SPOKANE, Wash. — Editor's note: Above video was published in April 2019
The Kitty Cantina is opening up its cafe for the first time during Phase 2. You can sip an espresso while hanging out with cats starting June 8.
The Cantina announced they'll be implementing safety regulations and reducing their capacity to keep customers and employees safe upon opening.
But you have to act fast, you'll need a reservation to mingle with the cats. You can check their Facebook page for updates on when they start accepting reservations.
If you don't manage to snag one of the first reservations, The Kitty Cantina also runs a drive-thru so you can finally sample beverages from Spokane's first cat cafe.
Customers can order "Meow-Mosas," local beers, wine, hard cider and coffee drinks.
The Cantina is now housing multiple cats from Spokanimal that are available for adoption.
Before the coronavirus delayed Kitty Cantina's opening, they had previously aimed to be up and running on April 11.
The cat café will open at 6704 N. Nevada St. in Suite No. 1.
Owners Justyn Cozza and his wife, Torri, were inspired by cat cafes in the Seattle and Portland areas.
When social distancing measures ease, adoptions will take place at Kitty Cantina, with all fees going directly to the partner shelter SpokAnimal. Cats would be spayed and neutered, vaccinated, microchipped and adoption-ready.
"Ultimately our goal is to get more eyes on the cats to boot adoption rates. We don't want people viewing this as a sort of 'petting zoo' but more of a means of interacting with a somewhat misunderstood creature," owners said to KREM.
The café raised $13,566 on Kickstarter from nearly 300 donors, surpassing its $12,500 goal. They met their goal with 10 days left to fully fund the project.
Kitty Cantina recently shared a video on Instagram of construction progress on the café’s cat room, where the cats will be housed apart from guests.
The café's Kitty Lounge will offer a place for cats to roam free without the presence of cages. An on-site caretaker would also be available to answer questions and keep up with cleaning.
Guests are free to bring their coffee, beer, food and wine into the Kitty Lounge to spend time with the cats, but staff are unable to serve beverages in the area due to health code restrictions.
Rules will also be in place for those entering the Kitty Lounge to ensure that the cats are not overwhelmed or stressed, owners said.
Owners said a small admission fee would buy time to mingle with the cats. Six dollars would get you 50 minutes in the Kitty Lounge, plus a $2 credit toward a house-made drink or $1 credit toward any alcoholic beverage.