“This one,” says Amanda Atwell, as she points out a particularly posh, fluffy-tailed calico stalking across the room. “She’s the queen, as you can see. Look at her tail twitch. She’s saying, ‘Look at me. Tell me I’m beautiful.’” Jada, the fancy feline in question, is not one of Atwell’s own cats but rather a resident foster feline at Aristocat Café + Tea House in downtown Harrisonburg. Atwell opened the café in 2023, and the spot quickly became a community pillar for critter-cuddling and gourmet tea-sipping.
She started the business because she’s an animal- and tea-lover herself and wanted to facilitate better lives for local cats in need of homes.
Atwell’s love for the 10–15 felines living in the space at any given time is palpable—she knows all their breeds, backstories, names, and personality quirks. She set up a certifiable kitten kingdom in a closed-off room at the café. It’s air-purified, full of cat trees and climbable obstacles, and encased in glass windows to give café customers a peek inside. All cats fostered at the café are adoptable through the Humane Society of Shenandoah County, and Atwell adores and remembers all 130-plus of those cats who have found homes, too.
Click here for more cat cafés throughout Virginia.
This article originally appeared in the October 2024 issue.
