Pups & Cups Cafe´ invites pets and people

Jana Mathia, Gazette Reporter | May 10, 20180

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Four legged customer enjoys the ambiance.

Bring Your Own Pet is now an option for pet owners looking to hang out at a cafe´ in Pullman. Pups & Cups Cafe´ is located in part of the former Audian theater on E. Main Street.

“We’ve had very, very positive experiences,” said owner C.J. Roberts who took over management of the pet-friendly cafe´ in February.

“It’s so hard to find any places you can bring your fur babies,” noted Roberts. As she is unable to have her own children, her parental affections are showered on her own dog, but there are many limits as to where she can take her “kid.”

The cafe´ originally opened in November under the name Naughty Dog with a relative of Roberts’ at the helm.

“We were heavily, heavily involved in the opening process,” Roberts recalled. When it worked out the relative did not want to stay in Pullman, Roberts took over and renamed the place Pups & Cups.

It is all-inclusive of any type of pet or person. The cafe´ requests people not bring in-heat females, that cats and ferrets have leashes and no aggressive animals―which Roberts amended to no aggressive species, including humans.

“Expect dog hair,” she forewarns. But even that is not much as they do a deep cleaning of the cafe´ every night to protect the health and safety of all the patrons.

Pups & Cups Cafe´ is also a little different in that everything is local or locally-sourced from the Pacific Northwest. The honey comes from the WSU entomology department, tea and coffee from an apothecary in Spokane, soda and fresh-made baguettes from Dissmore’s, pastries from Sweet Mutiny, cheese from WSU and meat from U of I.

“When you shop here, you’re not only supporting us, you’re supporting locally-sourced businesses as well,” Roberts said. She noted that almost any product there supports three to six different businesses with one purchase.

The sandwich board outside the cafe´ also totes it as a tea house. They have 24 different loose leaf teas and everything is brewed to order. Roberts noted if the tea is not brewed the right way,―water is too hot or too cold, or steeped too long or too short, ―it does not come out and each type of tea is different.

Roberts and her husband also own and operate Cougar Entertainment which offers laser tag and miniature golf on South Grand in Pullman. While they had been busy with the laser tag, Roberts has learned having a business downtown is a very different story.

“It’s been an eye-opening experience,” she noted. Since taking over Pups & Cups, she has become involved in several organizations and says she is “stupid excited” over the view and direction Pullman is going, something she would not have known about if she was still in the “laser tag bubble.”

During the summer, Pups & Cups is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. In addition to the usual cafe´ operation, they offer an acoustic music night every other Saturday and poetry reading the last Thursday of each month. Roberts has more ideas for events she wants to do in the future.

Pups & Cups can also be found on Facebook and Instagram.