at 09:14:14 PT personally I would never eat there, regardless of what the food tasted like. Call me what you will, but I don't think this is funny or neat, more insulting. Out of three sizes, he only got one right. It's a marketing ploy designed to pull in impressionable stoned people, apparantly. Is all you have to do to make something "cool" put a pot leaf sticker on it? [ Post Comment ] Comment #16 posted by FoM on August 12, 2002 at 08:48:42 PT Here Are Articles That Were Archived Recently It's hard for me because of C News Layout to put all the articles on the front page without pushing articles off the front page so here they are.Justice Goes Into Hiding http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13722.shtml Drug Market Thrives By Methadone Clinics http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13720.shtml America's Freedom Comes With No Guarantees http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13719.shtml Calling for an End to the War on Drugs http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13717.shtml Medical Marijuana Confusing to Everyone http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13713.shtml Medical User Mistakes Neighbors for Thieves http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread13712.shtml [ Post Comment ] Comment #15 posted by R-Earing on August 12, 2002 at 08:11:40 PT: hemp oil Hemp oil doesn't do well with high heat.It just sorta scorches and becomes bad tasting.I am assuming it does what other oils do and becomes "trans-fatty acids" like those in margarine, etc.(Maybe they could try a "pressure frying" like KFC to keep the temps low?) In my province we can get tremendously fresh hemp oils,sometimes just a few days after pressing,refrigerated the whole time. These high quality oils are like fine wine in their nuances.You can really see differences between brands and even between crops from the same manufacturer.They come in many different naturally occurring flavors.Some are like peanut oil,some taste like toasted sesame seeds,some are "weedy" tasting.I keep a variety on hand for different things.The sesame stuff is great for marinating stuff like salmon,whereas the weedy stuff seems to be extra good at healing skin problems,like liquid vitamin E. If you are a self respecting chef and you can't make a tasty sauce with this quality of oil you are not trying. [ Post Comment ] Comment #14 posted by 420toker on August 12, 2002 at 07:32:10 PT Hemp Havn't all the edable hemp products been made illegle. [ Post Comment ] Comment #13 posted by kanabys on August 12, 2002 at 06:43:44 PT The author is not "HIP" >> Even the restaurant's name "Cheba" is slang for pot. [ Post Comment ] Comment #12 posted by CorvallisEric on August 11, 2002 at 22:36:52 PT p4me - chocolate soy milk I like Silk brand (the only one I've seen here) chocolate soy milk (non-GMO) a lot. It isn't grotesquely salty like "normal" chocolate milk. It also comes in plain (haven't tried) and vanilla (didn't like at all). Pull dates are about 2 months ahead. Needs to be shaken very well. $2.80 per half gallon at the "cheap" store. [ Post Comment ] Comment #11 posted by p4me on August 11, 2002 at 21:36:00 PT The hemp cheese link Here is the link to the hemp cheese: http://www.rella.com/hemprell.htmlMaybe in the previous comment I should have said relegal or maybe just legal instead of legal.1,2 [ Post Comment ] Comment #10 posted by FoM on August 11, 2002 at 21:35:28 PT p4me Here is The Post Article I just posted the post article to the archives. Here ya go!Drug Market Thrives By Methadone Clinics http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread13720.shtml [ Post Comment ] Comment #9 posted by p4me on August 11, 2002 at 21:30:51 PT Thanks for the cheesy link but it does't work I think my little fryer heats at 375 degrees and things would cook to done at 350. It is just that fast food people need the heat to speed up the cooking process and want the cheapest oil possible. The US is the only industrialized nation to allow rBHB milk on the market. The industry even fought of having the fact that milk was produced by cows on products like Monsanto's Posilac. The government protects big business and could care less about peoples' health. I am going to start drinking soy chocolate milk and now I wonder about hemp milk. I would really like some hemp cheese because I do not trust the milk: http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=13557The New York Times found no reason to use the word "marijuana" in its paper again this Monday. The Washington Post had an article about New York drug addicts though. It was about pushers selling drugs to people going in for methadone treatment knowing it was a crowd rich for prospects. This article talked of the pushers selling everything and even buying people's Medicaid cards for $100 and buying drugs from pharmacies for almost nothing only to sell at great profit on the black market. Why isn't the government working on targeting these leaks on the public treasury instead of making a big deal about the eventuality of pot becoming illegal. They really have their priorities screwed up in Warshington: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6572-2002Aug11.html1,2 [ Post Comment ] Comment #8 posted by canaman on August 11, 2002 at 21:08:17 PT oops here it is.... yummm [ Post Comment ] Comment #7 posted by canaman on August 11, 2002 at 21:06:56 PT hemp cheese It's really quite tasty [ Post Comment ] Comment #6 posted by canaman on August 11, 2002 at 21:01:21 PT hemp fried potatoes Hemp oil doesn't take high temps. needed for deep friing well. Kind of like olive oil. Great on salads though. Maybe hemp cheese on those sandwiches? mmmmmmmgood [ Post Comment ] Comment #5 posted by p4me on August 11, 2002 at 20:45:39 PT I'll take 2 and some stickers please I wonder about it all. Everything just makes you think of something else. Like why doesn't he use hemp oil or talk of hemp foods on his menu. Maybe he has a little gimmick going and he probably runs a good ship and works hard and all, but really why does he not use hemp in some form anyway. He is making his money so why mess with a winning formula?I think of the future where we go from 6 billion people in 2000 to 7 billion in 2012 and to 8 billion 11 years later and 9 billion 10 years after that. One of today's stories at the UK Independent is titled "'Brown haze' is blanketing Asia and changing weather, warn scientists": http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia_china/story.jsp?story=323652 The story is about a cloud of pollution hovering over Asia that blows across the world and will cause premature death for hundreds of thousands of people a year. It just makes me think of hemp.Why do we not hear about hemp fuel if one acre makes so much fuel. How much does it cost if you can get it and where can you get it? Why isn't there an article about a cookbook for hemp? I mean diet and cooking get a rack each at the bookstore and here an author has a chance at a new niche and yet there is no book.I wonder how police weigh marijuana when it is brownies or food and I especially wonder about tea. With all the laws so particular about weight it seems like the subject would have come up. The restaurant in the article does not sell fried foods, but I wonder about frying french fries in particular in hemp oil. It seems like some one would have posted a restaurant that uses hemp oil to fry french fries somewhere in fast food America even if it was a gimmick, theme, or hook or what have you.I am just wondering and have no real point. I did want to mention the brown cloud over Asia article as support that the government does not care about your health or anybodies health. If they cared about your health they would fix the air instead of polluting the land, sea, and sky with pollution with the money they spend on chasing pot and hemp to its infitesimal amounts.1,2 [ Post Comment ] Comment #4 posted by JR Bob Dobbs on August 11, 2002 at 14:38:59 PT Econ >>He wouldn't disclose how profitable the business is, but he said it is profitable. In his own words: "In the volume of business we do, I'd put it up against anyone in the sandwich realm." "Of course, if you made the sandwiches illegal, then we could probably make a whole lot more money." [ Post Comment ] Comment #3 posted by FoM on August 11, 2002 at 14:11:55 PT Thank You WolfgangWylde, Here's The Menu! http://www.chebahut.com./menu/ [ Post Comment ] Comment #2 posted by WolfgangWylde on August 11, 2002 at 14:04:59 PT Check out their website... ...at www.chebahut.com. Go to the menu section and click on the "Toasted" Subs menu. It reads like the Trans-High Market Quotations from High Times. Great stuff! [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by xxdr_zombiexx on August 11, 2002 at 11:27:44 PT C-commerrce cannabis commerce appears fully underway. what a cool place.I stumbled across a banner ad at pot-tv recently for the company linked below. An excellent example of Cannabis commerce... and awesome t-shirts Forbidden Grounds [ Post Comment ] Post Comment