Happy Cat Cafe

Happy Cat Cafe opened in August 2017 as the first cat cafe in Grand Rapids and has operated at 447 South Division Avenue since. The model is two rooms: a conventional coffee bar at the front, and a cat lounge behind it housing adoptable cats placed by Fig and Friends Animal Rescue. More than 600 cats have been adopted out through that partnership. The lounge is bookable and the cafe programs around it, running cat yoga and painting classes alongside ordinary trading. The room is wheelchair accessible, has its own parking, and is one of the few venues in this guide that is straightforwardly good for children as well as adults.

The reason it belongs in an alcohol-free guide rather than a general cafe listing is that the drinks are treated as a real menu rather than an afterthought, and there is no alcohol anywhere on the premises. Syrups and sauces are made in house, as is the oat milk. The espresso list is built around named house drinks: the Ginger Cat Latte, a twist on golden milk; the Tabby Cat, made with house-made dark chocolate, almond, hazelnut and blackberry; the Tortitude, which puts espresso together with spicy chai, house-made dark chocolate sauce and chili powder; the Meow Cha Latte, a matcha built on house-made vanilla; and Crookshanks' Caramel. The cold list runs to mocktails and what the cafe calls glitter spritzers — the Blackberry Panther combines wild blackberry syrup, Sprite, lemon and black holographic glitter, and the Rosy Ragdoll sits alongside it — plus lotus drinks and Red Bull mocktails. Opening hours are 10am to 6pm Monday through Thursday and 9am to 7pm Friday through Sunday, so like most of the city's fully alcohol-free rooms it is a daytime proposition.