New Weekend Procedures At The Cat Cafe

At The Cat Cafe, we’ve always wanted to be a place where people could visit on an impromptu basis. We don’t like the idea of requiring reservations to get in. While we have reservations for those who want to get in at a specific time, the idea of requiring everyone to make one doesn’t sit well with us. We don’t plan on requiring reservations except during peak times like Comic-Con. This has worked well for us for most of the time we’ve been open.

The Crowd on Some Weekends at The Cat Cafe

Lately, however, we’ve had upwards of 20 people waiting to get in to interact with the cats. And we’ve had to warn people that they were looking at an hour wait to get in and turn some of them away. We know our customers don’t like this, and we don’t like it either.

We learned quite a bit about how to handle large crowds during Comic-Con. And we’re going to put those lessons to use with a new system for the weekends.

People who want to visit will still be able to make reservations to hold their spots and to visit with the cats for an hour. We’re not changing that. If you want to be sure to get in at a specific time, please make a reservation.

What we are changing is how we admit people into the cat playpen if they don’t have a reservation. We won’t have people enter as space becomes available any more. Instead, once we go on a wait, we will admit people on the hour and half hour. And we will clear the room five minutes before the next group comes in.

Customers who arrive at The Cat Cafe without reservations will still make their purchases and head to the outdoor seating to enjoy their beverages and the San Diego weather. When you make your purchase, we’ll let you know what group you’ll be in. And we’ll let you know when you’ll be heading in to the cat playpen.

This system won’t eliminate waits on busy days. However, we feel that adding structure to our admissions will make it easier. We’re happy to take any questions you may have. Thanks for understanding that we need to make changes as we continue to grow and help more cats here at The Cat Cafe.