Get Your Feline Fix at the Blue Cat Café in Austin, TX

A few weeks ago, I found myself in Austin, TX visiting my friend Rebecca. Since I had just started a new job and was in the midst of planning my move to NYC (more on that in a later post), I pretty much just showed up and let life come to me.

Although I hadn’t really thought my trip through, I knew for certain that I wanted to visit the Blue Cat Café. As the name would suggest, the Blue Cat Café is filled with cats. No, I’m not joking. There were probably 30-something cats in the café when Rebecca and I visited, all of which were super friendly and oh-so cuddly.

The Blue Cat Café’s goal is to help the local animal shelter find forever homes for their cute kitties. All the cats at the café are up for adoption, and café-goers can read little bios on the wall about each of the cats.

When you enter the café, you first have to sign a waiver agreeing that the café isn’t responsible for any cat scratches, etc. (which you won’t get if you follow the rules for how to interact with the cats). There’s also a small cover charge for entering the café, which goes directly back into taking care of the kitties.

When eating at the café, there’s really just one rule: don’t pick up the cats. As a huge cat lover, this was a bit hard for me at first. With that said, I totally understand why that rule’s in place. If you’re like me, and all you want to do is snuggle with some kitties, head to the kitten tunnel and pop a squat next to the tiny babies. You still can’t pick them up, but they’re more likely to crawl into your lap.

My favorite feature of the café was easily the huge “tree” in the middle of the room. Cats would scratch the trunk, jump from branch to branch, and generally just act wildly entertaining. On the far wall of the café, cat videos are played on repeat, but with the live entertainment right in front of you, you really don’t need anything digital to hold your attention.

While the cats at the café are definitely the main attraction, it should be noted that the food at the Blue Cat Café is quite good as well. Its entire menu is vegan, and all the food and drinks are prepared outside in a food truck to avoid cross-contamination. The kitties also have a huge back room where they can use the litter box, rest, and generally avoid the public if they want to.

If you’re planning a visit to the Blue Cat Café, I highly suggest arriving before lunchtime. The cats are cuddlier earlier in the morning since they’ve gone all night without human interaction. If you’re lucky, you might even have a few extra table companions to share your coffee with!

If you’re in Austin for a few days, it’s well worth the drive over to the Blue Cat Café. The food is good, the cats are cute, and that’s all you can really ask for in life.

Are you a cat person? If you have any kitties at home, I’d love to hear their names!

Signing off,
Claire