The Catio:  Nashville, TN, USA

Contact Information

Address: 1603 Riverside Dr, Nashville, TN 37216

Phone:  (615) 600-5954

Hours: Tue-Sun 10-7; Mon Closed

Entrance Fee:  $10/hr adults; $7/hr kids under 12

Ratings

Website / Social Media

Website: cationashville.com

Facebook: cationashville

Instagram: thecationashville

Twitter: N/A

Cat vs Cafe (50/50)

Cat Heroes:  Review of The Catio

I’ve visited hundreds of cat cafes over the past two years, but learned early on that these weren’t just one-off interactions, but rather, I was becoming part of a community.

Part of joining this cat cafe family meant that I’m on the inside track for discovering new cafes. While chatting with Tara at Catfeine just down the road in Murfreesboro, she mentioned a cat cafe that had just opened in Nashville called The Catio.

*record scratch*

We had just visited Mewsic Kitty, but this was news to me.

The next day, we were at Catio’s front door when they opened.

Anna, the owner greeted us and soon we were deep in cat cafe conversation. When it comes to cat cafe people, Anna is the gold standard for compassion and living your values. After years of fostering and caring for community cats, she decided to combine a love for animal rescue. veganism and her East Nashville neighborhood by opening The Catio.

The cafe is separated into two sides: the bakery and the cat lounge. The bakery is light and spacious with lots of greenery as Anna is also working to include cat safe plants in her gift shop. The bakery case was filled with delicious looking baked goods and I chose a vegan Philly Cheesesteak ‘hot pocket’ to accompany my Panther drip coffee, while my partner ordered a cookie to go with his latte.

Excitedly, we made our way into the cat lounge, a calm and relaxing space with colorful murals and plenty of kitty toys. We spent the next hour communing with eight fabulous felines available for adoption through shelter partner Nashville Cat Rescue. Anna focuses on hard to place cats, and there were all manner of personalities on display that day. They included sweet and playful kitties like Mac, an adorable black ball of floof that wanted to chase strings; intense types like Farquad, a Russian Blue lookalike with a bold stare, and energetic kitties like Tucker, a curious young tabby that jumped into my chair to check out my coffee.

Then, there were the shy babies, like gentle Camille, a long-haired orange and white recovering from her time on the streets and Jennie, a quiet tabby with gorgeous fur meant to be petted!

There were a steady stream of patrons in the cat lounge and I found the smiles and camaraderie surrounded me like a warm hug. It reminded why I continue to seek out new cat cafes all over the world.

Thanks, Anna, for creating the Catio community and inviting us to be a part of it!

Date Visited:  5/4/19