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Photo by Katelyn Mae Petrin
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Photo by Katelyn Mae Petrin
The Bauhaus-style windows separate the kitchen from the cat room.
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Photo courtesy of MAUHAUS
When Mauhaus Cat Café & Lounge (3101 Sutton, 314-384-2287) opened in Maplewood, people crowded around to pet cats, snack on internationally-themed café fare, luxuriate in Bauhaus-style décor, and take in the catnip on the air. The cat lounge remained packed throughout their hours, with reservations full and walk-ins slipping in only to a few precious spots.
Co-owner Dana Huth says that she and fellow owner Ben Triola were shocked by the excitement around their idea, from start to finish. “We had no idea how many people would be interested!” she writes in an email.
The first U.S. cat café, Cat Town Cafe, opened in Oakland, Ca., in 2014, and it’s one of the places that Huth and Triola visited before opening Mauhaus. The first cat café is said to have opened in Taiwan in the '90s, and spread from there to Japan in the 2000s, where dining with felines became what Forbes called “a Japanese national obsession.” If the response to Mauhaus is anything to go by, the United States might not be far off from that.
The hype didn’t begin with its opening. When Huth and Triola launched their Kickstarter, it reached its funding minimum of $15,000 in just two days, and by the end, brought in $36,000 and exceeded all stretch goals.
It didn’t stop with the Kickstarter, either. Huth says that within two or three days of posting open positions online, they received over 300 applications.
Clayton Hankamer was one of the lucky few to get one of those jobs, and he has his theories about why cat cafés are so popular. “Thousands of years ago, cats were worshipped as gods, and they never forgot it,” he says. “I think we’re going back to that.”
“Thousands of years ago, cats were worshipped as gods, and they never forgot it. I think we’re going back to that.”
It’s hard to tell exactly how many cat cafés grace American shores. A recent roundup on That Cat Blog located 11 of the cat-lovers’ havens, but The Definitive List of North America’s 24 Open and Upcoming Cat Cafes finds, well, 24—in 2015. A number of those plans look like they may have never come to fruition, though.
As for Huth and Triola, they’re well aware of the idea’s appeal. Huth writes in an email that a trip to a Thailand cat café on Christmas Day inspired the project. She says, “As soon as we left the cafe we decided that we were going to make it happen at home in St. Louis.”
Just because cats are the main attraction, though, don't write off the food. Pulling from the cat café's international reputation, Mauhaus serves variations on favorites from around the world: hummus with pita or roasted veggie chips, multi-flavored samosas, arepas, quiche, and cicchetti (with multiple veggie and meat options and house-made bread) are served alongside baked goods like macarons, scones, cookies, and sponge cakes.
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Photo by Katelyn Mae Petrin
Mauhaus offers a panoply of sweets.
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Photo by Katelyn Mae Petrin
Pinchos, Spanish for "small plates," come in varieties like smoked salmon (left) and sweet potato rounds (right).
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Photo by Katelyn Mae Petrin
Spicy Black Bean Samosas
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Photo by Katelyn Mae Petrin
One patron who lives nearby says he can't stop coming back for Mauhaus' Curried Squash Hummus.
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Photo by Katelyn Mae Petrin
The London Fog sponge cake has a marscapone filling and is topped with Earl Gray buttercream. Mauhaus mixes up the sponge cake flavors; on opening weekend, this reporter enjoyed the blackberry edition.
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Photo by Katelyn Mae Petrin
Chocolate chip scones, while a bit less internationally inspired than the rest of Mauhaus' menu, are still tasty.
Drinks offer plenty for the coffee lover, including various espresso options and Vietnamese iced coffee. For those not a fan of coffee, there's milks and teas. A catnip tea also enchants the residents as much as the visitors.
But there’s something different about U.S. cat cafés: around the world, most businesses don’t let visitors take the cats home. Some American counterparts, however, have become adoption centers—or more commonly, like Mauhaus, have partnered with local nonprofit cat rescues or animal services to become a “middleman” for facilitating adoptions.
Since Mauhaus’ opening on Nov. 12, Hankamer says he’s heard a lot of interest in the cats; Mauhaus’ partner organization, Tenth Life Cat Rescue, has already vetted several owners and adoptions. To Huth, this provides a valuable service. She says, “It's such a great way for cats that need homes to live and socialize with other cats, and it's a great way for folks that for some reason can't have cats get to spend time with them.”
According to Hankamer, the excitement has changed more than just the lives of a few cats. He visits Mauhaus every morning to take care of the animals, and he says he’s watched the area change. Kids hang out near the windows and watch cats; people slow their morning commutes to glimpse some furry friends on the way to work. He says, “It’s the first time I’ve ever seen people make complete stops at those stop signs. It’s become the safest intersection in Maplewood.”
“I couldn’t have told you ten years ago that this was ever going to be a thing, let alone in Maplewood,” Hankamer marvels. But, he says he’s glad that cats are getting the recognition they deserve.
Photo by Katelyn Mae Petrin
Feline FAQs
For those new to Mauhaus, here are answers to frequently asked questions.
How does Mauhaus not violate health codes?
Cooks never enter the cat room, and cat-room attendants never enter the kitchen.
May patrons adopt the cats?
Yes. Tenth Life Cat Rescue has vetted and approved several adoptions.
May patrons bring their own cats?
No. Hankamer assures newcomers, “We have more than enough cats.”
