Heather Steinmiller

I love cat cafés so much, they really provide a relaxing hour away from any busy day, and it's a wonderful way to introduce adoptable furbabies. San Diego's is no different - clean, calm, and professional. The rules are very clear regarding your interaction with the cats, and I thoroughly enjoyed my visit. If you have any extra time while visiting San Diego, I highly recommend taking a cozy break here.

+8

M S

My fiancé took me here for my birthday. We already have cats, however one can never pet too many cats This place is built for cats first and humans second. It’s perfectly comfortable for us but there are some amazing custom cat trees that I wanted to climb. Plenty of toys and there are spots for cats to relax out of reach of humans

+4

David Farley

If you love cats and in the San Diego Gas Lamp, stopping here for an hour is a must. They're coffee bar/Cafe is real good also. Entry into the cat petting area is around $20 for an hour. Place has been around for 10 years. They have a Live Webcam on YouTube if you want to check it out beforehand. 😺

+13

Nikki Wyrembelski

I had never been to a cat cafe before, and I found this to be a great experience. I thought the cost was perfect. I was able to visit with the cats for an hour, and payment also included one thing off their menu. I ordered one of their lattes and it was delicious. There was quite a few kitties there when I visited, so I was able to pet and play with many while I was there. I have 4 cats of my own at home, but I was visiting San Diego and was missing my babies dearly, so this ended being a great way for me to get some kitty time in while being out of town. Everyone here was super nice, and if I am ever back in the area again I will definitely be making a trip to visit this cat cafe again. Thank you for a great experience!

Sharron Grzybowski

I've seen cat cafes on TV and on social media, I was very excited to see one down the street from our new home! I loved the set up, if you want to just go in for coffee and peek in the kitty window you can. Or you can schedule a kitty visit, if I remember correctly your visit includes a beverage. You go in with a small group of people and get to visit with the kitties for just under an hour. It’s clean and bright with lots of kitty toys and perches and, of course, kitties!! The cat litter boxes are in another room, that the cats access by 2 small holes in the wall. There’s a ginormous filter in the ceiling, which was quite impressive – so much that I took a picture to share. They offer a one-time visit fee and monthly membership. We met a gal that had a membership, and it seems like the perfect way to help them help cats and get some mental health time for yourself! I highly suggest you go get your kitty fix!

Anita Martinez

Excellent experience, lovely adoptable cats, great iced latte. The only negative is $22 is a bit pricey and reservations are required. However a cafe drink or snack is included. Also plan to pay to park cause street parking is obviously limited, and beware of special events that may up the parking fees in the area.

+6

Cat

I had a nice time at this cat cafe! It was better than Crumbs & Whiskers in LA, in my opinion. It's smaller and less "Instagram worthy," but the cats seem to be treated better and were generally more active and playful. I liked that a volunteer/staff(?) person stayed in the room with visitors to provide information about the cats and their preferences, plus that also ensures the safety of both the cats and the people. I saw cats getting manhandled by visitors at the last cat cafe I went to and that was a really upsetting experience for both me and the cats, I'm sure. There's a much better, appropriate ratio of humans-to-cats at this place, and true to its name, there's an ACTUAL cafe partitioned off from the cat play area, which makes this the first actual "cat cafe" I've been to. The only disappointing part was that I came hungry because I expected I'd be able to get a bite to eat when I arrived, but the staff person in the cafe told me the online menu is inaccurate and they don't really offer sandwiches or salads or anything like that... Okay, then why don't you take it down? 😭 There was one sealed plastic container of prepackaged wraps and a couple of pastries, but aside from that, don't expect to actually get anything but drinks here 🥲

+18

Christopher Featherley

I had a wonderful time at the cafe with the cats, but the host was rather mean. There is a room that separates the cats from the coffee place, in which you can put away your bags and items. He told me to put my things away, and as I was placing my belongings away, he talked EXTREMELY fast.I am neurodivergent, so I couldn't process what he said clearly. I wanted to be sure so I asked if I could record the cats (without flash), and in a rude tone, he said "I just said that". Extremely unwelcoming as though he hated his job. At least he liked the cats at least. I just wish he were nicer. Kind of ruined my experience, especially since I just lost my cat recently :( Also, here's Alex the cat from the cafe! Playful cutie. The cats were all friendly and some were playful 🐈‍⬛️🐈

Laura

I really do not like writing bad reviews, but this experience is something that everyone needs to know about. First we walk in there, and the person that is behind the counter could not be less welcoming. A positive the coffee was delicious. Then it’s time to go into the room with all the cats. Myself and two other person are huge cat lovers, and have own many cats. The gentleman that was in the room with us, treated us as if we were incompetent which really made the experience unpleasant. We were talking about toys and they never said anything. While walking around the small cat room I was able to stumble across toys that were tucked into the bookshelf, once we got the toys out many of the cats really enjoyed it…so I’m not really sure why they wouldn’t point that out to begin with. Overall, it was a subpar experience not sure if it is worth the fee. Cats are cute but not overly friendly as you would expect at a cat cafe.

lety

This was my 1st but definitely not the last experience going into a cat cafe. Upon arriving no greetings nor smiles from the baristas. They look like they were bothered to be spoken to not friendly whatsoever that was the 1st red flag. Secondly the coffee was disappointing 😞. 2nd red flag the male caregiver was just too stern and didn't seem friendly either. I wouldn't recommend this place to anyone especially coming from a different state or if your on a family vacation like myself avoid it. Find another cat cafe but this one. The cats made my day they made me forget those concerns at this location. Those fur babies make all negative vibes disappear. Dear Owner please make this place much more welcoming and not feel like your walking into a jury summons its not good buisness at all.

+4

Evellyn Diniz

This was not our first time at a cat cafe, we’ve been to many others and we know the drill! But this time we had a very unwelcoming experience. Last November I was visiting my oldest daughter in San Diego with my two youngest daughters (both autistic, verbal and love cats to their bones!) and we decided to stop by this place. First of all there was no one in the coffee bar, only one guy taking care of the whole place. Since we were the only guests I thought it would be a smooth ride nonetheless. The guy treated one of my daughters very differently, he noticed she had verbal stims and kept asking her to lower her voice while we were with the cats. She asked him some questions to which he didn’t mind to answer or care. He kept “teaching” us how to interact with the cats like he was annoyed and just wanted us to sit still and observe. We were so uncomfortable we were walking around like we were in a slow motion movie, whispering to each other and avoiding too much interaction with the cats because he constantly interrupted us. We had no food or drink with us, but he never let us be and stared at one of my daughters like he wanted her to leave because of her vocal stims (even though they weren’t loud). I felt so unwelcomed I decided to go outside with one of my daughters (the one with the stims) and go for a walk. Because my son-in-law was there I felt comfortable leaving my two other daughters with him to finish the visit and l left to never return again. I had a better time walking the streets of downtown with my sweet daughter than staying at that place with an unfriendly faced dude guiding our every move and being annoyed at a neurodivergent girl who just wanted to have fun. My daughter was very sad and cried because she can’t help her stims, they’re part of her autism. I hope every cat gets adopted despite that man’s attitude, they all deserve a loving home with a joyful atmosphere.

Daisy Diaz

I was honestly super excited to come here especially if there’s coffee and cats involved, but our visit was unpleasant and most of all tense. The cats were adorable as always and the place is beautiful. But the baristas in the front were unwelcoming. I honestly felt uncomfortable even ordering my coffee, they just seemed annoyed at all times. Once we entered the private area with the cats with our coffee and pastries, we were stopped by a man. I’m not sure who he is, but he supervised the area with the cats at all times, but he seemed annoyed that we were coming in with our coffee and pastries. The cats kept getting on the table when our coffee was there, but we were careful to grab our drinks and he kept taking them down from the table or putting them inside the room. We told him it was okay, but he was over it. He also made rude comments during our time there and he just seemed so cold and annoyed. I went with a coworker of mine and she tried to make the best of it, but I was honestly tense the whole time, I felt almost scared to pet the cats or play with them because I wasn’t sure how he would react. The whole room felt tense. I think even the other people felt the tension, nobody moved until it was time to leave. I really wanted to ask questions about the cats, know their stories, but I wasn’t trying to have him answer those question, but I managed to see that they had a book with info on all their cats, and I managed to read some of their stories during our time. Their stories are beautiful, every cat deserves a home

+3

that person

Reservation Price to Interact with Cats: 22$ Overall Review: Definitely not Recommended The building is organized in three parts: A storefront area that doubles as reception & cashier cafe desk, leading to a small hallway towards the bathroom and the partitioned glass mini room that connects to the cat room. We had a fine experience with the cats, was mostly in a group with other adults and everyone understood the rules. There were cat toys and the hour went by pretty fast. Unfortunately cannot recommend this place because of Anthony. I've worked in the service industry and don't really care about some of the ridiculous things people want you to do, like smile. If you do your job and don't get in the way, we're cool. This guy was something else. Someone was in line for the bathroom, looking at the group in the glass room and he yelled at them to get in or make up their mind. Another time a different person who had been in the bathroom came into the cat room. He started to go over the rules and they walked over to try and sit next to the people they knew. That was when he yelled at them for "walking away from him". It's not like they couldn't hear, and he was just incredibly disrespectful overall. My first impression was that Anthony is absorbed with his own ego and self importance. The way that he was, for lack of a better term, clout chasing the cats and showing off his deeper relationship to them was distasteful and some of his comments about the cats themselves were disparaging. I think I remember him saying, "Compared to what [the cat] was living like before, this place is a paradise." Anyway, don't go here, there's plenty other things to do. ETA: So you want to hint at vague events to try and establish sympathy because there was nothing specifically heinous to call out on our visit huh? Well at least I know you're not shameless enough to make something up. It's okay, people who look at the comments and see the way you respond will understand what kind of treatment they can expect here.