Winchester's cat cafe finally opens its doors

Chris and Charlotte "Bambi" Goebel have opened Biscuits & Beans Cat Cafe at 185 N. Loudoun St. on the Loudoun Street Mall in downtown Winchester. The front window area and the upper floor is for the adoptable cats and their human visitors. Areas designated for the cats are separated from the cafe by glass partitions.

The cat's out of the bag: downtown Winchester's cuddliest cafe is now open for business.

If you've ever wanted to sip a latte while observing, or more accurately being observed by, a group of friendly felines, Biscuits and Beans Cat Cafe, which held its soft opening on Wednesday, is the place to be.

Owners Chris and Charlotte "Bambi" Goebel launched the venture in an attempt to alleviate the pressure on local cat rescues while serving up tasty drinks and bites to people in Winchester.

"[We're] a couple of retired folks who decided that we were bored being retired and needed one more thing," Chris said Wednesday. "I think we needed that thing in life that had some real meaning ... I think this is it."

If you're among the many who have followed Biscuits and Beans' journey on social media over the last several months, you know the road to opening day has not been entirely linear.

Chris and Bambi had originally hoped to have Biscuits and Beans open in time for the Old Town Winter Village in December of last year.

As they went through the process, though, Chris said they found that "all of this desire and want and need does not supersede anybody else's timeline."

The "pressures of opening," the holidays and the time it took to build out the space made for quite an undertaking.

There's also the matter of bureaucracy. Virginia has laws around live animals and food service that required Biscuits and Beans to seek a variance in order to operate.

"We were asking the state to help us break the law, right?" said Chris. "And they granted us permission to break the law, conditional upon us doing certain things. And we're going to be hypervigilant about making sure that we follow the letter of this variance."

Getting the variance approved took longer than expected. At one point, the Goebels had to file a new variance "because the clock was running out on the first variance."

Then a new governor was elected, who appointed a new Virginia Department of Health Commissioner.

"So one of the many things on their desk, I'm sure, was our variance," Chris said.

Despite the longer-than-expected timeline, Chris said he and Bambi are grateful for how everything played out.

The cafe is opening just in time for the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival, which brings droves of visitors to Old Town, and the longer preparation window made it possible to build a great staff.

"The cool thing that happened is we hired some wonderful people," said Chris.

The Goebels are also appreciative of the community for its support throughout this process.

"They pleasantly waited," said Bambi. "... They're glad that we're finally here, and I'm glad they're here."

Walk past the large front window at Biscuits and Beans, and you might just spot a feline resident having a sunbathing session or a cozy nap.

Inside, the cat lounge extends upstairs, where the cats can climb, scratch, play and, of course, supervise human customers through the glass that separates them from the cafe area.

At any given time, the goal is to have 15 adoptable cats at Biscuits and Beans.

Right now, all of the tenants are from Shady's Paw Animal Rescue, though more rescue partners will eventually house cats at the cafe as well.

The Winchester Star was able to independently verify on Wednesday that these cats are, in fact, a charming bunch.

"This is an amazing opportunity for cats in our community, all rescues," said Tina Tomalesky, director and founder of Shady's Paw and chief cat officer at Biscuits and Beans.

Aside from a handful of local shelters, she said, "all local rescues are 100% foster and volunteer-based," meaning there's no paid employees.

Lack of funding and lack of space are the two biggest challenges facing such organizations, according to Tomalesky.

"This opens up space for us," she said of the cat cafe. "The more cats we get adopted out, the more we're able to bring in and help, and that goes for all the rescues that we're going to be working with."

Of course, Biscuits and Beans is also a gathering space with a wide variety of cafe drinks available, as well as baked goods and signature "Kindness Biscuits."

"Our cold brew is hands down my favorite thing," said general manager Chelsea Champ. "... It is deliciously high-caffeine, but without that bite on the back, it's really smooth, and I love it topped with our cold foam."

You can order cold foam with any flavor, Champ said, though her recommendation is honey lavender.

The coffee itself is a signature blend made by Merge Coffee in Harrisonburg.

"So it is blended specifically for us, and it is not anywhere else," said Champ.

If coffee isn't your thing, lemonade, tea, milkshakes and more are at your fingertips.

Chris favors the blueberry silk oat cream. Bambi likes the apple blossom quencher and the peach bloom bubble tea.

"The laurel blackberry [bubble tea], it's my favorite," said assistant cafe manager Julia Baires, who sipped her beverage of choice while on her break Wednesday afternoon. "It's kind of tart and a little sweet."

Asked what she was excited about now that Biscuits and Beans is open, Champ said "being part of the walking mall community down here."

"I'm really excited to get to know the other business owners as well and start collaborative work with them," she said, adding that she's also looking forward to getting to know people and establishing regular customers to "really feel like a part of the Winchester community."

Champ believes that a cat cafe brings "whimsy" to the downtown area, as well as a unique experience for visitors.

Brady Cloven, executive director of Friends of Old Town, agreed, saying "it's just something else that's opening up doors for Old Town, so to speak."

"Anytime we see any sort of new business choose Old Town, it's a good sign," Cloven said in a recent phone interview. "... And then with the cat cafe, I think that's just really a great example of that forward momentum."

Old Town has seen some business closures in the past year. Cloven said that that turnover "is really part of any downtown."

"And everybody I've talked to in other main street communities around the state are also experiencing the same thing, he said. "What matters, though, is how you respond to the city as an organization."

Right now, the focus is on "keeping Old Town active," said Cloven.

The cat cafe, he said, "fits into that vision, because it's going to be something that just makes Old Town a really cool place to be."

Young Zoey Headley could hardly contain her excitement when she walked into Biscuits and Beans with her sister, Lexi, and parents, Angela and Jason, for an appointment in the cat lounge on Wednesday afternoon.

"I like playing with the cats, I like snuggling cats and I just like cats in general," she said.

Angela said that the family has traveled to many different cat cafes. Since they're local to Winchester, she said it was exciting to see a nearby location open up.

"It's nice just to be able to not necessarily always go to see the cats, but to come and support something ... locally," she said.

The Headley family helped the cafe reach a milestone during their visit by fulfilling its first adoption, giving a nearly two-year-old silver tabby, Moria, a place to call home.

Moria's likeness will be added to the cafe's sprawling mural in a space left intentionally blank to commemorate the first adoption.

The Goebels hope to see 750 cats adopted out of Biscuits and Beans in 2026. In years to come, the goal is 1,000.

They also hope to raise $35,000 this year for their nonprofit, the Just Tails Foundation, which will go toward their rescue partners and consumables for the cats.

The cafe doesn't take tips, but customers can make a donation at the register or through a QR code on their table to support the cause.

After all, amid the coffee, the biscuits, the friendly faces and the cute cats, there's a mission driving Winchester's newest business forward.

"It's to help these cats find their final house," said Chris. "... This is their second to last stop, if we do our jobs right."

Biscuits and Beans Cat Cafe is located at 185 N. Loudoun St. on the Old Town walking mall.

Hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.

Cat lounge reservations cost $12.50 per person for 40 minutes and can be made online. Adoptions cost $125, all of which goes directly to the cat's home rescue.

For more information, to get preapproved to adopt (not required but recommended) or to reserve a spot in the cat lounge, visit biscuitsandbeanscatcafe.com.