Story and photography: Kelly McKewin
Kitty Brew Cafe, located in Mason, OH, can be difficult to find—it’s located on the backside of the plaza it resides in, behind a Mexican restaurant named El Caporal—but once you locate the entrance, it’s impossible to miss out on the charms of the café. Part coffee shop, part cat shelter, Kitty Brew Cafe is worth the 40 minute drive from campus for any cat lover who wants to spend a cozy afternoon with some furry friends.
Kitty Brew has two side-by-side entrances on the outside: the one on the left takes you into the “café” part of the cat café, while the door on the right goes to the actual cat room. Upon arriving, visitors should go into the café entrance first: you pay the $10 admission fee ($7 with a student ID) at the café register, and also sign up for a time slot to visit with the cats. Kitty Brew only allows about 20 people in their cat lounge at one time so that the cats don’t get overwhelmed—if you show up during a rush, you may have to wait an hour or two to get in. However, it was slow on the Saturday afternoon I went to the café, and I was able to visit with the cats almost immediately—I suspect the average visitor doesn’t have to wait too long to get into the cat lounge most of the time. Additionally, the café does offer online reservations. If you really want to make sure you’ll have a spot when you show up, you can always book ahead.
However, waiting around wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if you couldn’t get into the cat lounge immediately. The café part of Kitty Brew is cozy and relaxed, and a large glass window allows people in the café to look into the cat lounge, so you can still enjoy watching the cats even if you’re not playing with them.
The menu is fairly large for a small café. I ordered a chai tea latte and a grilled cheese sandwich during my visit, and both the drink and the food were made to order and delicious. The menu also boasts a huge array of coffees (similar to what you might find on a Starbucks menu, but all fair trade and organic), as well as blended coffee and mocha drinks and a variety of pastries, from cookies to cinnamon rolls to muffins. All was reasonably priced as well—most of the drinks were under $4, with only some of the fancier blended drinks and the sandwiches pushing the $5 or $6 mark.
The café also sells a variety of cat-themed merchandise. While it was a little pricey, their selection of cat mugs, socks, and other accessories are worth perusing if you’re looking for a gift for a cat-loving friend.
While good food was an added bonus of visiting Kitty Brew, the cat lounge was the highlight of the visit—and it did not disappoint.
There were around 25 cats in the cat lounge when I visited, and plenty of space to play with them, both on the floor and on comfy chairs and sofas around the room. Plenty of toys were scattered around the room as well. It was very easy to get the attention of a cat at any given time by picking up a string or toy mouse and dangling it in front of one (and equally as easy to find a new cat to play with when the first one inevitably got bored of being around people). Some of the cats were taking afternoon naps during my visit, but were still open to being pet while they slept, which provided a nice mix to the afternoon, as I had a chance to hang out with more playful and more chill cats.
Admission to the café gets you an hour in the cat room, which is plenty of time to see and interact with most of the cats. Additionally, the cat lounge is quite large, so even if you’re in the room at max capacity, there’s still some space to spread out on your own with a cat or two without feeling crowded by other visitors.
All of the cats in the café are up for adoption from local shelters—part Kitty Brew’s admission fee goes towards upkeep of the cats and shelters. The local shelters don’t allow students to adopt from them, but it’s just as fun to spend an afternoon hanging out with the cats even if you’re not looking or able to adopt one, especially if, like me, you miss your own cat at home.
Towards the end of my visit, one of the employees opened up a jar of cat treats and offered me a few to pass out to the cats—it was a great end to the visit and it drew out a lot of cats I hadn’t seen earlier in the afternoon and gave me a chance to pet them, too.
Overall, Kitty Brew Cafe offered the perfect Saturday afternoon getaway from Oxford, especially in the middle of a stressful time of the semester. For less than $20, you can grab a delicious lunch, spend some time relaxing by petting adorable cats, and get away from campus for a few hours. The next time you want to change up your weekend plans, grab a friend and head to Mason!