In 2016, Lori Konawalik was a decade into a career as a professional photographer when her husband, Nick, asked her one question: if you took the logistics out, what would you do? Her answer was immediate. Open Charlotte's first cat cafe.
Mac Tabby Cat Cafe opened on December 16, 2017, backed by 299 Kickstarter supporters. The name comes from a cat. Lori and Nick adopted a mackerel tabby from the ASPCA in 2001, and he stayed for 17 years, through five moves and three kids. His photo hangs in the NoDa shop.
Mac Tabby is half cat lounge, half coffeehouse, and every cat is adoptable. Their first rescue partner alone helped them save more than 650 cats in four years, and more than 2,500 cats have found homes since. Two more shops followed, in Concord and in Salisbury, the latter inside a building that was once a 1915 movie theater.
The Charlotte shop sits upstairs in a historic NoDa building at 3204 N. Davidson Street, with original wood floors, exposed brick, local art, and beanbag corners. The coffeehouse and the cat lounge are separate rooms. Come for a coffee, a beer, or a glass of wine and skip the cats, or do both. Ages seven and up. Reserve online or walk in. The stairs mean the NoDa shop isn't wheelchair accessible, so the cafe points visitors to Concord or Salisbury instead.
Half cats. Half coffee. Every cat adoptable.
