(Christa Jarrold / For The Times)
8 spots to cuddle with cats while sipping matcha, reading or just chilling in greater L.A.
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If you think a cat cafe is a place to kick it with cage-free kitties and caffeine, you’re only half right. The concept, which took off in Japan in the early aughts and has been a presence in L.A. for at least a decade, has had, if not nine lives, at least three or four. While Crumbs & Whiskers on Melrose, which opened its doors in 2016, lays claim to being L.A.’s first cat lounge, today you can find food- and drink-free lounges and full-on cat-themed retail boutiques with wandering spokescats. Experiential offerings at these spaces include cat-themed art shows, karaoke nights, sleepovers, crochet lessons, journaling sessions and even “meowjohng” lessons (yes, that’s mahjong amid a collection of curious cats).
“It’s the decade of the cat right now thanks to an influx of cat ownership,” says Susan Michals who, as the founder of CatCon (think of it as a kind of ComicCon for cat people), has her finger on the pulse of such things. “And these places that are offering trivia nights and [workshops on] making things are leaning into Gen Z community-building.”
About This Guide
Our journalists independently visited every spot recommended in this guide. We do not accept free meals or experiences. What should we check out next? Send ideas to guides@latimes.com.
As a result, there’s never been a better time for L.A.-area ailurophiles seeking the dopamine hit of a cat cuddle, the companionship of a fellow cat fancier or matcha and a meet-cute with a potential new fur-ever family member to sign a waiver, remove their shoes (a lot of places will ask you to leave your shoes at the door so make your pre-visit sock choice accordingly) and order up some feline face time from these spots that span the Southland from Long Beach to Thousand Oaks.
Showing Place Places
Cool Cat Collective
Long Beach Boutique
Located in Long Beach’s Retro Row district, this funky space isn’t so much a cat cafe as a one-stop cat-themed retail boutique and art gallery that also happens to be home to a handful of adoptable felines. The majority of the floor space is dedicated to cat merch, including collaborative T-shirts (arty slogan tees spotted on a recent visit included “Fixed Cats, Fix Hearts” and “Pro Cat, Anti-Fascist”), stickers, magnets, ceramics and eight shelves of books that focus on all things felis catus.
The best part is, 20% of the store’s profits go to local cat rescues, trap-neuter-return groups and other animal-related nonprofits. One of those beneficiaries is the shop’s rescue partner TippedEars, which has eight to 10 foster fursters living on the premises, in an elaborate fenced-in area that includes the two front windows and a space toward the rear of the store connected via an elevated catwalk corridor.
Price: Chillin’ with the cool cats here is free and requires no reservation. (Visits are limited to 15 minutes if it’s busy, double that if it isn’t.)
Hours: Wednesday-Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Pro tip: If you’re into a different kind of catnip, make sure to check out the shelf of cat-themed cannabis accessories, which could pair purrfectly with something from the Catalyst dispensary kitty-corner across 4th Street.
The best part is, 20% of the store’s profits go to local cat rescues, trap-neuter-return groups and other animal-related nonprofits. One of those beneficiaries is the shop’s rescue partner TippedEars, which has eight to 10 foster fursters living on the premises, in an elaborate fenced-in area that includes the two front windows and a space toward the rear of the store connected via an elevated catwalk corridor.
Price: Chillin’ with the cool cats here is free and requires no reservation. (Visits are limited to 15 minutes if it’s busy, double that if it isn’t.)
Hours: Wednesday-Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Pro tip: If you’re into a different kind of catnip, make sure to check out the shelf of cat-themed cannabis accessories, which could pair purrfectly with something from the Catalyst dispensary kitty-corner across 4th Street.
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CatCafe Lounge
Venice Cat Cafe
After nearly a decade in West Los Angeles, this nonprofit cat cafe and lounge moved to a beach-adjacent section of Venice in early 2026 where the foot traffic by the front window is brisk and the parking is nearly nonexistent. The vibe here is light on the cafe offerings (cold canned drinks and prepackaged snacks are available at the cash wrap) but doubles down on the lounge side of things, thanks to a two-story, light-filled space that showcases 35-plus felines at any given time, all of them rescued by (and adoptable through) the lounge’s rescue partners Bobbie’s Street Cats and Luxe Paws.
Downstairs is a dedicated kitten room where the youngest ones play with toys, loll on sunlit windowsills and present themselves for petting. Upstairs is a roomier, split-level, high-ceilinged space with shelf-studded walls upon which the older cats curl, crouch and climb.
Price: Sessions start at $20 for 30 minutes. Reservations are recommended.
Hours: 11 a.m to 7 p.m. daily
Pro tip: If you want to know what it’s like to be gawked at (in the best possible way), post up in the ground-floor kitten room that fronts Washington Boulevard and watch the pedestrians pile up as your feline focus-pullers flop, pounce and climb their way into hearts on both sides of the glass. Another pro tip? When you’re booking an appointment, make sure to build in extra time — a lot of it — if you want to find a parking spot in the same ZIP code.
Downstairs is a dedicated kitten room where the youngest ones play with toys, loll on sunlit windowsills and present themselves for petting. Upstairs is a roomier, split-level, high-ceilinged space with shelf-studded walls upon which the older cats curl, crouch and climb.
Price: Sessions start at $20 for 30 minutes. Reservations are recommended.
Hours: 11 a.m to 7 p.m. daily
Pro tip: If you want to know what it’s like to be gawked at (in the best possible way), post up in the ground-floor kitten room that fronts Washington Boulevard and watch the pedestrians pile up as your feline focus-pullers flop, pounce and climb their way into hearts on both sides of the glass. Another pro tip? When you’re booking an appointment, make sure to build in extra time — a lot of it — if you want to find a parking spot in the same ZIP code.
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Crumbs & Whiskers
Beverly Grove Cat Cafe
This space just a few doors west of Fairfax Avenue that claims to be the city’s first cat cafe (it opened in 2016) has mastered the art of cat-mingling. Male cats sport blue bowtie collars, females sport pink ones and, if they’re part of a bonded pair, there’s a sparkly heart on their nametag. That cat in the sparkly collar? That’d be the cat of the week, an honor earned through customer votes that cost $1 each (during a recent visit the honoree was a gray tabby named Snickers).
The cats are rescued (and adopted out to their furr-ever homes) by Kitten Rescue Los Angeles, and there can be up to 30 felines chasing feather sticks or curling up on pink, paw-shaped cushions in front of the Instagram-worthy walls at any given time. If you’re looking for cat cuddling with a side of something else, options here include yoga sessions, trivia nights, singer-songwriter listening parties (think Olivia Rodrigo, Harry Styles) and sound baths.
Price: Sessions start at $25 for 30 minutes
Hours: Monday and Wednesday-Friday, 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 8:10 p.m.
Pro tip: Since the drinks (an assortment of coffee and noncoffee beverages) and grub (breakfasty food, cookies and muffins) are fetched from Coffee Commissary up the street, make sure to show up the recommended 10 to 15 minutes before your scheduled start time if you want something in hand when the snuggle session starts. Another pro tip? If you book the first session of the day, you’ll get the most energetic and playful paddy-paw posse possible.
The cats are rescued (and adopted out to their furr-ever homes) by Kitten Rescue Los Angeles, and there can be up to 30 felines chasing feather sticks or curling up on pink, paw-shaped cushions in front of the Instagram-worthy walls at any given time. If you’re looking for cat cuddling with a side of something else, options here include yoga sessions, trivia nights, singer-songwriter listening parties (think Olivia Rodrigo, Harry Styles) and sound baths.
Price: Sessions start at $25 for 30 minutes
Hours: Monday and Wednesday-Friday, 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 8:10 p.m.
Pro tip: Since the drinks (an assortment of coffee and noncoffee beverages) and grub (breakfasty food, cookies and muffins) are fetched from Coffee Commissary up the street, make sure to show up the recommended 10 to 15 minutes before your scheduled start time if you want something in hand when the snuggle session starts. Another pro tip? If you book the first session of the day, you’ll get the most energetic and playful paddy-paw posse possible.
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Feline Good Social Club
Long Beach Cat Lounge
This spot, just a short stroll from the Long Beach Museum of Art Downtown, doesn’t bother trying to graft cafe culture onto the cat-visiting experience, choosing instead to double-down on a whimsical cat motif that includes kitty murals and paw prints splashed across interior and exterior walls. (If you need a caffeine fix, there is a Starbucks a few blocks away.) The central element inside the space is a wooden tree-like structure where you’ll find many of the 50-plus cats provided by rescue partner Long Beach Felines lounging or climbing, while others roam about, pouncing on toys, wiggling through fabric tunnels or prancing on a cat exercise wheel the size of a truck tire.
Up to 25 people can kick it with the kitties at any one time, and the 50-minute sessions can be booked online. Other offerings include: Cats & Mats yoga (offered one Friday evening a month), Crochet With Cats (one Sunday afternoon a month) and cat-accompanied sound baths. (An employee I chatted with said the crochet class, with its preponderance of dangling yarn, is particularly popular with the cats.)
Price: $19.99 for 50-minute sessions, which start at the top of the hour
Hours: Monday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.; Thursday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. (reservations end 1 hour before closing)
Pro tip: A shorter and less expensive option — $10 for 20 minutes — is available on a walk-in basis only at the top of the hour, depending on capacity.
Up to 25 people can kick it with the kitties at any one time, and the 50-minute sessions can be booked online. Other offerings include: Cats & Mats yoga (offered one Friday evening a month), Crochet With Cats (one Sunday afternoon a month) and cat-accompanied sound baths. (An employee I chatted with said the crochet class, with its preponderance of dangling yarn, is particularly popular with the cats.)
Price: $19.99 for 50-minute sessions, which start at the top of the hour
Hours: Monday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.; Thursday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. (reservations end 1 hour before closing)
Pro tip: A shorter and less expensive option — $10 for 20 minutes — is available on a walk-in basis only at the top of the hour, depending on capacity.
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Little Lions Social Club
Downtown L.A. Cat Lounge
The bad news is that just getting in the door to cavort with catkind in this Arts District creative space costs $42. The good news is that gets you three hours of feline fun time. The better news? The space is so welcoming and stylishly appointed you’ll want to spend every last one of those 180 minutes here.
Up to 20 cats, provided by Friends of Normie Rescue, and 30 humans are onsite at any one time. (To preserve that ratio, reservations are highly recommended.) The space is divided into two rooms. One is larger and light-filled with comfy seating and low tables with design-forward, high-end cat furniture (from Mau) scattered artfully about. The other is smaller and more intimate and anchored by a wooden bookshelf filled with cat books and the occasional cat. A thoughtful touch is the tea on offer; two serve-yourself pots (one with caffeinated tea, one herbal) across from a shelf of artsy teacups collected on one of the owners’ travels. Special events on offer include tea-room pop-ups, sound baths, ikebana flower arranging workshops, movie nights and more.
Price: $42 for 3 hours
Hours: Thursday, 7 to 10 p.m.; Friday-Sunday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; 3 to 6 p.m.; and 7 to 10 p.m
Pro tip: Save yourself the hassle — and the worry — of trying to find a one-hour parking spot in the notoriously challenging Arts District and spend a few bucks ($5 for the first hour, $20 max) to park in the adjacent lot. Even if you don’t end up catmaxxing, you’ll be here longer than you think.
Up to 20 cats, provided by Friends of Normie Rescue, and 30 humans are onsite at any one time. (To preserve that ratio, reservations are highly recommended.) The space is divided into two rooms. One is larger and light-filled with comfy seating and low tables with design-forward, high-end cat furniture (from Mau) scattered artfully about. The other is smaller and more intimate and anchored by a wooden bookshelf filled with cat books and the occasional cat. A thoughtful touch is the tea on offer; two serve-yourself pots (one with caffeinated tea, one herbal) across from a shelf of artsy teacups collected on one of the owners’ travels. Special events on offer include tea-room pop-ups, sound baths, ikebana flower arranging workshops, movie nights and more.
Price: $42 for 3 hours
Hours: Thursday, 7 to 10 p.m.; Friday-Sunday, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.; 3 to 6 p.m.; and 7 to 10 p.m
Pro tip: Save yourself the hassle — and the worry — of trying to find a one-hour parking spot in the notoriously challenging Arts District and spend a few bucks ($5 for the first hour, $20 max) to park in the adjacent lot. Even if you don’t end up catmaxxing, you’ll be here longer than you think.
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Meows Rakuen
Gardena Cat Cafe
Rakuen translates from Japanese as “paradise” and, like paradise, you’ll probably have a hard time finding it since it’s tucked upstairs and around the back in a maze-like building that’s also home to a couple of ground-floor restaurants, a hair salon, a psychic advisor and a karate dojo. However, your persistent wandering will be more than rewarded when you pull on the pair of fuzzy socks you’re handed and plop down on the floor of the brightly painted space and meet the collection of rescue cats and kittens looking for a little slice of forever-home paradise of their own. Adding to the authentic Japanese cat-cafe vibe of the experience are the names of some of the residents which are listed on the wall along with examples of their color-coded collars; Purin (the Japanese word for “pudding”), Shizuku, Hinata and Glico among them.
Price: Starts at $12 for the first 20 minutes, and you can choose your own adventure by adding as many 15-minute extensions (for $5 each) as you wish.
Hours: Wednesday-Sunday, noon to 8 p.m (last check-in is 7:30 p.m.)
Pro tip: After the drink menu (coffee, lattes, teas), you’ll be handed a donation menu, which lists an assortment of optional add-ons including cat toys, food and snacks. Order the dry snack option ($10) and watch the kitten heavy clowder crowd around as you dole out the kibbled bits.
Price: Starts at $12 for the first 20 minutes, and you can choose your own adventure by adding as many 15-minute extensions (for $5 each) as you wish.
Hours: Wednesday-Sunday, noon to 8 p.m (last check-in is 7:30 p.m.)
Pro tip: After the drink menu (coffee, lattes, teas), you’ll be handed a donation menu, which lists an assortment of optional add-ons including cat toys, food and snacks. Order the dry snack option ($10) and watch the kitten heavy clowder crowd around as you dole out the kibbled bits.
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Purrrlandia Cat Lounge & Cafe
Thousand Oaks Cat Cafe
A big challenge for any place that wants to fully embrace both cats and caffeinated beverages is logistical; even the most ardent kitty cuddlers prefer their lattes and litter a respectable distance apart. This shopping-plaza spot, wedged between a Whole Foods and a nail salon, solves the problem by completely separating the food and drink side (which serves up a respectable assortment of coffee and tea drinks and individually packaged doughnuts) from the cavorting-with-cats side by way of floor-to-ceiling windows and a double set of doors. The result is that you can just pop in for one of their Starpurry matchas and watch the cat action unfold without actually booking a visit.
Inside the lounge proper, you’ll find up to 30 cats rescued by Best Friends Animal Society curled up on pillows and ledges, tucked into cardboard boxes or watching a big-screen TV in what founder and CEO Kat (yes, really) Killoran calls the “catflix and chill” room. Walk-ins are welcome, but since the number of visiting humans is limited to eight at a time, booking a time slot is the smarter call.
Price: Starts at $12 for 15 minutes
Hours: Tuesday-Sunday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Pro tip: If one or more members of your family or friend group are allergic to cats, the setup here makes it the purrr-fect place since they can participate vicariously from the cafe side while you get your kitty fix on the other side of the glass.
Inside the lounge proper, you’ll find up to 30 cats rescued by Best Friends Animal Society curled up on pillows and ledges, tucked into cardboard boxes or watching a big-screen TV in what founder and CEO Kat (yes, really) Killoran calls the “catflix and chill” room. Walk-ins are welcome, but since the number of visiting humans is limited to eight at a time, booking a time slot is the smarter call.
Price: Starts at $12 for 15 minutes
Hours: Tuesday-Sunday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Pro tip: If one or more members of your family or friend group are allergic to cats, the setup here makes it the purrr-fect place since they can participate vicariously from the cafe side while you get your kitty fix on the other side of the glass.
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Tail Town Cats
Pasadena Cat Lounge
Owner Carol Warren says she was motivated to open this space in Pasadena’s East Washington Village back in 2021 “because my daughter — who was 15 or 16 at the time — wanted me to do it. I didn’t know what to expect.” Five years later, her daughter’s whim has turned into a hub for all things feline in the city, and visitors can expect a roomy space where up to 40 street cats and fosters brought in by rescue partner Kitten Rescue Los Angeles roam about, 20 to 30 of which are 2 years old and younger. That younger-skewing population makes for an energetic vibe and a short stay for many residents.
In addition to straight-forward, no-fuss one-hour daytime visits there are also plenty of opportunities here to mix it up with other humans as well, thanks to evening events with a feline twist. There are watercolor classes, journaling sessions, movement classes, photography- and art-show receptions with all-local artists, and game nights featuring bingo and the particularly popular “MEOWjong” sessions — a starter course in mahjong held amid the free-roaming felines run by Common Ground Mahjong.
Price: $20 for an hour
Hours: Thursday, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Friday-Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (last entry is one hour before closing)
Pro tip: Before your visit, pop into family-run Sarkis Pastry right next door and grab a coffee drink and one of their popular tahini spinach pastries, which you can bring into Tail Town with you.
In addition to straight-forward, no-fuss one-hour daytime visits there are also plenty of opportunities here to mix it up with other humans as well, thanks to evening events with a feline twist. There are watercolor classes, journaling sessions, movement classes, photography- and art-show receptions with all-local artists, and game nights featuring bingo and the particularly popular “MEOWjong” sessions — a starter course in mahjong held amid the free-roaming felines run by Common Ground Mahjong.
Price: $20 for an hour
Hours: Thursday, 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Friday-Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (last entry is one hour before closing)
Pro tip: Before your visit, pop into family-run Sarkis Pastry right next door and grab a coffee drink and one of their popular tahini spinach pastries, which you can bring into Tail Town with you.
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Updates:
11:56 a.m. Sept. 8, 2026: Tail Town Cats entry was updated to note Carol Warren is the nonprofit’s founder.
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