New cat café Purrfect Bean to open this month in the Fan

The exterior of the Purrfect Bean, with some eclectic cat art. (Jackie DiBartolomeo photo)

Richmond’s only café where cat and coffee lovers can converge is set to open its doors this month. 

The Purrfect Bean will make its debut Aug. 15 at 214 N. Lombardy St. in the Fan, offering coffee, tea and pastry options along with the chance to play with adoptable cats from a local foster service.

Formerly the brick-and-mortar location of Westray’s Finest Ice Cream, the 1,700-square-foot, two-story space has since been transformed into a green-and-pink, feline-themed space, featuring eclectic cat murals, foliage-filled nooks and crannies, pink tiling and espresso machines. 

“It’s feminine but earthy, with lots of cat things popping up everywhere. I’m more of a maximalist design person. A lot of coffee shops are minimalist,” owner Michelle Langham said. 

Michelle Langham

The café is on the first floor, while the “cat lounge” is upstairs. A free roaming area, the cat lounge will be for customers to come and play with cats and potentially take them home. 

To visit the cat lounge, customers can book a 50-minute session online ahead of time, costing $20 per session on weekdays and $25 on weekends.  

Langham said she looked to other similar cafes in other cities to help set her pricing. 

Cats at the Purrfect Bean are being brought in by Purring Hearts VA, a locally based cat fostering and adoption agency. The organization takes cats from overcrowded euthanizing shelters and places them in foster and adoptive homes. 

The Purrfect Bean will have anywhere from eight to 10 cats for adoption in the cat lounge at any given time. There will be a mix of kittens and adult cats.

Langham noted that each Purrfect Bean cat will have updated vaccinations and will have spent at least a few weeks in foster homes before they come to the café. 

“I think I’m probably going to just cry when the first cat gets adopted,” Langham said. “That’s where this all started from, me seeing that need for more help for cats in this community. I’m really hoping we can do a lot of adoptions.” 

Langham, a Northern Virginia native, told BizSense in January that when she moved to Powhatan, she noticed the lack of cat cafés in the Richmond area. 

With a love of animals and a background working various managerial and retail positions, she wanted to combine her two interests with a new venture, which led to her founding the Purrfect Bean.

As for the menu at Purrfect Bean, the café will offer a mix of espresso drinks, brewed coffee, sourced from local coffee company Afterglow Collective, and loose-leaf teas from the Spice & Tea Exchange of Richmond.

Espresso drinks range from $3 to around $6, while teas go for $4 each, iced or hot. 

The Purrfect Bean downstairs café, left, and upstairs cat lounge, right. (Courtesy Michelle Langham)

The menu will also offer seasonal specials such as a shaken coconut espresso latte called the Francine, named after the locally famous feline resident of the Broad Street Lowe’s. 

Other specials include a blueberry matcha drink called the Russian Blue matcha, and a Tabby Tonic espresso tonic water drink and a citrus iced tea made with dried catnip. 

The café will also have breads from Two and a Half Irishmen and treats like cake pops, moon pies and whoopie pies from No Nuts Donuts. All food options are gluten free and vegan. 

Upon opening, the Purrfect Bean will serve customers Wednesdays through Sundays from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Cat lounge hours will begin at 10 a.m. each day. The business currently has a staff of 13, including Langham.

While the Purrfect Bean may be Richmond’s only cat café, it isn’t the first. Shockoe Bottom used to be home to cat café Central Purrk at 1704 E. Main St. 

Central Purrk operated for around three years and found homes for dozens of cats before ultimately closing in December 2019.

Now eager to open after a few months of getting city permitting finalized (the Purrfect Bean café was originally slated to open in April), Langham said she’s heard excitement from locals about the concept being brought back to Richmond. 

“People are excited, people want to adopt cats. People want to come here and experience it, because there’s not one close by. A lot of people haven’t experienced it,” she said. 

The post New cat café Purrfect Bean to open this month in the Fan appeared first on Richmond BizSense.