Updated: March 2, 2026
Could it be time for an update of Virginia’s iconic tourism campaign, Virginia is for Lovers? We think “Virginia is for Cat Lovers” has a nice ring. Virginia is home to twelve cat cafes. In fact, Virginia is now a true cat cafe hub. In under one hundred miles, you can hit at least nine cat cafes, including two in the neighboring District of Columbia. If you shoot up the East coast a little further to Philadelphia… Ok we’re getting carried away by cat cafes. It happens.
Virginia first hit the cat cafe map in 2017, just a few quick years after the first U.S. cat cafe opened ion the West Coast in California. In July 2017, Catnip Cat Cafe debuted in Norfolk as Virginia’s first cat cafe. Now seven years in, Catnip Cat Cafe has the distinction of being Virginia’s longest running cat cafe!
Northern Virginia is well-served by five outstanding cafes, each thoroughly delightful and utterly unique. Meowtown Cat Lounge in McLean is the region and state’s newest cafe.
The Chesapeake area is ruled by Kitty Kingdom (you know what they say: Cats Rule! Cups and Claws Cat Cafe in Newport News is the state’s newest cafe, recently dubbed by one reviewer as “the sweetest little place I’ve ever been to!” All hail Kitty Kingdom!
To the west, you’ll find two cat cafes in Roanoke and and two in Harrisonburg. In fact, Harrisonburg’s Aristocat Cafe +Tea Room offers a unique experience for American cat cafes: a sophisticated menu of curated fine teas , along with fabulous felines from the Humane Society of Shenandoah County.