In San Francisco, a new Café has opened that offers unique companions for their paying customers. That’s because this new Café offers pastries, coffee, and tea with the company of your choice of rats. This newest pop-up café has a selection of rats that customers can choose from to play with as they enjoy their pastries and beverages.
The rodents that are used in this Rat Café are provided by a California non-profit organization called Rattie Ratz. This organization helps place pet rats in homes. The Rat Café, which had opened last week, is actually part of the San Francisco Dungeon, a tourist attraction in San Francisco that takes tourists through the dark history of the city, ranging from the 20’s Gold Rush, the prison Alcatraz, and of course, the black plague that hit the area in the 20th century.
The rat café was placed in the bubonic plague area of the Dungeon, making the connection between the Black Death and the rats. It may seem unappetizing, but it is actually appropriate given the location of the café. The café offers a different take on pet cafes that have been popping up all over the country. But while most café’s use cats, the café is unique in their choice of pet companions.
“We tell the story of the (bubonic) plague here in San Francisco and we really thought we wanted to do something special for the summer,” said the Dungeon’s Matthew Gunter. “Let’s bring the rats to life, let guests actually get a chance to get up close and personal with rats, of course plague-free rats,” he said.