A storefront along the 2700 block of the Boardwalk is being developed into Atlantic City's first cat café as work continues on the space. RipVanWhisker Cat Café plans to combine rescue-cat visits with coffee, tea and alcohol-free mocktails once it opens at The Walk at Tanger Outlets, giving the resort town a new kind of gathering spot built around adoptable animals.
The café's plans were first detailed in July when, according to Press of Atlantic City, RipVanWhisker announced its intention to open Atlantic City's first cat café at the Boardwalk shopping district. The physical buildout is continuing, per the Greater Atlantic City Chamber, where the business has registered as a member. As reported by Shore News Network, the café has launched an updated website outlining the project and its partnership with Friends of Giuseppe, though no specific opening date has been announced.
A Rescue Partnership Built on Second Chances
Friends of Giuseppe, a Pleasantville-based nonprofit focused on homeless cats, will serve as RipVanWhisker's rescue partner, providing adoptable cats for the future café, according to Shore News Network's reporting. The organization works with homeless cats through trap-neuter-return efforts, care and adoption placements, and it evaluates each cat to determine whether returning it to its outdoor environment or pursuing adoption is the better path. Washburn described the arrangement simply: “They're helping us fill the café with second chances,” he said, per Shore News Network.
On the ground in Pleasantville, Friends of Giuseppe describes its work through trap-neuter-return services, feeding support and an adoption pathway. That work will help supply the café with cats for adoption once doors open.
Health Code Hurdles Standing Between Renovation and Ribbon-Cutting
Before RipVanWhisker can seat a single customer next to a cat, it has to satisfy New Jersey's food safety rules. A 2020 bill introduced in the New Jersey Legislature addressed food establishments that allow live animals, while the café's plans call for separating beverage service from areas where visitors spend time with cats.
The café's plans call for specialty coffee, teas and handcrafted alcohol-free mocktails to be served alongside dedicated areas where visitors can spend time with rescue cats, separating the two experiences by design rather than convenience. RipVanWhisker is also planning cat visits, adoption opportunities and community events once the space is finished, according to Shore News Network's account of the project.
Founding Human Campaign Offers 250 Spots to Supporters
To help cover renovations, furnishings, equipment and the buildout of cat lounge areas, RipVanWhisker has launched a fundraising push called the Founding Human campaign, offering 250 spots to supporters. Backers who sign on are promised a limited-edition shirt and pin, recognition inside the future café, project updates and opening-week recognition. “It's about giving people an opportunity to say they helped build the business,” Washburn said, describing the campaign's goal, per Shore News Network.
A City Already Primed for Feline Rescue Work
Atlantic City isn't unfamiliar with organized cat welfare efforts. The Boardwalk Cats Project, established in 2000 by Alley Cat Allies, achieved a 72% natural reduction in the local stray population through trap-neuter-return, according to Alley Cat Allies, and the initiative is nationally recognized as a model municipal TNR program. That history gives RipVanWhisker a built-in base of community familiarity with feral and rescue cat welfare as it works toward opening.
RipVanWhisker's planned café pairs visits with adoption opportunities, offering a model built around adoptable cats.
RipVanWhisker's arrival adds a new café project to Atlantic City. For now, RipVanWhisker has a location and a community behind it, but no confirmed date for when Atlantic City residents will actually be able to walk in and meet the cats.
