Alley Cat Cafe

Ithaca's only cat cafe is a must-see. One thing to note is that the cat room opens at 11am and is $5. That said, the cat room was a delight. It was full of rowdy playful kittens that were jumping, bounding, sleeping, cuddling, chasing and doing all the kitten-things!
While children are welcome in the cat room, it's probably best for older kids since the kitties have claws and can bite. There is a volunteer to maintain order in the room, and enforce the rules.

The coffee is also good, though they missed out by not calling a pour over a purr-over. (Though the catppuchino pun was appreciated).

Cat room is $5 additional bucks. Seriously? I think it'd be better if there were a deal, such as spend $10 get 10 min free with the cats.

Other than that, it's a cafe. Staff is very friendly. Nothing spectacular, like a cat circus or rat demolition derby. Never once did I fear for my life from the cats, huge disappointment. Also I thought the cats would be dressed like sharks for shark week. Nope. . .

I've been to cat cafes in Tokyo, Japan and this was much better. Affordable and adorable, the cats are well cared for and friendly. The drinks are nice, the workers are pleasant, and best of all the cats are all adoptable. Overall, a great addition to Ithaca.

My son and I came in on Thursday July 12 around 2pm. The food was mediocre at best. We were happy there were some vegan options, but they were lackluster. Neither one of us ate the second half of our sandwiches.One of the workers was extremely rude for no apparent reason. A nice employee was helping us initially (a black woman with red hair). My card wouldn't go through. She said they were having issues with the machine, which was no big deal for me because we weren't in a rush and there was no one else in line. She called over someone else to help with the card machine, a white woman with a very deep voice who was wearing a black dress. I mentioned there was nothing wrong with my card. Again no big deal--uninteresting interaction. After several failed attempts, I finally gave her another card, to see if that would help. It worked. Then she angrily said to me, "I guess it was the card. Maybe you should have known before you pretended it was our fault." I was taken aback by this inexplicably rude and aggressive comment. I did double check my card. It was fine, as I knew. It was their machine, as the first employee acknowledged. This really turned me off from the place altogether. Overall: needlessly upsetting interaction, uninspired food and drinks.

Must go here for the kitties and the great coffee!

Cafe with amazing cats and great coffee. The employees are really friendly and clearly love the cats. Plenty of delicious vegetarian and vegan options.

Cute cafe with decent coffee and latte. The food however could have been better. I ordered the avacado toast for $5, it was two thin toasted slices of wheat bread cut in half with a tiny schmeer of avacado. Unfortunately the avacado mixture tasted like a prepackaged preserved spread with a slightly bitter after taste. Maybe the pastries would have been better?

Staff was friendly.

You have to pay to interact with the cats.

Had a great time with all the cats! Owner was very pleasant, McKenzie was a lot of fun. Highly recommend!

It's a solid cafe with well prepared drinks. I ordered a decaf Americano. It was better than most since they actually started with an espresso. My wife enjoyed a mocha latte.

Awesome place! Awesome people! Awesome cats!
Loved it... ❤️