The first cat café in the world opened in Taipei, Taiwan in 1998. Called Cat Flower Garden, it was born out of its founders’ love for local strays and from a desire to set their café apart from others in the area. All the cats are permanent residents of the cafe.
The concept quickly spread to Japan, where it became wildly popular among cat-lovers living in small dwellings that aren’t suitable for pet ownership.
The first U.S. cat café opened in Oakland, California in 2014 with a slightly different approach: Cat Town grew out of a nonprofit cat rescue and focused on finding homes for its felines by providing a relaxed environment for cats and humans to mingle. This became the dominant model in the U.S., and there are now over 250 cat cafes nationwide.
In 2025, Iowa City got in on the action with Kitty Corner Social Club. Located at 20 Clinton St, Kitty Corner takes the café-as-adoption center concept and expands on it. Founded by mother-son duo Katy and Cooper Gordon Brown, Kitty Corner seeks to match adoptable cats with loving homes, but also wants to serve as a community connector for Iowa City’s human residents.
“I got long COVID in 2023 and was bed ridden for months. I had to leave school,” said Cooper, the general manager. “When I recovered, I realized I couldn’t go back to working in kitchens, which is what I’d been doing before. I mentioned the idea of a cat café to my mom, and it took off from there.”
Kitty Corner’s mission is multipronged. “We want to create as many responsible cat owners in Iowa City as we can,” he said. “But especially after the election, we feel like it’s important to foster connection in the community. We want students to feel comfortable studying here. We want to be a space for people to meet each other, to have serious conversations and do some community organizing.”
To that end, Kitty Corner is designed to be cozy for both cats and humans. The space resembles a stylish living room with large, plush sofas and chairs and a banquette running along one wall. Cat motif wallpaper and cat-themed art maintain the theme, while dark jewel tones and some truly beautiful light fixtures lend a 1920s literary salon vibe. Floor-to-ceiling shelves filled with books and board games flank a fireplace, and bird feeder videos play on a TV screen. (The cats, apparently, control the remote.)
Biggums people-watches on from Kitty Corner’s front window facing Clinton Street. — Kellan Doolittle/Little Village 
Biggums lounges on a cat-sized couch in the window. — Kellan Doolittle/Little Village 
Hattie the Asshat makes herself comfortable. — Tiffani Green/Little Village 
Kitty Corner patrons visit with the talent. — Tiffani Green/Little Village 
Cat-related books and decor fill Kitty Corner Social Club. — Kellan Doolittle/Little Village 
Kitty Corner Social Club, 20 S Clinton St, Iowa City. — Tiffani Green/Little Village
The stars of the show roam freely and are provided with numerous beds and cat trees, giving them the ability to choose when and how much they interact with visitors. In addition to being an inviting environment, the living room setting serves a purpose: it teaches Kitty Corner’s cats what living in a home might be like, which makes the transition easier when they’re adopted.
In partnership with the Iowa City Animal Care and Adoption Center, Kitty Corner Social Club fosters between two and six cats at a time, with ages ranging from kittens to teens.
“We rely on the shelter staff to choose which cats we foster,” Cooper said. “They make lists of the cats that they think would do well in this environment and then about a week ahead of time, they’ll let us know which cats they think are best suited for it at that time.”
Hattie the Asshat curls up next to a patron. — Kellan Doolittle/Little Village 
Patrons relax at Kitty Corner Social Club, 20 S Clinton St, Iowa City. 
Goose, permanent resident and director of communications at Kitty Corner, lounges by the front door, welcoming patrons. — Kellan Doolittle/Little Village 
Edie naps on a cushioned shelf. — Kellan Doolittle/Little Village 
Biggums surveys his domain: the Kitty Corner Social Club. — Kellan Doolittle/Little Village
At the time of writing, Kitty Corner is home to five cats. Goose and Edie are resident kitties, and Biggums, Hattie and Hot Lips Houlihan await their forever homes.
The lounge is open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays. Visitors can choose from 15-, 30- or 60-minute sessions ($11, $15 and $22, respectively) and can schedule appointments online at kittycornersocial.club, or visit on a walk-in basis. Each visitor also signs a waiver prior to entry.
Once inside, visitors can mingle with the cats (and other humans present) or hang out with a book or a laptop, waiting to see if a cat chooses them. Tea and water are offered, and while Kitty Corner doesn’t serve food, visitors are welcome to bring their own. Due to popular demand, they’ve begun implementing a monthly membership program and 10-visit package deals as well.
Interested in adopting through Kitty Corner? The adoption application can be filled out online or via QR codes in the space. Potential adopters can apply for a specific cat or choose to have their application kept on file until the right one comes along. It is also possible to sponsor adoptions, paying the fee for someone else to adopt their new best friend/overlord. All kitties are sent to their new homes with samples of food, vet referrals and some pointers on how to care for them long term.
Cooper stressed that Kitty Corner is committed to setting all cat owners up for success and has extensive resources available to anyone who wants to become a better cat parent. “We can assist with registering cats as emotional support animals, help troubleshoot health problems and offer advice on behavioral issues. We’re available to answer questions and we have tons of reference materials that anyone can access, whether they’re adopting with us or not.”
This article was originally published in Little Village’s May 2025 issue.
