Chicago, Illinois, United States
The Catcade
The Catcade is a nonprofit cat rescue and lounge on Belmont Avenue in Lakeview, Chicago, a short walk from the Belmont 'L' station. Opened in 2017, it combines a home-like lounge of free-roaming adoptable cats with free-play arcade cabinets, so visitors can play classic video games while cats nap and wander around them. The cats are rescued from life-threatening situations, often from under-resourced shelters, and are rehomed through the Catcade's own adoption process. Visits last just under an hour, include a soft drink, and are best booked online because sessions often sell out. Guests must be 12 or older, with one adult for every two minors, and groups of more than six must book a private hour. In line with Chicago rules for animal cafes, no food is served. The lounge also hosts cat yoga and private parties and sells its own merchandise.
Before you go
- Booking
- Booking recommended
- Entry
- Entry or time fee
- Children
- Minimum age for children
- Food & drink
- Drinks and snacks
- 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
Tree House Cat Café
Chicago, Illinois5.5 mi / 8.9 km
The Tree House Cat Café is part of the Tree House Humane Society shelter on North Western Avenue in West Ridge, on Chicago's Far North Side. The coffee bar is open to walk-ins for drinks and pastries, while the adjoining lounge is reserved for timed visits with the café cats. These are adoptable residents who carry feline leukemia virus (FeLV), and to protect their immune systems only one to four of them are in the lounge at a time, which keeps visits small and quiet. Each reservation covers 30 minutes with the cats and one drink. Groups are limited to four people, children under 15 must be accompanied by an adult, and toddlers enter free. Café cats can be adopted by asking a team member, and the shelter also holds walk-in adoption hours. There is an on-site parking lot.
- Adoptable cats
- Booking required
Paws and Claws Cat Adoption Center
Evanston, Illinois7 mi / 11 km
Paws and Claws Cat Adoption Center is the Evanston home of Paws and Claws Cat Rescue, on Chicago Avenue across from the Main Street Purple Line station. The rescue focuses on cats at risk because of their appearance, medical or behavioral needs, or overcrowded shelters. Through its Cuddle Cats visitor hours, anyone can book a 45-minute session with free-roaming adoptable cats and kittens spread across four rooms, with no interest in adopting required. Sessions run on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, are by reservation only, and carry a required donation per person. Visitors sign a waiver and hear a short introduction to the rescue first, children under 18 come with an adult, and cats should not be picked up. Other visitors share each session, which is capped in size. Adoption is handled separately and starts with an application. The rescue also holds kitten yoga and other events.
- Adoptable cats
- Booking required
April's Kittens
Forest Park, Illinois10 mi / 16 km
April's Kittens is a nonprofit cat rescue with a cat lounge on Roosevelt Road in Forest Park, just west of Chicago. Opened in May 2026, it focuses on cats that are injured, medically complex or have special needs, rehabilitating them before adoption, and it also works to widen access to affordable veterinary care for stray cats and low-income families. Visitors spend an hour with the adoptable cats in the front lounge, where a community mural of hand-painted cat portraits covers one wall. Admission is lower when booked online than for walk-ins, and one fee is credited back with a same-day adoption. Children under 10 are not admitted, visitors under 18 need an adult with them, and everyone signs a waiver. Same-day adoptions are possible for adopters over 20 who are present at the visit; cats are not held or reserved.
- Adoptable cats
The Cat House
Roselle, Illinois22 mi / 36 km
The Cat House is a cat lounge and boutique on Irving Park Road in downtown Roselle, a DuPage County suburb northwest of Chicago, between Fire Burrito and Dini's Ice Cream and close to the Roselle Metra station. Usually 10 to 25 adoptable cats live in the lounge, fostered there for partner rescues including Forever Fortunate Felines, St. Sophia's Forgotten Felines and Love at First Meow Cat Rescue, which receive the full adoption fees. Visits are 45-minute sessions with a self-serve hot coffee, tea and cocoa station, and packaged drinks and snacks can be bought. Reservations are recommended, and toddlers enter free. The lounge is shoes off and socks only, there must be one adult for every two children, and teens 15 and over may visit alone with a signed waiver. A boutique sells cat stickers, stationery and gifts from small makers, and the lounge can be rented for private events.
- Adoptable cats
- Booking recommended
Cafe Purrfection
Naperville, Illinois30 mi / 49 km
Cafe Purrfection is a cat café due to open in mid-November 2026 on North Route 59 in Naperville, in a strip mall near McDowell Road, close to the Block 59 development and Fox Valley Mall. It will have a coffee counter open to walk-ins and a separate room where up to 10 adoptable cats from the Animal Rescue Foundation, a volunteer-run rescue based in Wheaton, will live while they wait for homes. Coffee drinks, Lotus energy drinks, refreshers and prepackaged snacks will be sold, many with cat-themed names. Time in the cat room will be sold separately from drinks, and booking a slot in advance is encouraged for anyone who wants to spend time with the cats. Adoptions will go through the rescue, which places more than 1,000 cats and dogs a year, mostly from foster homes. It will be the first cat café in Naperville.
- Adoptable cats
- Booking recommended
The Region Cat Cafe
Merrillville, Indiana36 mi / 58 km
The Region Cat Cafe is a coffee shop and cat lounge on West 80th Place in Merrillville, in Northwest Indiana. The café side serves coffee, drinks and desserts to anyone, while the separate lounge holds adoptable cats from Second Chance 4 Pets Network, a foster-based rescue the cafe works with to ease the shortage of foster homes. Lounge visits are best reserved online, and walk-ins are admitted when there is space. The cafe passed its 700th adoption around its fourth anniversary, and its fees and donations help pay for the cats' care. It runs regular events in the lounge, including an adults-only book club, bingo and coloring nights, paint-your-pet classes, plush-making sessions and reading to the cats for children. Visitors who do not plan to adopt are welcome, since time in the lounge helps socialize the cats. Hours are shorter in the fall and winter, and parking is free.
- Adoptable cats
- Booking recommended