Payton Tholstrup
Photos are courtesy of Mike Bonella
Manhattan’s Sunflower Cat Café opened earlier this summer. The location is a cafe that houses cats. Customers can interact with the cats and even adopt them.
After Sunflower Pet was given a year’s notice to move due to the convenience store next door selling, owner Mike Bonella knew he wanted to find a location that would also work for a cat café.
He stumbled upon a storefront in Candle Wood in Manhattan and immediately could see his vision coming to life. On October 15th , 2025, he became the owner, and the demolition process began right away.
Bonella visited several cat cafes for inspiration. He saw many ideas he wanted to put his own unique spin on and the process became a fun outlet for his creativity.
His favorite creation in the café is the floor-to-ceiling cat scratcher that looks like a sunflower plant. The shelves are leaves and hanging from the ceiling is a large window. The cats can play up there and get away from people if they need a break. There are shelves for the cats to climb on, as well as a rope bridge.
Another unique aspect of the café is the tables. Bonella said he wanted to do something fun, and one day, the idea came to him to create tables with cat scratcher bases. Every table also has cat art with an epoxy coat over it.
“One has Mona Lisa holding a fat, orange cat,” he said.
Bonella’s creativity shines in the kitchen, too. He enjoys experimenting with different specials, like BBQ pizza and homemade creamy tomato soup. The café even makes its own sourdough bread.
Everything is made from scratch – no mixes are used. Bonella is beginning to incorporate vegan and gluten-free items. He wants everyone to feel included.
The cafe also serves a “Char-cat-erie board”, which is a fun twist on a regular charcuterie board.
The board, which is shaped like a cat, is filled with different kinds of nice cheese, grapes, strawberries, almonds, and dried cranberries, as well as warm pita or toasted sourdough with meat or vegetarian hummus.
The cats at the café are from Cattails, a cat rescue in Manhattan. Typically, there are six at a time.
Adoption applications can be found at the café, or he can get potential adopters in contact with Cattails. When someone adopts a cat, Bonella provides them with a free bag of high-quality cat food and a discount on any items they might need for their new pet.
Customers can enter the cat café through the pet store. During the week, those who purchase a meal get free admission to the cat room. On weekends, they charge a small fee, but this goes toward the upkeep of the cat room.
They provide litter, food, and most of the labor, with Cattails coming in at night to help.
“We are cleaning constantly,” he said.
Business was slow for the first three weeks, which Bonella appreciated, explaining that the soft opening allowed them to get all the little details worked out. Then on Wednesday, June 4th, signage went up on the building.
He posted a photo on the store’s Facebook page, and it went viral overnight, with over 130,000 views.
“When we came in that Thursday morning, we were slammed.”
Bonella said that if every table is full, they do go to a wait system.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if in the future, we have to do reservations for the weekend.”
