Looking for your next best friend? At Frisky Cat Cafe in St. Augustine, every latte comes with a side of purrs; and, if you’re open to it, maybe even your future pet.
Located at 1092 S. Ponce De Leon Blvd. in the Gates of St. Johns Plaza shopping center, Frisky Cat Cafe is much more than a cozy coffee shop. The popular cafe partners with Small Lives Matter Kitten Rescue, a Ponte Vedra Beach-based nonprofit, to help cats and kittens find loving forever homes.
Since opening in March 2020, the cafe has helped approximately 1,900 cats and kittens find permanent families, averaging about 350 adoptions each year.
Whether you’re searching for a furry companion or simply want to spend an hour surrounded by purrs, cuddles and playful kittens, Frisky Cat Cafe offers a one-of-a-kind coffee date.
How much does it cost to visit Frisky Cat Cafe?
Visitors pay a lounge admission donation of $12 to $14 per person for one hour with the cats.
Those donations, along with cafe purchases and adoption fees, help cover veterinary care, food, toys, enrichment, and other daily needs for the rescue cats.
The cafe itself is separate from the cat lounges and serves locally roasted Bold Bean coffee, specialty espresso drinks, smoothies, teas, pastries, and macarons. A small marketplace also sells cat-themed gifts, carriers, mugs, T-shirts, artwork, and other feline-inspired merchandise.
Thinking about taking one home? Here’s how the adoption process works at Frisky Cat Cafe
Step 1: Meet the cats while you sip coffee
Unlike a traditional animal shelter, Frisky Cat Cafe lets visitors spend quality time with cats before making a life-changing decision.
Guests can enjoy handcrafted specialty coffee, espresso drinks, smoothies, teas, beer, wine, and fresh pastries before heading into one of three cat lounges, where 50 to 60 friendly cats and kittens roam freely.
You can pet them, play with them, or simply relax while a curious kitten curls up in your lap. The experience gives both people and cats a chance to see if they’re a good match.
Take a look inside Frisky Cat Cafe in St. Augustine
Step 2: Fall in love (it happens fast)
The main lounge feels more like a comfortable living room than an adoption center, complete with cozy furniture, climbing towers, scratching posts, elevated beds, and plenty of toys.
There are also two dedicated kitten rooms filled with playful youngsters looking for homes.
Many visitors stop in just to unwind with cats, but plenty leave wondering if they’ve just met their new family member.
Step 3: Complete the adoption application
If you’ve found “the one,” the next step is an adoption application.
Founder Carla Forrest says the process is intentionally thorough because the goal isn’t simply finding homes, it’s finding the right homes.
“It’s not as many as I would like, but we believe in finding [true] forever homes,” she said, noting their priority is finding good homes, not just moving them out to make room for more kitties.
That careful screening has helped Frisky Cat Cafe maintain a strong adoption success rate while ensuring cats are placed with families prepared to care for them for life.
How much does it cost to adopt a cat at Frisky Cat Cafe?
The adoption fee for most cats and kittens is $155.
That fee includes:
Forrest emphasized that every adoptable cat at the cafe has tested negative for both FIV and FeLV.
How many cats are currently available for adoption at Frisky Cat Cafe?
The lineup changes regularly as cats find homes and new rescues arrive.
Among the cats and kittens recently available were:
So whether you’re looking for an energetic kitten or a laid-back lap cat, every visit offers the chance to meet a future companion and maybe head home with more than just your coffee.
Frisky Cafe has earned national recognition
Frisky Cat Cafe is nominated for the 2026 USA TODAY 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards for Best Cat Café. The winners will be announced July 1.
In November 2024, Frisky Cat Cafe got its first USA TODAY 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards for Best Cat Cafe.
Last year, the national recognition continued. The cafe was ranked No. 7 in the 2025 Newsweek Readers’ Choice Award for Best Cat Cafe.
When is Frisky Cafe, the adoption cat cafe, open?
Frisky Cat Cafe is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday through Thursday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, according to its website.
Where is Frisky Cat Cafe?
The Frisky Cat Cafe is located in St. Augustine at 1092 S. Ponce De Leon Blvd. in the Gates of St. Johns Plaza shopping center.
Doris Alvarez is a Breaking and Trending Reporter for The Florida Times-Union. You can get all of Jacksonville’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday by signing up for the free Daily Briefing and News Alerts newsletters at jacksonville.com/newsletters
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Frisky Cat Cafe, where coffee, cats and adoptions meet
Reporting by Doris Alvarez Cea and Teresa Stepzinski, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union / Florida Times-Union
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Doris Alvarez Cea and Teresa Stepzinski, Jacksonville Florida Times-Union | USA TODAY Network
