Texas To-Do List: Whiskers and Soda Cat Café
DALLAS - A cat café in Dallas is offering a relaxing space for people to enjoy a cup of coffee and hang out with adoptable cats.
Whiskers and Soda Cat Cafe opened in March 2023 and is located in the Lakewood neighborhood.
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"Whiskers and Soda is a cat café in the traditional kind of European nation sense of a cat café where you can come, have a beautiful relaxing environment, get some great coffee and some nibbles, and hang out with the most loving beautiful fur babies who want their fur-ever homes," said Robert Stovall, the co-owner of Whiskers and Soda.
The Stovall family teamed up with A Voice for All Paws, a local cat rescue organization, to make the café possible.
"Every cat in here is available for adoption. So, they are all fully vetted, they’re all fixed, they’re all healthy. We actually partner with A Voice For All Paws which is a local rescue that I’m the president of. The major reason that we set up the cat café was to help with the number of adoptions." said Caroline Stovall.
"Caroline runs the rescue, and the only way to adopt out babies is for people to come visit at the fosters' homes and get to know the cats, which is great but, you know, there’s downsides to that as well," said Robert. "We just kept saying ‘God, wouldn’t it be great if we just had a place that we could have where all the cats were there, and comfortable and loving, and then you’d have people come look at them that way. And then we were like oh! Cat café. That’s what we need to do!’"
A Voice for All Paws has found a permanent home for almost 400 cats, and they hope that the café will give a safe space for the animals to let their true personalities shine.
"Sometimes they come here, and they will hide for a week because they are just not sure about the environment, and they come from a foster home, and now they are in a busy environment. But what it does is help them acclimatize to other cats, it helps them acclimatize to people, so you know that when you are taking them home, they are going to be a social kitty," Caroline said.
Whiskers and Soda as a maglock door to keep any of the cats from getting out.
"You’re going to be greeted immediately by the babies, and they will be all around you. So, you just hang out and enjoy their company," said Robert.
They only allow a limited number of guests in at a time, so being able to make a reservation comes in handy.
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"Trust me, on the weekends, you’re going to want that reservation because we get full. We have the capacity for 30 people. Once we reach 30 people, then we won’t let anyone new in. But, if you’re a member, and you had a reservation, then your spot is secured," Robert said.
There is a fee to enter, but all of the money goes directly into taking care of the cats.
"What we don’t want is anyone thinking we are making money off of this, because we’re definitely not making money. This all goes back into feeding the cats, looking after the cats, the vetting of the cats, and saving more cats. But it’s also about helping everybody have a really great experience while they are here," said Caroline.
In addition to the animals, there are a wide selection of food and drink options that come from a local bakery.
"All of our baked goods come from Leila Bakery, which is down in Lakewood. We have everything from salads to sandwiches to cakes to cat cookies," said Caroline.
The cafe is open six days a week and offers a variety of food and drink options. There are also several cat-themed drinks on the menu.
"You know, the best part of owning a cat café is all of the puns you can come up with. So, the Mocha-catto, Cat-achino, and you know, you name it," said Robert.
The Stovalls say hanging out at the cafe is a great way to get to know a future furry friend.
"It's a big commitment when you adopt a cat, so people can come multiple times and sit with them and just see how they interact with each other," said Caroline.
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