Depends on if it's a small cafe / shop or a true tourist-mill. My favorites for price, strength, and pace are Space Mountain and Coffeeshop Ocean, both on Dusartstraat in the Zuid area.

Space Mountain is small, owned by a guy who justs hangs out and brews coffee and likes to have a chat. I saw a lot of locals coming in, getting a pre-rolled joint and coffee and hanging out.

Right down the street at Coffeeshop Ocean, the back-room for smoking is by buzzer only. It's more of a quick in-and-out convenience store for locals.

My rule of thumb is you will always find better, less expensive shops & product as you get further away from the city center.

I'd feel odd as a tourist quickly going in and out sit-down cafes on the outskirts that are more legitimate cafes with cola, grilled cheese, etc.

Example : Had an interesting conversation over a grilled cheese and cola (and a bowl) about the upcoming tourist ban. He didn't support it obviously, but cited past crime he'd personally seen. After asking what he thought the shops would do, I got the attitude they would ignore the ban sort of like CA & CO medical dispensaries.

On the other hand, places in the city centre are really there only for buying more expensive weed or hash, honestly usually of a lesser quality.

Example, "Mellow Yellow" coffeeshop which I believe is known for being in Oceans 12 or Frommers or something was literally standing room only. It was as busy as a midtown Starbucks, expensive, less stronger than my favorite shops on the outskirts, and honestly ordering food would have been near impossible / a laugh.

Same with the Bulldog Shops, the vibe of one of the ones I shopped into was ridiculous. Had techno playing and had the feeling more of a strip club than a relaxing cafe. Commerical as shit with more clothing and accessories than bud. This was at 10 AM.

I guess it's the style & pace of the coffee-shop. I'd personally stick to the shops 15 minutes out of the city centre. These are the places locals smoke, and trust me about the quality & lower prices.

Sorry for the extremely long ass post, but I only truly realized after a few trips how much better the shops away from the city centre were. The first few times I of course ran into the first coffee-shop, shat my pants and bought tons of strains up. Mistake - missed the best the city had to offer.