The Cat Cafe

302 Island Ave, San Diego, CA

★★★★4.4(1,068 Google reviews)

Crema's Take

This San Diego cat cafe seamlessly blends specialty coffee culture with feline companionship, offering espresso-focused drinks and thoughtful pastries in a thoughtfully organized space where you can linger with both your beverage and the resident cats. The experience is best enjoyed with a reservation, which grants you a complimentary coffee or treat and ensures a smoother visit to cuddle up with the adorable kitties while catching up with friends or family. While experiences vary, many visitors appreciate the novelty of sipping a well-crafted cappuccino alongside playful cats—a genuinely unique way to spend an afternoon in a welcoming, casual atmosphere.

What to expect

PastriesSpecialty drinksEspresso focusedMeetingsFamily friendlyTraditional drinksSlow sit

Google Reviews

Bailey Holton
★★★★★2 months ago

Such a cute place. Make sure you make a reservation! You get a coffee or treat included. They’re very organized and the cats are so cute. Take the other reviews saying the staff is rude with a grain of salt like we did. They were not rude in the slightest. They’re there to ensure the cats are happy, the environment is calm and everyone is following the rules. They were happy to tell us more about the cats, take pictures of groups with the cats. Highly recommend for a fun unique experience, especially if you’re looking to adopt a kitty too!

Rickey Bird
★★★★★2 months ago

This is such a great place with friendly staff. My wife and I had a great time and would highly recommend the spot. Cats are awesome and it is a great cause. Cat wait to come back.

Evellyn Diniz
★★★★3 months ago

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.

Colt Cannon
★★★★★4 months ago

I haven't seen an old friend in a while and thought this would be a fun idea to catch-up... and it was. Checking in was easy and before even going in, you could see a few cute furry kitties in the window. We got our drinks then hungout with the cats. It was so great to see all the cute kitties. I was falling in love with all of them. This was a great time and was happy to support a shelter that looks after cats the way they do. Highly recommend trying this... I know I'm going back soon.

Daisy Diaz
★★★★5 months ago

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

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