Meow, Wallingford: Seattle's First Cat Cafe Has a Permanent Location

The cats are cooooooming! Since the first cat cafe in the U.S. opened in Oakland last October, Seattle has been kickstarting and clawing for its own. Throughout the last year, there have been two major contenders to bring the city its first feline food establishment: Seattle Meowtropolitan (who has had some pop-ups, and whose name never gets old to say) and Seattle Kitty Kafe. Both are following a crazy popular trend in Asia and now beyond involving coffee shops filled with free-roaming cats. Now comes word from Seattle Met that it's Meowtropolitan for the proverbial mouse; the crew has secured a space and hopes to open in Wallingford this fall.

Meowtropolitan co-founder Matt Lai is not releasing an exact address yet, but says the cafe will have lots of windows and be close to bus lines. The team originally wanted to open in Capitol Hill but found zoning laws too limiting.

If you want pump up before the fall opening, per Met: "Lai and crew have some felinecentric preview events in the works. Look out for a particularly zen event of yoga with kittens." Follow Seattle Meowtropolitan's Facebook page for details as they develop. What's a cat cafe, you say? Check out this Vox video tracing a short history of the phenomenon.