Credit Cat Flower Garden for the recent upsurge in animal cafes. The Taiwanese spot became the first place to satisfy both your caffeine fix and cuddle-puddle needs around 1998, though since then the trend has spread throughout most of Asia before eventually moving west. Meow Parlour and Koneko Cat Cafeย opened in New York several years ago while San Francisco got its own KitTea in 2015.
From a marketing perspective, the model is a dreamโaddictive substance meets cuteness overloadโand the actual benefits of human and animal interaction areย well-documented and, frankly, pretty obvious.
Now Oaklandersย mayย rejoice: They haveย the recently opened RAWR Coffee Bar, aย collaboration with Oakland Cat Town. Although Cat Town has had a cafe since its inception in 2014, itsย new partnership with natural cat-food company RAWR means that thereโs more manpower to build out both the cafe and the adoption center. (Of course, itโs also good news for theย orphanedย cats of the world, as Cat Town has already helped more thanย 1,500 cats find a new home, according to its website.)
RAWR is the brainchild of Sabrina Simons, a former architectural drafter and photographer. Sheย would be the first to tell you that, while she has no coffee or service industry background, she developed anย interest in nutrition and foodstuff after her adopted cat began to experience digestive issues. What began as a strategy to help her own pet eventually evolvedย into the natural, vitamin-rich, and easily digestible cat-food company that itย is today. She opened her first storefront in 2014 on top of her regular job, before openingย RAWRย in 2017.
Located at the entry point for the โCat Zoneโ at Cat Town, the space boasts an assortment of vegan, gluten-free, and standard pastries, โcat swagโ (think T-shirts reading โThe Golden State Rawriorsโ), kitty toys, and all-natural raw cat food and treats. The original cafe offered only pour-overs, butย RAWR serves Highwire Coffee espresso drinks. All of this can be enjoyed while groups of 10 at a time are encouraged to wander into Cat Town to visit with the animals that are up for adoptionโmost of whom come from Oakland Animal Services, Feral Change, and Fix Our Ferals.
But the real question at hand: Howโs the coffee?ย โI really want the neighborhood to have a shop with consistently great coffee,โ says Simmons. โItโs funny, people will always say, โThis actually tastes good!โโ Whichย is aย fair point. Consideringย the draw of kittens, many owners might beย tempted to cut corners with their coffee program.
โYou donโt just have to settle for whatever we happen to give you,โ she adds. โWeโre striving for really good coffeeย andย really good baristas in an atmosphere where you can learn more about cats.โ
Having a cappuccino while petting kittens would be a pretty decent afternoon for anyone with a working human heart. If youโre a coffee drinker who needs some levity in your lifeย (like most of us), I pray that youโre notย allergic to cats. If you are, I hear a San Franciscoโbased rat cafe just opened upโฆ
Laura Jaye Cramer is a freelance writer based in San Francisco, and has written for SF Weekly,ย GOOD, and PAPER Magazine. Read more Laura Jaye Cramer on Sprudge.