Cultivate opened late last month at the former Taqueria Mexico on Rte. 9.

FRAMINGHAM — The city’s first recreational marijuana dispensary opened on Rte. 9 late last month.

Cultivate, the first retailer to sell recreational marijuana products in Massachusetts, opened its new Framingham dispensary last week at 250 Worcester Road – the site of the former Taqueria Mexico restaurant. Cultivate, which also has a dispensary in Leicester, has been working toward opening the Framingham shop since 2018. It received the go-ahead to open from the Cannabis Control Commission in mid-June.

“We love operating in MetroWest,” said Francy Wade, spokeswoman for Cultivate. “It’s an exciting time for Cultivate.”

A steady stream of customers have filed into the new 3,600-square-foot dispensary over the past few days. Cultivates offers customers an upscale retail marijuana experience, featuring a wall with live plants, high ceilings and a dedicated staff that will help assess the needs of all visitors.

“There’s a real clean, natural look and feel to the space,” said Wade. “We want customers to come in and get a great experience.”

Cultivate, which plans to open another dispensary in Worcester later this year, offers a variety of products in addition to marijuana, including Terrene-infused olive oils, infused maple syrup, infused coconut MCT oil and Massweet chocolate cookies.

Customers are required to make an appointment and wear a mask due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Security at the Framingham location is identical to the Leicester dispensary, where customers are required to show their identification and sign in at the front desk before entering the dispensary.

Opening during the pandemic has been a challenge, said Wade.

“The pandemic was very hard for the industry,” she said.

The dispensary had to make additions, such as installing partitions between customers and employees to ensure safety. Cultivate was initially forced to lay off employees at the outset of the coronavirus crisis, but the Leicester location is back to its pre-coronavirus number of employees and 30 full-time employees have been hired at the Framingham dispensary.

“It’s exciting to bring this economic activity to the city of Framingham,” said Wade.

The company stressed it will be a good neighbor to the city. Cultivate donated more than $250,000 to charity in 2019, said Wade.

The dispensary is open Monday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. To make a reservation, call 508-872-6277 or visit www.cultivatemass.com.

Jeff Malachowski can be reached at 508-490-7466 or jmalachowski@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @JmalachowskiMW.