Iowa City, Iowa, United States
Kitty Corner Social Club
Kitty Corner Social Club is a cat lounge on South Clinton Street in downtown Iowa City, next to The Airliner and across from the University of Iowa campus. Opened in February 2025 as the city's first cat lounge, it is a living-room style space with couches and a TV where visitors relax with adoptable cats from the Iowa City Animal Care and Adoption Center and other regional shelters. Almost 600 cats have been adopted so far. No food or drink is sold; water and tea are free, and guests may bring their own snacks. Entry is paid in 15, 30 or 60 minute blocks, walk-ins are taken every hour and reservations are recommended for groups. Adoption applications are reviewed weekly. The lounge also hosts private parties and movie nights, and in late 2026 it moves to a larger space at 375 S Clinton St.
Before you go
- Booking
- Booking recommended
- Entry
- Entry or time fee
- Food & drink
- No food served
- Adoption
- Cats available for adoption
Based on the cafe's website and visitor reviews, checked October 2026. Policies change, so confirm with the cafe before you visit.
Reviews
Cat Cafes Nearby
Familiar Cat Café
Marion, Iowa26 mi / 42 km
Familiar Cat Café is a coffee shop and cat lounge on 6th Avenue in Uptown Marion that opened in July 2026 as the first cat cafe in Linn County. The front cafe serves coffee drinks, non-caffeinated drinks and bakery items and sells work by local artists, while the separate Mew-ion Lounge is home to adoptable cats from Funky Paws Rescue of Buchanan County. All cats are spayed or neutered, vaccinated and dewormed. Visits are charged in 15, 30 or 60 minute tiers: hour-long sessions are booked online, and shorter visits are walk-in only. The lounge holds about ten people an hour, everyone signs a waiver, children 12 and under need a parent or guardian, and children 5 and under enter free. Free street parking surrounds the block, and the accessible back entrance opens straight into the cat lounge. The cafe can be rented for parties and events.
- Adoptable cats
Coffee Cats
West Des Moines, Iowa113 mi / 181 km
Coffee Cats is a coffee shop and cat lounge on 5th Street in Historic Valley Junction, West Des Moines, and has been Iowa's first cat cafe since it opened in July 2020. The coffee shop serves coffee from Grounds for Celebration, tea, smoothies, Italian sodas and baked goods, and needs no reservation. A separate cat lounge houses around 10 to 12 adoptable cats from the Animal Rescue League of Iowa, and visitors pay a cover charge for an hour with them. Sessions usually start on the hour and are capped at six reserved guests plus two walk-ins, so booking ahead is recommended; children 5 and under enter free. More than 1,000 cats have been adopted through the Animal Rescue League since the cafe opened. Private hours in the cat lounge can be booked for birthdays, anniversaries and other small events, and the cafe sells its own merchandise.
- Adoptable cats
- Booking recommended
River Kitty Cafe
Peoria, Illinois119 mi / 191 km
River Kitty Cafe is a coffee shop and cat lounge on North University Street in Peoria, the city's first full-time cat cafe, opened in March 2024 in a former loan office. The cafe serves coffee, tea and treats, and a separate cat lounge holds adoptable cats from Peoria County Animal Protection Services, all vaccinated, spayed or neutered and microchipped. Visitors book 30 or 60 minute lounge sessions online, with cheaper hour-long sessions on weekday mornings, and walk-ins are taken when space allows. Hundreds of cats have been adopted through the cafe. The calendar includes kitten yoga, crochet sessions with the cats and a quiet reading club, and the cafe offers memberships and private parties.
- Adoptable cats
- Booking recommended
TAiLS of a Bookworm
Pekin, Illinois126 mi / 203 km
TAiLS of a Bookworm is a nonprofit bookstore and gift shop on Court Street in Pekin, just south of Peoria, that raises money for local animal shelters and rescues. Alongside new and used books, with a focus on local authors, stickers, gifts and a decorative book wall for photos, it has three small adoption rooms where visitors can spend time with adoptable kittens and cats from area shelters. The rooms are not always occupied, since cats are only placed there when a shelter needs the space. The shop's resident cat, Noah, greets customers and often sits by the register. Entry to the shop is free, and adoptions are arranged with the partner shelters.
- Adoptable cats
Fur-Ever Finds Thrift
Rockford, Illinois137 mi / 220 km
Fur-Ever Finds Thrift is a women-owned thrift shop in East Rockford, on North Phelps Avenue behind the Culver's on East State Street, that funds an on-site nonprofit cat rescue. Opened in early 2026, it sells donated and upcycled clothing, housewares, vintage finds and work by local artists and vendors, and a portion of every purchase goes to the rescue. Shoppers can visit and cuddle the small group of adoptable rescue cats, usually up to four, who live in the shop while they wait for homes. There is no entry fee, and adoptions are arranged directly with the rescue. Look for the bright pink cat sign.
- Adoptable cats
The Cat's Meow Cafe
Normal, Illinois156 mi / 251 km
The Cat's Meow Cafe is a coffee shop and cat lounge that was Bloomington-Normal's first cat cafe and has moved from Hershey Road in Bloomington to a larger space on Landmark Drive in Normal. The cafe serves espresso drinks, seasonal lattes, teas, lemonades, breakfast, soups and pastries, and visitors can take food and drinks into the lounge. The cat lounge is home to a large group of adoptable cats, often 30 or more, from the rescue Pet Central Helps, each with a card describing its personality. Entry to the lounge is charged by the hour, with a discount for visitors who buy something at the counter, and sessions can be booked online. Adoptions are arranged with Pet Central Helps, which has rehomed hundreds of cats through the cafe.
- Adoptable cats
- Booking recommended