Beautiful Together Cat Cafe

Chapel Hill, North Carolina · 6.0 mi / 9.6 km

Cat Tales Cat Cafe is a two-story cat cafe on West Franklin Street in downtown Chapel Hill, a short walk from the UNC campus. About 12 adoptable cats roam a cage-free lounge, and they come from Cat Tales Rescue NC, the cafe's own nonprofit rescue. Visits are booked by the hour and charged per person, with a slightly higher rate at weekends, and only eight guests are allowed in each hour, so reservations are strongly recommended; groups larger than eight call ahead. Guests must be 7 or older unless the whole session is booked. The cafe counter serves coffee, beer and wine, and there is seating where visitors can watch the cats without going into the lounge. The cafe is run by Katy Poitras and Ilene Speizer, and it has sponsored pet microchip scanning stations around Orange County.

• Adoptable cats

Fuquay Varina, North Carolina · 30 mi / 48 km

Right Meow Cat Cafe is a boba bar and cat cafe on South Main Street in Fuquay-Varina, in southern Wake County. The drink counter serves bubble tea, coffee, frappes, lemonades and slushies, while the cage-free cat rooms hold adoptable rescue cats from Right Meow Community Cat Allies, the cafe's sister nonprofit, which pulls cats from shelters where they are at risk. Time with the cats is sold as booked sessions with an admission fee, and reservations are the only way to guarantee a spot. Shoes are not allowed in the cat rooms, so visitors need socks, which are also sold at the counter. Children must be 6 or older during regular hours, with one adult per two children under 13; short Mini Meows sessions are held for children 5 and under, and the cat room can be booked privately. The family-run cafe opened in 2023.

• Adoptable cats
• Booking required

Raleigh, North Carolina · 30 mi / 49 km

Purr Cup Cafe is a coffee shop and cat adoption lounge on Prospect Avenue just south of downtown Raleigh, beside Mount Hope Cemetery, and it calls itself Raleigh's first cat cafe. The space has two parts: a cafe with a back patio serving coffee, tea and a menu of plant-based drinks and vegan snacks, open to anyone, and a cat lounge where adoptable cats from the SPCA of Wake County roam freely. Time in the lounge carries a reservation fee and is best booked ahead, as walk-ins are taken only when space allows; private room bookings are also offered. All ages are welcome, but children under eight are limited to certain morning hours. The cat room opens shortly after the cafe each morning. There is free parking in front, behind the building and along Prospect Avenue. The building has an accessible rear entrance but is not fully ADA compliant.

• Adoptable cats
• Booking recommended

Greensboro, North Carolina · 37 mi / 60 km

Crooked Tail Cat Cafe is a cat cafe on South Elm Street in downtown Greensboro and was the first cat cafe in North Carolina when it opened in November 2017. It works exclusively with Red Dog Farm Animal Rescue, which handles intake and adoptions, and houses up to 12 free-roaming adoptable cats at a time. The cafe is in a separate room and has a 100% plant-based menu of coffee, tea, boba and snacks, which guests may take into the cat lounge. The lounge holds up to 10 guests at once, so online reservations are strongly recommended and walk-ins depend on space. Children must be at least 5, under-13s need an adult and under-18s need a parent's waiver; a monthly Kiddie Kitty Time admits children under 5 and a monthly Adults Only hour is for guests 18 and over.

• Adoptable cats
• Booking recommended

Carthage, North Carolina · 40 mi / 64 km

Kitten Around Cat Lounge is Moore County's first cat cafe, on Courthouse Square in historic downtown Carthage. The building is split between a coffeehouse with locally roasted drip coffee, bubble tea, hot cocoa and baked goods from bakeries in Aberdeen, and a cage-free cat playroom where guests play with and cuddle adoptable cats. Usually about eight cats live in the lounge, never more than ten, and all are fully vetted and come from three partner rescues including Feline Friends of Moore County. The playroom holds six or seven guests at a time, so reservations are encouraged although not required. Children from age 2 are welcome; under-14s need an adult with them and under-18s need a parent's waiver. Visitors can also watch the cats from the cafe. The lounge offers room bookings for small groups and events such as paint nights with the cats.

• Adoptable cats
• Booking recommended

Fayetteville, North Carolina · 63 mi / 101 km

The Farmer's Cat Cafe is Fayetteville's first cat cafe, on Gillespie Street at the corner of the service road, and opened in February 2025. It is family-run and combines a coffee shop, rotating local food trucks and a room of adoptable cats and kittens supplied by its partner rescue, T.A.R.A. Rescue. The cafe serves coffee drinks, smoothies and pastries, and the owners plan a neighborhood farmers market with American-grown produce. Visits with the cats are booked as separate cat time sessions with a per-person fee, and the cat sessions run on their own schedule, which can differ from the coffee shop's hours. Anyone who connects with a cat can apply to adopt through the rescue. The cafe cannot take in cats from the public.

• Adoptable cats
• Booking required