Tiny 'Critter Cafe' Attracts All The Local Animals To Come And Enjoy A Meal
“We see probably on average around two to three customers every five to 10 minutes dining at our fine establishment.”
It all started with a bird feeder on the porch. Aby Cruz and Jeremy Mercer noticed their cat, Pumpkin, loved watching the birds and squirrels eating from the bird feeder, so they decided to make the viewing a little easier and put a box of seed on the ground. It took a little while, but eventually the animals all started eating out of the box too.
And that’s how the Critter Cafe was born.
“One day while staring out at the animals eating, one of us said, ‘Hey, wouldn't it be funny if we turned this into a restaurant for the neighborhood critters?’ We both loved the idea and headed straight to Walmart to get the supplies,” Cruz told The Dodo.
Cruz spent the night creating all of the tables, signs and decor for the cafe. The next day, they set everything up — and then anxiously awaited their first customers.
The restaurant was an instant success, both with the animals and on TikTok, where the couple posts videos of their bustling cafe. Apparently, Pumpkin was onto something from the start, and now the couple loves to say that Pumpkin is the cafe manager. Everyone loves watching the birds, squirrels and other animals stopping by for a quick bite to eat, and it’s all even more fun to watch now that the setting is so darn cute.
“Customers come and go throughout the entire day and even into the night,” Cruz said. “We see probably on average around two to three customers every five to 10 minutes dining at our fine establishment.”
The cafe has become quite the sensation, and it’s a bit of an ongoing project for the couple. They love coming up with new ways to add to it, and are thrilled that they’ve found a way to entertain both the cat and themselves and serve the local wildlife all at the same time.
“One of our favorite parts of running the cafe is the decorating and all of the creativity we get to put into it,” Cruz said. “We love sitting back and watching all of the customers enjoying a nice meal around the dinner table. We just enjoy every day [that] we get to run this restaurant together.”
