In case you've been blissfully offline for the past year or so, Japan's cat cafe craze is now sweeping the States. Seattle and L.A. are each getting one, New York and Oakland have them, and now Portland has one too.
Purrington's Cat Lounge opened last weekend. We already knew it would be serving up pastries from Fleur de Lis, coffee from Extracto, tea from The Jasmine Pearl, as well as a few snacks, like a meat and cheese plate and deviled eggs. There's even beer and wine.
And, of course, we knew the "cat lounge" adjacent to the cafe would have eight adoptable fluffy kitties from Sherwood's Cat Adoption Team.
But what we didn't know was that Purrington's would actually end up looking quite cool. It's like a typical, hipster-leaning Portland cafe, with exposed concrete and an industrial-chic vibe. And, most important, it has a room of lazy kitties lounging in full view.
Heath department rules require the kitties to be separate from the food and drink area. If you're not content simply watching through the glass, you can pay the $8 entry fee and bring your food and drink from the cafe into the cat lounge if you get it to-go. To ensure you get a chance to hang with the kitties, you can even make a reservation for the lounge, which has seats for up to 20 people at a time.
Purrington's Cat Lounge: 3529 NE Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Portland; 503-334-3570.
Hours: Tuesday through Sunday from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.
