Minnesota's 1st Cat Café Now Open In Uptown Minneapolis
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A first-of-its-kind, cat-friendly café is now open in Minneapolis' Uptown neighborhood.
The Café Meow opened its doors Friday morning. The feline-friendly space is the first cat café in Minnesota.
So excited! #GrandOpening Day is here and we can't wait to see you all! #GoCatCafeMN ???? @asynonymofadventure
Posted by The Cafe Meow - Minneapolis on Friday, February 16, 2018
If the idea of cat hair in your coffee gives you pause, the café is split into two spaces – a coffee shop where you can "get catfinated" and a cat lounge where you can visit with adoptable felines.
Walk-ins are welcome at the cat lounge, but if you want to make sure you get some kitten cuddling time, you can reserve a spot online. It's $10 for an hour in the cat lounge.
"Even if you were to go to a shelter you don't really get to play with them, you don't get to know them because they are in cages," co-owner Danielle Rasmussen said. "So this is an environment where people can come and hang out with cats and get to know them and hopefully fall in love and then take one home."
That's actually Rasmussen's goal. She says they're trying to showcase older cats. Each one was brought here by an animal rescue, and their profiles are on the wall.
"This is all about trying to get more cats into homes and a lot of older cats don't get adopted. They get looked over because people always want kittens or they want a younger cat," Rasmussen said.
Right now there are 14 cats available for adoption.
Cat cafes were popularized in Japan, and a few have popped up on the U.S. coasts, but Café Meow is one of only a few Midwest kitten cantinas.
The Café Meow is at 2323 Hennepin Avenue in Minneapolis. It's open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays and 11 a.m. to 9p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays.