Cat Cafe on Whyte — Restaurant in Greater Strathcona

Very bad experience in what I thought would be a welcoming business. For a place that probably seems to prides themselves on tolerance and such they need to take a hard look in the mirror.

As a dad I took 4 kids here today ages 7 9 9 12 after school. All the kids were quiet and dressed in their school uniform.

A polite barista asked their age and I told her and she was ready to let us in as " it wasn't very busy" . Then the cliché "Karen" coworker said not allowed to go because we needed another "parent". Gave the cold "I hate kids look" and everything.

In her defense the polite barista was trying to remedy the situation asking me if I could "go get an adult." I am not an "I want to talk to the manager!" type so didn't escalate this. You don't want my business, that's fine, I'll go somewhere else. I told her I'll talk to the kids and I explained we cannot go in and we just left.

We had just driven 25 minutes to come here because I wanted to do something nice for these kids on their last day of school. Really it would be better to pay some random guy off Whyte Ave money to sit in your Cat Cafe to qualify as an adult? That's a better and safer option for you?

These were not 4 year old toddlers but independent kids in full time grade school and one of them is close to 13 and they all have pets. These rules are highly arbitrary as I was first going to be allowed in, then it depended on how busy they were then no its just not allowed because of their age.

I was more than willing to pay the fee as well as buy several snacks and drinks for everyone. You made the 7 year old cry and luckily the staff at Made by Marcus was a whole lot more professional and accommodating.

The amazing thing is when I looked in the window with the cats there were children and a clear lack of adults. I guess they probably got the nice barista who wants to leave a positive experience and make tips/sales. My bad luck with "Karen" acting like my 9 year olds were going to throw cats or something.

This is the type of business that acts perplexed when they encounter tough times. You have inconsistent policies and staff that have no concept of thinking long term.

You didn't just lose my business and positive feedback today. You lost it for all future visits as well.

If you want just the standard 20 something Whyte Ave crowd put a sign in your door like Dadeo.

We will not be returning and sharing the behaviour of that barista with our friends that was not a welcoming environment...

We had a somewhat decent experience! But about half way through we went out front to our vehicle to get one of my perscriptions and when my fiancé went back in the lady very rudely yelled over that we must pick between inside and outside! Then when we were leaving part of my group went outside and then when the door was pretty much closed I opened the other door and she yelled VERY LOUDLY and pretty aggressively that we need to watch the door. She did this to no one else! So needless to say I don’t think me or my family will be coming back and I will let others know as I have never been aggressively yelled at by someone like that in a business and I don’t think it is very professional. (I’ve been working in customer service for the last 6 years and I’ve never yelled at any paying customers )

Edit to review! There was lots of customers that were completely ignoring rules in the room and had kids who were not supervised to the point it seemed to make other guests uncomfortable as the kids were running around ! Lots of customers seemed to not follow your “door rule “ but it seems as though we were the only ones targeted as when the 2 doors were both open for other people nothing was said to Them! Also we only went out once! like I said the door was closed! My family has easily had 20 cats over the years! I don’t call yelling/ when talking to customers puffing and being rude to customers a good business practice! Extremely disappointed! We aren’t dumb and we’re extremely embarrassed by the way we were treated! It doesn't seem like it had been checked into before you repsonded to my review...

Great place to visit with friends have some snack and drinks, and get your kitten/cat fix. Drinks are included with admission. Kids are allowed, but I recommend if they are under 7 not to waste you money. The space is divided into two rooms, one for kids under 7 and one for ages 7 and up. Unfortunately, the majority of the cats stay in the larger room accessible to the older kids and adults. That's also the room with all of the couches. They gave us some treats to try to coax some cats over to the little kid area but it didn't work. They stated the reason for the two rooms was that it is to give a safe space for cats who don't do well with kids or loud noises kids make. Understandable. Just disappointed that our little one didn't get to sit with them upstairs. Also, we were there with friends that had kids from ages 3 to 13 and we had to stay with our kids to supervise but could not all sit together and visit as some of us had to stay in the lower area with our littles. Again, nothing against their rules or the facility. I am just posting to give parents of littles a heads up that if you are going with friends or littles know that you have to stay in the separate area and may or may not have cats with you. The admission fees do go towards the costs of taking care of the kittens and cats and all cats are up for adoption. So if you are thinking of adopting definitely come check this place out. On the weekends it is $18 for ages 13+, $13 for ages 7 to 12, $8 for ages 1-6, and kids...