Bud and Rita’s, the second cannabis dispensary to open in Niles, is set to open in mid-June, according to an executive partner.
Pending its final inspection from the state, Tim O’Hern, COO of Nature’s Grace and Wellness, the dispensary’s management services partner, said Bud and Rita’s is scheduled to open the week of June 10. A grand opening with onsite vendors and food trucks is also scheduled for late June, he said.
“Bud and Rita are actually my grandparents,” O’Hern told Pioneer Press. He said the dispensary would have the look and motif of a ’50s diner and is set to reflect the family-owned company’s backstory. The O’Hern family founded Nature’s Grace and Wellness in 2014 and cultivates and manufactures cannabis from its own farm. The company also opened a Bud and Rita’s location in Chicago’s Avondale neighborhood in April.
O’Hern said the dispensary, located at 5960 W. Touhy Ave, is located in the building that used to house the Italian restaurant Graziano’s Brick Oven Pizza, a “long-standing staple of the Niles community” that was open for 30 years. He said he worked closely with the restaurant owners when they made the decision to close.
In January, a competing dispensary, Green Rose, opened its
