SAN FRANCISCO—San Francisco’s first cat café, KitTea, is scheduled to open on Wednesday, June 24. The founder of the feline-friendly establishment, Courtney Hatt, plans to offer more than just a place for people and cats to mingle and enjoy a hot beverage, but the ability to adopt a furry friend as well.
KitTea is partnering up with Give Me Shelter and Wonder Cat Rescue, local San Francisco cat shelters that are pioneering a new animal adoption process that gives people and animals a chance to interact in a social space. Give Me Shelter will provide the café with about 10 cats at a time along with volunteers to ensure their welfare.
According to the website, the company sets out to, “create a zen retreat – a calming tea house reminiscent of Japanese design. We source high quality tea from a small sustainable farm in Kyoto, Japan.”
In addition to their assortment of handpicked teas, KitTea will serve a range of pastries in the tea area, outside the actual adoption room. Customers can order tea through a serving window if they wish to be within the cat-friendly zone. Patrons can still share the room with the cast as the adoption area is enclosed with glass walls.
Cat café’s made its world debut in Taipei, Taiwan in 1998 and quickly became tourist attractions expanding across the globe.
KitTea will be open daily from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. with the exception of Mondays when they close at 3:00 p.m.
