Blue Cat Café

The concept is great, the food was great, the service was great. I would give this place five stars if the staff would do a better job of protecting the cats from the toddlers running all over the place, chasing the cats, and in one instance, striking the cat with a cat toy. The parents did not care. I would suggest that one staff person remain in the room at all times when kids under the age of 3 are present. (maybe a volunteer from one of the shelters who lends cats)
We left early because even though we expressed our concerns to the staff, the staff at the front did not take effective action. BTW, we love kids, and have kids of our own. We would never allow our kids to chase and scare animals, but some of the parents at the Cat Café did allow that.

First of all, it’s an all-​vegan (for humans) establishment. So already that gets me super excited. Secondly, they have cats up for adoption. I really don’t know why it took this long for Austin to have something like this. This is amazing! I hope to come here a lot. The art, the decorations, everything — I love it.
I only ding them 1 star because of the price of hot tea. $ 5 or so for, literally, a tea bag and boiling hot water.

Sooooo… I’m allergic to cats. But I LOVED IT HERE! Of course I did have an allergy shot before I came just in case. We had some coffee and sat and played with the cats they have here. They are all up for adoption if anyone finds their purrfect cat. We will definitely come back again!

The Blue Cat Café has a very nice interior and fun places for cats to hang out. However, there are really not that many cats that are people friendly and allow you to hold them. Most of them are just sleeping and you can just pet them for a bit. That’s fine, I get that cats like to sleep but if that’s the case I think the kitty waiver fee should be waved or decreased because you pay like $ 3 to interact with cats but then you don’t really get to interact with them. The food is good, I love that they serve vegan as are the drinks I got the cinnful kitty or something like that can’t remember lol. I overall thought it was a good experience but seems more of just like a café than a cat café.

My boyfriend and I decided to take a day trip from College Station to visit the café. I had been looking forward to the opening since last summer when I heard that it was being built. Unfortunately, it did not live up to my expectations.
When I think of a cat café I imagine a place where you can go and sit on comfy couches and chairs and pet cats, however it was much more like a restaurant with a few cats thrown into it. I was not quite sure what kind of feel the owners were going for.
We only ordered a coffee and a tea because we had just eaten lunch and everything came out in a decent time frame so that was nice. They also have a good selection of game boards to play while you wait and hand out which is an awesome touch!
However that’s about all we enjoyed. The entire time we were there (aprox. 2 hours) there were young children chasing around the cats and hitting them on the head with cat toys. I understand it is a family friendly place, but there needs to be rules in place to prevent this from happening. Non of the waitresses said anything to the parents who were just letting their kids run wild and chase the cats. Because of this, the cats were all hiding on the walkways attached to the ceiling. If the goal of the business is to get cats adopted, none of them are going to get adopted if they are hiding. I know cats have a tendency to only be social when they want, but the kids running around and hitting them definitely did not help. There needs to either be some kind of age limit put in place or a list of rules that guests need to follow.
Overall we felt that the concept was great but it was not executed well. Maybe if it followed a more typical café style it would be better. Customers could their orders before entering and then seat themselves where they wanted to. That way there could be more couches and big chairs. Also, there definitely needs to be a strict list of rules. Kids and adults alike were bombarding the cats and the waitresses just sat and watched. It was not wonder the cats were all hiding. Any time one came out people would chase them.

Separating the concept of a cat café and how much I wanted to love it from the actual experience of trying to drink and dine here is the key.
I sat down with my teenage sister on a cold Monday afternoon, ready for some hot drinks and food. We sat there for 20 minutes without so much as a look from the only server on shift that day. When I finally stood up and approached him to ask if we could please order, he said «not yet» and just walked away. We waited an additional 10 minutes without acknowledgement before we left.
It’s great if you have an hour or two to kill and don’t mind waiting that long for a coffee while you’re working and petting cats. If you’re actually hungry or thirsty, try Cenote down the street instead.

Just not enough kitties. Throw in some more! We need more cats! The service is SLOW and very unprofessional. They make you pay for your food and add a tip even before you even eat the food! Drinks took way too long. We will be going elsewhere for food. The menu was not very appetizing. Do they want a cat because I have on at home that pees on everything. Next time, I will bring them my cat. Pay back for a sub-​par experience.

I was in Austin a couple of weeks ago and a friend told me I just had to come to this café because I love everything cats. Like I just cant get enough cats.
When I walked in, I order a delicious coffee and embarked on my cat adventure. The cat furniture was just to. die. for! There must have been at least 15 cats all purring in unison! Big cats, small cats, furry cats, white, cats, black cats-​there was literally a cat for everyone! I wanted to take each one of them home but sadly I don’t think they would all fit on the plane!
Best of all was the owner. He was so dreamy. I think he is the only guy who could take me away from all those cats LOL! I will definitely be back. I just love me some cats!!!

I love this place because of what they do for cats, and the fact that they have adoptable cats walking around and playing in the café is rad.
But the food leaves a lot to be desired. Maybe I’m in the minority, but I do NOT enjoy faux meats — especially not the «smokey soy curls» from BBQ Revolution. I got the «nachos» and barely ate them. The cashew «cheese» was delicious, but those soy curls… inedible.
My mom’s hot chocolate was delicious, though.
ETA: If you’re going purely for the cat novelty, then this is the place for you. I can’t stress enough how much of a delight it was the be surrounded by cats. The cats are awesome — so cute and well-​mannered.

I’m so singularly cat-​obsessed that I can’t help but love Blue Cat Café. Sure, the food menu was limited and service a bit awkward and sloooow. I can look past that, however, because I really only came here to commune with kitties and hang with a fellow feline-​fanatic friend. You sign a waiver, pay your $ 3, and are ushered into a clean, non-​smelly space with plenty of different seating options for people and cats alike. I appreciated that there were lots of nooks and crannies for cats, including a repurposed drum kit and a tree for those kitties who wanted an escape from the hubbub. The cats appeared content and very well cared for, which made me happy. The patrons seemed to relax into the novelty of the situation after a requisite selfie or two.
While I wouldn’t think of Blue Cat as the place to go for serious studying or work, it’s a great spot to chill for a bit, likely with a feline perched on your lap or alongside you.

I felt compelled to write a review. I’ve never done it since this became a thing one does on the Internet.
Blue Cat reminds me of all the pretense that has become Austin. Located smack dab in a gentrified area? Check. Overpriced? Check. Mediocre quality? Check. Gimmicky feature with no depth? Check.
Do you like watching small children badger cats for attention and hound their very steps while you wait and wait for mediocre food? The whole experience was disappointing and I’m not very fastidious. My girlfriend and I were there to adopt a cat, and we left not wanting anything to do with that place again.
Balthazar the cat is cool, but this is something I will actively discourage people from experiencing if asked.

Okay. I’m a fan of cats. But I struggled with the design of the place and the «cat blocker» customers.
Design: I came to the «café» to do some work and have a coffee. This place isn’t the greatest to do work, as they won’t seat you at a regular table unless you’re getting a meal. So from a working perspective, don’t expect to have a table or surface to place a small laptop onto. Unless you are okay using your lap. A small latte will end up costing around $ 8, because of the $ 3 cat fee. The fee isn’t bad because it helps support the purchase of food, etc for the cats.
Cat Blockers: Yeah. Unless you are aggressive and can capture a cat in your arms, have the expectation that cats just won’t be able to approach you naturally. The other customers, from my observations of just kicking back, will walk and pursue the cats and then hold them for extended periods of time. Also, there are a lot of selfies going down because I guess it’s such a novelty to have a cat in ones arms at a café, that the whole world needs to know.
I won’t be placing this on my list of places to go and work, but it will be fun to tell visitors to Austin that this place is an «Austin-​y» place to go and visit simply because I appreciate the process they have to help with adopting the cats.

I love cats. I wish they had more cats, between naps and attention by children the cats have limited time for everybody.
The vegan food was excellent. Loved The Speedy Gonzales Dog, spicy and stayed whole in the hot dog roll. The coffee was also good. They also have board games.
Just a fun place to hangout. Life is better with cats.

What a fun place to visit. $ 3 dollar entrance fee and a signed waiver gets you access to the cat café. There is lots of seating for you to sit and wait for a cat to come by or you can just walk around and visit all the cats. There’s absolutely no smell if case you were wondering.

Cats on cats on cats. Love cats. Play with cats. Sit with cats. Eat with cats. Be loved by cats. Pet cats. Cat. Lovers. Heaven. Full espresso bar. Vegan BBQ/​Tex-​Mex food truck. The embodiment of Austin.
All cats are adoptable and the $ 3 «cover» helps cover the cost of upkeep of roughly 25 cats. The cover lasts all day so come and go as you please. (Outdoor seating also available for the lesser cat inclined)
There is no limit or shame to the number of cat selfies that will be taken. Only the loss of snapchat friends following.

This place is so cool that if I were a cat being adopted from here, I’d seriously ask: «Can we check out your place first before we commit? It’s nothing against you.» Of course we’re delighted the cats here are finding homes — I’m just curious if some of them wish they could come back.
Because this place is definitely the cat’s meow — large and spacious and catified with nooks, crannies, catwalks, and the coolest cat furniture ever. I don’t think there are more than two dozen cats around at any given time, and when one of them sees you wanting to engage, they may or may not bother to acknowledge you. Blue Cat Café is supreme cat comfort zone.
The house rules and food component appear to be continually evolving, so just go with the flow, and why cough up a hissy fit? I thought the staff working here was great, and I really couldn’t have cared less about our coffee and hot chocolate. I was here to have a moment with cats. And several of them seemed to enjoy their moment with me. I’m thinking that’s about as good as it gets.

You must sign a waiver and there’s a $ 3 cover to go inside and play with the cats. You’re also not allowed to lift the cats.

I really wanted to love Blue Cat Café. REALLY, I did!
I came here with SUCH high hopes after hearing sooo many rave things from Kickstart, friends playing in bands here, and cats, who can’t have high hopes in playing and enjoying fun time with kitties?!
Showed up here around noon-​ish on the weekend. They have a paper and pen system where you tell the host your party size, and put you on a waitlist as there can only be 40-​ish people at a time in the café. We waited approx 15 – 20 minutes til we were called, sat around the outside patio but it was all dusty and windy and sand and earth kept getting blown into our face. Once we were called up, it was a $ 3 entrance fee per person and we were told how the food ordering system works. PS. It was SUPER crowded in the waiting area, there must have been 10 – 15 people at one point in time waiting around, thus we went outside.
We paid, entered, got sat at table #9, closest to the stage and many sleeping kitties and windows to the front and seeing many folks peering in hopeful to see the cats. We checked out the food menu, everything looked great but we had just ate and thus decided on chips and salsa and 2 hot teas. Guess what, our food order took 30 – 45 minutes. We paid with no problem, and we saw everyone was pretty into the swing of things so we figured, a scoop of chips and salsa in a side container, and 2 hot cups of water with tea bags plopped in could be quickly provided. Nope, they seriously need to redo that, for something that’s considered an appetizer, they really lack in their services in that regard. If they’re to compete with decent café services, they could do better. I understand it’s the weekend but for a basket of chips and 2 drinks, 45 minutes? Yikes.
Cats were fun, the fun and loving ones were all sitting on other folks laps being all cute and there were other kitties lounging around by the stage area napping. Many of the cats stayed up in the rafter areas where they liked to just stay away from the humans. I can understand as it was getting pretty loud.
1 star extra for the cats, but seriously, the food service could be way better. Eat before you come, pet some cats, and then go home!

It’s like people can’t wrap their head around a vegan café. There’s no milk or cream because it’s vegan– but substitutes are available. I recommend almond milk since soy milk tends to have a weird after taste in coffee or hot chocolate.
I tried one of the vegan hot dogs and enjoyed it a lot. My fellow friends, who are meat lovers, tried some of the other food available such as the brisket sandwich, and they all enjoyed it.
Cats everywhere! Yay! I slightly allergic but I had no problems. Also, it smelled fine, could not detect any cat pee smell and it was late evening.

A friend and I visited here today and I totally fanned out!
I think I spent the first 5 min taking pictures of all the cats playing and lazing about the café. It’s not that I am a cat lady, I just love animals be it dogs, cats, birds, etc.
So after the amazement of this place wore down a little we commenced to ordering our drinks and an appetizer. Our server was the sweetest young man, I believe his name was Colton. He was friendly, professional and attentive.
As we munched and sipped away we also got to use some of their toys to play with the cats and my girlfriend who is a cat lady was literally in heaven.
Sadly I am one of those people that has a cat allergy. I have a cat but as long as I take my allergy medicine, she doesn’t bother me that much. However, I was a tad shy to go into a place that has a dozen plus cats for obvious reasons. Lucky for me they have such a great ventilation system here that I was able to hang out for an hour with no problem. That may not sound like much to ya’ll but to a person with a cat allergy that is huge. It speaks to the cleanliness and filtration system they have. The owners have done a beautiful job of marrying a business with their passion. All of the kitty’s here are adoptable and should you be so inclined they have been fixed, micro-​chipped, and come with a month of health insurance. For a minor payment of $ 50 one of these lovelies can become your companion.
This is a solid 4 paw establishment, I hope they are here for decades and that other places look to them as a solid business model.

I met a friend here for a late lunch on a Sunday. The place was packed, and we wound up having to share a table with two other girls. It was kind of loud, and I was surprised that any of the cats were interested in being social with the noise and activity, but there were a few wandering around and sitting on laps. Most though were up on the cat walks or snoozing somewhere out of reach.
Our food took a very very long time to come out. I’m not surprised, because of how crowded it was, but we did start to get a little frustrated. We had the nachos, and did enjoy them when they came out, but the servings are very small.
I’m giving four stars even though this visit wasn’t great, because I love the look and feel of the place and I’m betting on a weekday it’ll be much better. I plan to go back soon early in the day to just have tea and read and hopefully get some kitty snuggle time.

This was a one time experience only. I won’t go back.
Upon arriving, it was unclear about how the whole place worked. There’s a food truck outside, but you may not order food or drinks from it. When you enter the building, there is a lobby area with goods for purchase.
In the lobby, one has to buy an admission ticket, plus sign a waiver releasing liability. Once you’re indoors in the actual café, the seating is limited. There are few social cats, but many cats laying around up high or sleeping on the floor. There were probably 3 or 4 cats that were actually interactive.
I ordered a coffee, but the wait took so long to receive it, I considered canceling the order.
This place only has vegan items, fyi. When I asked for cream for my coffee, I was offered soy milk or almond milk.
Later on during the visit, I began feeling itchy and like my throat was tightening. Although there are air filters plugged into the walls, my allergies acted up. (I have cats at home and was shocked when I began feeling allergic.)
At this point, I decided to go sit outside where there are picnic tables and umbrellas. This made for a better experience, except there are no kitties to see outdoors.
There is free Wi-​Fi at the Blue Cat Café.
Again, I probably will not go there again.

Great concept, lots of fun. Semi-​disorganized.
It was really fun hanging and playing with the kitties. It makes the place more community-​oriented because guests are talking about the cats and playing together, which I really like.
The ordering process was very disjointed. I think there’s supposed to be a server but no one even approached our table and we had to search out someone to order coffee. Then they gave us a beeper and we waited about 30 minutes until it buzzed to let us know the coffee was ready. The whole process was just silly. They were apologetic about the wait… but coffee should never take 30 minutes.
I LOVE Kelly S.‘s idea of having bios for the cats! GREAT idea and definitely necessary. They need to market these animals. I don’t love the messy design of the place, but I do love cats… so you win some, you lose some.
I’d definitely with a friend’s kid sometime. It was so much fun seeing the kids playing with the cats.

I like cats. I like dogs. I like fish. Well, no. I don’t actually care about fish much. Or birds. Gross. Anyyyway, the point is that when someone gives me the opportunity to hang out with a bunch of adorable furry creatures, I’m totally into it.
These folks are still working out some kinks but this is what you need to know:
– Adoptable, adorable kitties
– Vegan food available (from a food cart outside)
– Toys and structures for them to play with
– Tea and coffee available outside as well
– Big outdoor awesome patio
– Nominal fee ($ 3) to get in
Things I think they could improve on:
– Pre-​pay tickets via an app? Or the site?
– Bios for the cats with pics, easier to read collars
– Easy adoption forms available
– Cup holders or similar. You know how cats like to knock things over
It’s a cool spot and a unique idea. I think they’ll do well and I’ll be back — although I don’t need any more kitties.
(And as for those people protesting the demolition of the piñata shop, I get it. I really do. But these guys are doing something good and I can probably guarantee that not one of those protesters ever thought about setting foot in that shop.)

I love this place! Cats, food and tea?! What’s not to like?! The space and décor is perfect for the east side and they did a lot of stuff to ensure it doesn’t smell like kitty litter while you eat. They have a lot of interesting innovative toys you can purchase while you wait to hear back on your potential future pet. You do have to sign a waiver and donate five dollars when you enter, which whatever. Five dollars to play with furries? Sure.
I love the patio area and the vegan concept of the food trailer. There’s even a small garden area next to the food truck. Cute!
In regards to the «gentrification», I simply offer up the fact that the owners are taking cats otherwise occupying desperately needed space in shelters. They’re giving the kitties sanctuary and people the chance to meet, fall in love and hopefully take home one of these furry felines. I’d much rather have this on the East side than a high rise building or luxury apartment complex that wouldn’t do much for the community.

I checked out Blue Cat Café on opening day. As a kickstarter backer for this project I have been excited for their opening. Both the patio and inside the «café» are bright and colorful with cool cat murals. It was a neat thing to see the backers lining up excited to experience the Blue Cat Café. It is unique establishments like these that make me love Austin.
This was opening day and I am sure things will run smoother in the future. Right now they are reservation only and you can easily make reservations on their website or on Unilocal.I scheduled for a noon seating. I would have liked to order food and coffee but the they were not prepared to sell yet and After waiting in line for 30 minutes I didn’t want to lose my spot in line. Customers order food and coffee at the food trailer outside and you can enjoy your coffee and bites on the patio or you can enter the café. Coffee starts off at $ 2.50 and they have my fav Topo Chico. This was opening day so I am sure they will streamline the process in the coming days.
Upon entering the first door you’re asked to sign an agreement, pay a nominal donation fee of $ 5 and sanitize your hands. Right now there is assigned seating based on the size of your group. The seating and décor is modern and there are plentiful toys and areas for the cats to leap around on. Electronic laser pointers, glass skybox on the ceiling for cats to take in the scenery and even a music stage with the cats in mind.
I hope to check out Blue Cat Café soon again and try their tea and food while petting some new feline friends. These cats are truly living the good life while looking for their forever homes. I commend what the owners are doing to help these animals get adopted.
Side note, there was protesting outside pleading for folks not to enter the business however the group is peaceful.