About Us
As Cleveland’s first cat cafe, affoGATO’s mission is to improve our city by creating a safe, comfortable haven for adoptable cats, cultivating a fun and inclusive space for cat-lovers to work and play, and teaming up with other local businesses and artists for the betterment of the community as a whole
We provide a safe home for adoptable cats. You can then pay a small cover charge to relax, play, and work alongside these fantastic felines. We partner with several local businesses and artists in order to host fun, unique events and produce food, drinks, and merchandise.
We're more than a cafe. We strive to be the heart of our community by bringing together cats, people, and businesses for the benefit of all. However, while we take pride in everything we do, from our excellent customer service to our high-quality and ethically sourced cafe treats, our greatest passion is cat welfare, socialization, and adoption.
Let's be real, the cats are the bosses. But if you're asking about the people that serve them, the cat cafe owners are Mandy, Eddie, and Lea. They can almost always be found working at the cafe or offsite doing adoptions/admin work. affoGATO is a very small family-owned business, and they all grew up and live in Cleveland.
Between the 3 owners, affoGATO is proud to be a LGBTQIA+ owned, women-owned, and Latine-owned business! As such, we have a strong commitment to social justice.
There are also a couple of amazing, hardworking employees who help keep the cats happy and safe. They're the best!
Cat cafes like affoGATO aren’t just a fun place to visit. They actually have important benefits to rescue cats, people, and the community, too!
Benefits for Cats
- Provides a cage-free and engaging playspace.
- Comfortable environment that lets their true personalities shine.
- Ongoing socialization for shy and sassy cats.
- A chance to meet adopters face-to-face, and further outreach via social media.
- Boosts adoption rates, and increases overall shelter space.
- Potential relief from stress, loneliness, and grief.
- Flexibility to relax, study, or socialize in our unique space.
- An opportunity to visit cats, free from the commitment of pet ownership. Great for those with housing restrictions or allergic family members!
- Provides a stress-free environment to hang out and get to know the cats in a cozy, home-like environment before adopting.
- Locally sourced cafe goods, merchandise, instructors, performers, etc.
- An inclusive event space, accessible to diverse or special needs individuals. If you’re kind to cats and kind to other people, then you’re welcome here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Cat Lounge reservations are not required but are HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. We have a cat lounge capacity designed to help reduce the cats' stress and help our guests have a great time. If people have booked all of these spaces online ahead of time, we will not be able to accommodate your walk-in booking. No exceptions, even if it's your birthday or you drove from 3 hours away.
We are so grateful that there are tons of people that want to visit our rescue cats, especially on the weekends. As such, all of the cat lounge hangouts are usually booked up in advance and walk-in availability is extremely rare at peak times. Book online here!
If you prefer a walk-in, our "Casual & Cozy Morning" visits for teens and adults (weekday mornings) are the best time to come. While we still can’t guarantee space without a reservation, these times tend to be less busy in general so we typically have room, unlike Saturdays and Sundays which are often booked up in advance. As a bonus, weekday mornings are also discounted!
You never need a reservation to visit the cafe side! You can watch the cats through the windows, and buy drinks and snacks to support their care. The cafe has some seating, wifi, and outlets for customers to use.
Yes, you must pay the cover charge for both online and walk-in bookings. affoGATO Cat Cafe is almost entirely funded through our cat lounge visits. Each entry fee allows us to continue our mission of fostering and finding homes for cats. While some may think it’s silly to “pay to pet cats”, your support is used to care for rescue cats and the attendants who keep them safe and healthy.
Yes, kids are welcome at affoGATO Cat Cafe! Kids under 13 may only visit the cat lounge on family-friendly days, which are typically on Sundays. Check out our guidelines for kids at the cafe here.
affoGATO Cat Cafe has two connected sections: cafe and cat lounge.
The front door leads to our cafe side. Like a normal cafe, you can drop by this section anytime during business hours! There is a small amount of seating inside, as well as benches to relax on outside, and you can usually see the cats through the windows. There is wifi and outlets for customers to use.
Support the cats by skipping Starbucks and getting your coffee and snacks here instead!
Through the cafe is our cat lounge. If you want to hang out with the coolest cats in town:
1. Make a reservation online. This is highly recommended, since walk-in availability is rare, especially on Saturdays and Sundays. The scheduler updates in real-time, so you can always accurately see what is available. New appointments usually open up each week, so check back often. If you don't wish to book ahead, the best time for walk-ins is our "Casual & Cozy Mornings" (Wed-Fri)
2. Check In a Couple of Minutes Early. Be sure to show up to your appointment a couple of minutes early. Allow yourself time to park and check in with us at the cafe counter. We will double-check your digital waiver and teach you the rules that keep you and the cats happy and safe. You can also order drinks and snacks at this point if you want to enjoy them with the cats!
3. Have fun and enjoy affoGATO! We have tons of amazing amenities for cat playtime and interaction, including a variety of toys, our cat climbing wall/catwalk, and a profile wall to learn the cats' personalities! We also have lots of purrks for our human guests too, including cozy spaces to relax, and work desks with plenty of outlets. Most importantly, there are up to 16 cats in the lounge to hang out with!
Our upkeep is different than a typical cafe, because of the cats! We want them to have plenty of room, lots of nooks to snuggle and climb, and tons of toys to help them stay engaged and happy. Behind the scenes, we have lots of costs associated with having sufficient staff to care for and adopt out so many cats, and the frequent cleaning needed to keep both you and the cats healthy.
The money from adoption fees goes to our source shelter, and we can’t produce the snacks in-house. So the cover charge is how we keep our doors open to continue helping cats! (And buy lots of toys to spoil them). 
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While cat hair in your food may be the most authentic cat ownership experience, you don't have to worry about that at affoGATO Cat Cafe. We partner with local bakers and cooks to prepare all of our food off-site, and the cafe is in a separate room than the cat lounge. Each side even has its own HVAC system!
As much as we would love to meet your feline friend, we do not allow any pets at affoGATO Cat Cafe. The Cleveland Animal Protective League and our staff work hard to find cats that get along with each other and our guests, and we would like to keep everyone feeling pawsitive and safe.
All of the cats at affoGATO Cat Cafe are rescue cats from the Cleveland Animal Protective League. We act as a foster home, caring for their cats, learning about them and helping them socialize, and using that information to adopt them out to the purrfect permanent home!
Learn more about the Cleveland APL and our collaboration with them here.
Meet the cats here!
No, we do not have the resources to safely process animal admissions at affoGATO Cat Cafe. The cats at affoGATO come from our source shelter, so we encourage you to get in touch with them instead.
Please follow their instructions for animal admissions.
You can also check out this info page with our other tips and important info for found strays, surrender, and rehoming.
It is against the law to abandon animals outside of affoGATO Cat Cafe.
Any employment opportunities will be posted here.
Be the first to know about these opportunities by following us on social media!
We do not currently take volunteers. The work that we do is extremely emotionally and physically difficult, and we believe that the awesome people who help us deserve to be paid.
Please send us an email at affoGATOcatcafe@gmail.com. Please be as specific as possible about what you do, your portfolio, and your rates. We strongly focus on cat-related products and events, and prioritize local artists and vendors.
Because we love terrible cat and coffee puns! (See: our cafe menu.) “Affogato” is a delicious Italian espresso drink, and “gato” means “cat” in Spanish.
It's pronounced like "ah-foh-gah-toe"