Tails Up Cat Cafe & Creative Lounge

Westwood, New Jersey · 22 mi / 35 km

C.A.T.S. Resale/Thrift Shop is a charity thrift store on Kinderkamack Road in Westwood, Bergen County, run by Caring About The Strays, a nonprofit cat rescue that has served the area for about 30 years. Adoptable rescue cats live in the shop, and several of them wander freely among the shelves of donated jewelry, art, home goods, small furniture and designer-label clothing, while others are kept in enclosures behind the counter. Visitors can browse, meet and pet the cats at no charge, and many come mainly for the cats. All cats are adoptable, and adoptions include spaying or neutering, vaccinations and a microchip. Sales and donations fund the rescue's care for stray, abandoned, sick and surrendered cats. It is a shop rather than a cat cafe: there is no lounge fee, no seating area and no food or drink, and the store is small.

• Adoptable cats

Beacon, New York · 26 mi / 41 km

Beans Cat Cafe is a coffee shop and cat lounge on Main Street in Beacon, the original of two locations run by husband-and-wife owners Jessica Cruz-Strika and Justin Strika, opened in 2020. The cafe has a full espresso bar, teas, seasonal specials, macarons and packaged snacks, plus cat-themed retail. In the separate lounge, visitors spend 30 or 60 minutes with up to about eight adoptable cats fostered for Hudson Valley Animal Rescue and Sanctuary, which handles adoptions; the cats include animals with a range of personalities, needs and disabilities. Booking ahead is strongly encouraged because capacity is limited, and walk-ins are taken when space allows. All ages are welcome, children under 12 must be with an adult, and visitors who stress the cats may be asked to leave. The lounge can also be rented for private events.

• Adoptable cats
• Booking recommended

Montclair, New Jersey · 29 mi / 46 km

Catfé Montclair is a cat lounge and adoption space on Bloomfield Avenue in downtown Montclair, Essex County, in a second-floor walk-up suite. It opened in January 2024 and works with the rescue Homeless Tails, whose cats come largely from the streets of Newark, Irvington and East Orange and live in the lounge while they wait for adopters. It is not a full cafe: admission includes a drink from a self-serve station with coffee, tea and hot chocolate. Reservations are required to guarantee entry, and same-day bookings are final. Shoes come off and clean socks are required, with cat socks for sale. Guests are asked not to wake or pick up the cats and to keep voices low. Children 7 and older are welcome, with monthly Family Cat Time sessions for ages 5 and up. Events include cat yoga, bingo, sound baths and paint nights.

• Adoptable cats
• Booking required

New Paltz, New York · 38 mi / 61 km

Beans Cat Cafe in New Paltz is the second location of the Beacon cat cafe, opened in July 2023 on Church Street in the village center, a short walk from Main Street and SUNY New Paltz. It combines a coffee shop and espresso bar, with teas, monthly specials, macarons and packaged snacks, with a separate cat lounge. The cats are adoptable and fostered for Hudson Valley Animal Rescue and Sanctuary, which handles adoptions, and they include cats with a range of personalities and needs. Visits are booked for 30 or 60 minutes for a fee, and booking ahead is strongly encouraged because capacity is limited; walk-ins are taken when space allows. All ages are welcome, children under 12 must be with an adult, and guests who stress the cats may be asked to leave. The lounge can be rented for private events.

• Adoptable cats
• Booking recommended

New York · 38 mi / 62 km

Meow Parlour is New York City's first cat cafe, opened in December 2014 and now at 43 Essex Street on the Lower East Side, between Grand and Hester Streets, near the F, M, J and B subway lines. Visitors book timed sessions in a cat space designed so the cats can interact with guests on their own terms. More than 20 cats usually live there, and all are adoptable through Meow Parlour Cats, the cafe's own nonprofit and a New York State licensed rescue. Drinks and cat-decorated baked goods from its sister company Macaron Parlour are sold when the cafe counter is open. Reservations are strongly recommended and open two months ahead, as walk-in space is limited. Children under 9 may only visit during special family time slots, guests under 18 need an adult, and groups larger than six must book a private event.

• Adoptable cats

Brooklyn, New York · 40 mi / 64 km

Brooklyn Cat Cafe is a nonprofit cat cafe on Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights, a short walk from the Borough Hall and Court Street subway stations and the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. It opened in 2016 and is run by the Brooklyn Bridge Animal Welfare Coalition, a volunteer-driven 501(c)(3) rescue, with all profits going to its rescue and outreach work. The cats are rescues from the streets of New York City, often 40 or more at a time, and all except the mascot are available for adoption. The building has a main lounge, a kitten room, a separate room for cats with feline leukemia and a low-cost clinic, and the cafe also fosters rescue rabbits, rats and guinea pigs. Visits are paid timed sessions, with reservations recommended and walk-ins welcome on Thursday evenings. Packaged snacks and drinks are sold, and the cafe hosts yoga, movie nights, kids' events and private parties.

• Adoptable cats
• Booking recommended