Carl Nolte, Cat Whisperer. And KitTea used to be closed on Tuesdays...for cat-naps. 🙂
By Carl Nolte, Contributor Jan 24, 2026 - San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco is a city of surprises, something different to explore just around the corner, hidden in plain sight.
I felt like an urban explorer myself just the other day when I heard about a cat café called Whiskerwood Haven out on Geary Boulevard in the Inner Richmond District, where neighborhood people pay a fee to hang out with cats.
As it turns out, a cat café is kind of a combination animal shelter and cat social club, where patrons can interact with well-groomed cats, play with them, pet them, and sometimes adopt one to take home.
Whiskerwood Haven is one of two cat cafés in San Francisco. The other is the KitTea Cat Lounge on Valencia Street in the Mission District. KitTea, which has been around for a while, is similar but slightly different. KitTea once served food, like a regular café, but now only offers tea or other beverages to patrons.
If you’re a cat lover, here’s a couple of places in S.F. you’ll want to visit
Greg
Quick and Dirty
San Francisco is a city of surprises, something different to explore just around the corner, hidden in plain sight.
I felt like an urban explorer myself just the other day when I heard about a cat café called Whiskerwood Haven out on Geary Boulevard in the Inner Richmond District, where neighborhood people pay a fee to hang out with cats.
As it turns out, a cat café is kind of a combination animal shelter and cat social club, where patrons can interact with well-groomed cats, play with them, pet them, and sometimes adopt one to take home.
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Whiskerwood Haven is one of two cat cafés in San Francisco. The other is the KitTea Cat Lounge on Valencia Street in the Mission District. KitTea, which has been around for a while, is similar but slightly different. KitTea once served food, like a regular café, but now only offers tea or other beverages to patrons.
Both specialize in rescue cats, animals that were down on their luck, some of them tough feral cats, some left behind when their owners moved, others simply unwanted.
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Cats have been domesticated for thousands of years; the ancient Egyptians revered some cats as gods. In some cultures, black cats were associated with witches; in others they brought good luck. “Cats are widely misunderstood,” said Hector Hernandez, the cat wrangler at KitTea. “That is, until you get to know them.’’
Hernandez should know. He has 29 cats in his care on Valencia Street, some quiet and mellow, like a slender 3-year-old gray and white striped cat named Winston. Meanwhile others jump high in the air as quick as hunters chasing a lure. Most of the cats in both establishments seem to have personalities. One unhappy customer complained he’d paid good money only to have the cats ignore him.
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“You have to earn their respect,” said John Ngo, the owner at Whiskerwood Haven.
Tyana Villalobos has cats of her own but came to KitTea the other afternoon because she simply likes cats. “I wanted to meet more cats,” she said. One of her own cats has such an outgoing personality it comes to her door to greet her when she comes home, “Like a dog would,” she said.
Both cat cafés are a bit like neighborhood gathering places. Faith McGee and Rose Karta, friends and neighbors, brought their kids with them to Whiskerwood Haven for a sunny cat afternoon. A couple of cats came over to the big wide play area: one cat frisky and energetic, the other quieter, gentler. The felines and the children had obviously connected, the kind of childhood playdate that people remember. “Why do you like cats?” I asked. “You can see for yourself,” McGee said.
KitTea has been around for more than 10 years, but Whiskerwood Haven only opened last fall. Ngo says opening an animal rescue place has been a dream of his for years. He’s 40 years old, born in Vietnam and raised in San Francisco. He went to Washington High School and Skyline College and on graduation went into the tech business.
“It was good money,” he said, “But after a while I came to hate it. I was in cybersecurity. All those hours at the keyboard, all those pointless meetings.”
He dreamed of flying, took lessons at the San Carlos Airport, bought a plane and flew in his spare time. Eventually he hooked up with friends who flew sick and injured pets to animal hospitals. “Kind of an animal flying animal rescue service,” he said. Ngo always liked animals, and he discovered a worldwide animal rescue network and was intrigued.
He had heard about cat cafés in Taiwan and Japan, operations that combined food and drink with animal rescues. He knew of only one such business in the Bay Area, and saw an opportunity — 7 million people and thousands of cats. He incorporated with the secretary of state last summer as 9Liveshaven as a cat lounge and adoption center.
Whiskerwood Haven opened in a storefront in September. It charges $15 for a half hour or $25 an hour to relax and play with the cats.
“It’s doing well,” Ngo says. He says all the income goes to feed and house the cats and find them good homes.
There’s more: Whiskerwood also offers yoga sessions with cats twice a day, watercolor painting sessions, two-hour study periods for students, and even occasional cat movie nights. “We set the place up with seats like a theater and show cat movies, like ‘Puss in Boots’ or ‘Garfield,’ Ngo says. ‘It’s been very successful. I’m thinking of a cat book club, too.’’
KitTea also branches out — they have Pilates sessions with certified instructors, and on Friday nights they schedule something different. It’s classical music — cello and chill in a cat café.