A coffee break that comes with fourteen furry coworkers sounds made up until you actually walk through the door in Orion Township. Black Cat Beanery pairs a small-batch coffee bar with a room full of adoptable cats, letting you settle in with a hot drink and a homemade treat while kittens climb the furniture around you.
Opened in October 2023 inside the Orion Marketplace shopping center, the café was started by David Tank, who built the concept around a simple exchange: give rescue cats a comfortable place to be seen and adopted, and give people a genuinely relaxing way to spend an hour. The cats rotate in through a partnership with Pawsitive Cause, a nonprofit rescue based in Holly, and any medical needs send them right back for care, which keeps the whole operation running as a real extension of the rescue itself rather than just a novelty.
What To Expect During Your Visit
Admission runs through a Black Cat Pass, which books you an hour-long session in the cat room along with a self-serve beverage and a baked good. Coffee comes from a personalized Keurig setup with a good range of flavors and creamers, cold bottled drinks are also on hand, and the pastries rotate, with several baked in-house or sourced from the café’s own Black Cat Bakehouse.
Inside the cat room you’ll typically find around fourteen or fifteen cats and kittens at any given time, all of them available for adoption. One black cat named Jax is the lone permanent resident and unofficial mascot, the calm presence the whole place is named after. If a cat catches your eye, staff will walk you through the adoption application on the spot rather than making you track anything down later.
Sessions are timed and capped in size, which keeps the room from feeling overcrowded and gives the cats plenty of breathing room between groups. Booking ahead online is the way to go since slots fill up, especially on weekends.
Atmosphere & Décor
The space reads more like a bright, well-kept living room than a typical retail storefront. Visitors consistently point out how clean and fresh the place feels, which matters a lot in a room full of cats, and the café clearly puts real effort into upkeep rather than leaning on the cute factor alone.
Soft seating, low background music, and warm lighting set a calm mood that suits both the cats and the humans hanging out with them. Snacks are sometimes arranged into little spreads for photos, adding a playful touch without turning the visit into a gimmick. It’s a cozy, unhurried setting built for slowing down for an hour, not rushing through a quick photo op.
Other Considerations
Do I need a reservation? Yes, sessions are booked in advance through the website, and popular time slots can sell out, so it’s worth planning ahead rather than showing up on a whim.
How much does it cost? The standard Black Cat Pass runs $15 per person and includes your drink and baked good, with an upgraded option around $27.50 that adds a branded café mug.
Can I bring my kids? Families are welcome, though the cat room limits how many children under 10 can be inside at once, and anyone under 16 needs a parent or guardian along to keep an eye on things.
What if I need to cancel? Cancel more than 48 hours ahead and you’ll get a refund minus a small processing fee; cancel closer to your visit and you’ll get half back, with the rest going to the nonprofit that funds the cats’ care.
Black Cat Beanery
📍 1192 S Lapeer Rd, Orion Township, MI 48360
Website: https://www.blackcatbeanery.com
