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The Cat and the Coffee Shop

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By Mark Diaz

The Orange Cat café, located at 301 Cypress Street in Pismo Beach, recently celebrated its third anniversary.

Karen Kennedy, born and raised on the Central Coast, originally started the tiny coffee shop in 2013 to employ her two nieces and two sons. She was met with some resistance when she first proposed the idea of opening another coffee shop in Pismo Beach.

“Wanting to start a business in this building here, people thought I was crazy,” Kennedy said. “Strangers, other business owners, friends, nobody had a problem telling us it wasn’t going to work.”

It was obvious to Kennedy that there was a lot of potential for her business endeavor. “This is a main artery running into town, how do you people not see this?” Kennedy said referring to the footbridge that leads to a popular camping site just down the street.

Before it was the Orange Cat Café, the building was Jeanine’s Flower Shop, which was owned and operated by Agnes Foster. It was built by her husband, William Foster, in 1950. Agnes originally started her business in 1932 in the small shed sized structure next to the café.

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When Kennedy opened her business, she inherited the cat that had taken a likeness to the place several years earlier.

“Agnes willed that her cat Morris would stay here. He is willed to the property,” Kennedy said.

Morris, a 20-year-old orange tabby, is a local celebrity of sorts. “Around a dozen people come by every day to see Morris,” Kennedy said. “Some people come by and don’t buy anything; they come by to see that cat. It’s his home. Even when the shop is closed, I come by and hang out with him for at least an hour.”

After witnessing two older gentlemen park their car, walk over and lean over the fence to pet Morris before driving off, the decision for what to name the new business was clear. Nick Kennedy, Karen’s father-in-law said “You have to name it after this cat.”

“Not everyone knows his name, but they all know there’s an orange cat here,” Kennedy said.

 

The Orange Cat Café is open Tuesday through Sunday from 8 a.m. to noon. They serve made-to-order food that includes breakfast burritos and sandwiches. They also serve fruit smoothies and an assortment of coffee drinks.

“Your kitchen is here,” Kennedy said.

Limited seating is available inside the café but there is a spacious fenced yard with benches and small tables. Twice a month the business is experimenting with hosting a small craft fair in the yard that features local entrepreneurs.

Kennedy has striven to keep the local ambience alive in her business. “There is a neighborhood vibe that people love. I have people come from all over the world tell me this feels like [the café on] Friends, or this feels like Italy.” Kennedy said.

The Orange Cat is decorated solely by donations. The walls are decorated with paintings and pencil drawings that patrons can purchase if they are so inclined, and, of course, the place is speckled with various cat decorations all colored orange.

Upcoming Events

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    November 18 - December 24
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    December 2, 2016 - January 29, 2017
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    December 3, 2016 - January 1, 2017