Trolley Adventure 2015 and the disappointment that was the Cafe Cafe

On MLK we had our first trolley adventure of the year...

We took off from the H St. station.

I lost my trolley card from two years ago, so I had to pay $2 for a new card, then $5 for the all day pass, which is still a pretty good bargain...


From H St, we got off near 5th and walked over to a fairly new place that opened a few days prior to this visit. This was the Cat Cafe which was the 2nd one opened in California (one opened in Oakland earlier last year). It's supposed to be a place where customers can buy beverages and enjoy the company of cats, which come from the Humane Society. The added bonus was that you could play with cats. I was a bit skeptical about this place but TC was curious to see how it would be like. I read mixed reviews which quickly turned negative during our stay here.  It's on the corner of 3rd and Island. Look for the Dry Cleaner first. It's right next to it.


There is a rotating cast of cats there. Since its inception, almost all of the cats featured on their board had already been adopted. During our visit, we only saw two, Giselle and another cat that had no tail and was shaved on one side (poor thing).


You are supposed to buy a beverage first. Only one person was working, the girl behind the counter. No one was manning the room with the cats (from what I've read, someone is supposed to be doing that). They weren't serving iced drinks that morning so I skipped out on a drink. Bert had hot coffee while TC had hot chocolate. You buy your drinks at the counter and you can go to the next room. I didn't have a drink, yet I went in. There were about ten people in there already. There's some shelves on the wall for cats to perch on, plus cat toys on a carpet in the middle of the room. There were some folks there already trying to entic the cats to play with them.



This cat, I believe, was Giselle.



I felt so bad for both of the cats. There were several overenthusiastic children with their doting parents who I felt were accosting the cats. One girl had a headband on with cat ears, a cat printed sweater and was encouraged by her coddling mother to "go ahead and pet the cats".  There was also an unruly boy who kept following one of the cats and trying to touch it.  It seemed obvious to me that the cats DIDN'T want to be touched. I mean, come on. It's a cat. If it likes you it will come to you. Like Bart at the Adams Avenue Bookstore. Not these cats. TC felt kind of bad, especially when one of the kids knelt down and kind of petted one of the cats really hard and pressing down on it. She admitted that she wished the cat would attack or scratch the kid.

See the two doors in the red door? That is the only safe refuge for the cats. In fact, both of them went through the doors to escape the brat kids. Then, one of the parents tried to stroke the cat THROUGH the door. Holy what, man. The cat was trying to get away and it's privacy was still being "invaded".

We sat at a table the whole time.  TC made no attempt to approach the cats. One of them ALMOST approached her since she seemed to be one of the calmest people in there, until the brat girl came over and scared it away.  A family of four (a mom and three girls) came in after us, surveyed what was happening and like us, left with a feeling of distaste. We might have gone during a bad time, but seriously, we didn't feel good when we left.

Sorry to be so negative about this place, but it's not like what we pictured it to be. They have a noble cause (pet adoption) but maybe it's because I don't like seeing cats get pinned down by kids with no place to escape.  Don't expect to cuddle with cats especially if there are many people in the room. Especially brat kids.

Articles/write ups:
"San Diego Cat Cafe could be first in country". NBC San Diego, April 2014
Darlene's writeup on Zagat, "San Diego's cat cafe is now open". January 6, 2015
"Seven things to know about San Diego's first cat cafe", Thrillist, January 15, 2015
"San Diego gets first cat cafe" UT San Diego, January 16, 2015
"Caturday: C.O. Cat Cafe World Tour San Diego Part II". CuteOverload, January 24, 2015
"Just opened - A purr-fect place for cat lovers" Red Tri, January 26, 2015
"San Diego's Cat Cafe a big hit with cat lovers", Latino Fox News, Feb. 1, 2015

The Cat Cafe
427 Third Ave
San Diego, CA 92102
(619) 786-2289

www.catcafesd.com

We left feeling a bit put off by the behavior of the children (and some of the adults in the room). The family who had come in after us, left after observing for a few minutes. TC overhead one teenager tell her mother, "I hate kids"! We had to stifle our laughter with that one.

Our next stop would be in Little Italy where I could get some actual coffee and where Bert would get his second caffeine fix...