First Hello Kitty Cafe in the US Opens in Irvine

July 15 was the grand opening of Hello Kitty Cafe pop up in Irvine Spectrum. Culture seekers were in line for two hours to get a taste of the first Hello Kitty Cafe in the US. The cafe serves pastries and bite-sized cakes with Hello Kitty’s signature red bow. It also serves drinks such as passion fruit iced tea, peach iced tea, strawberry mint lemonade and coffee. The coffee is not just a regular coffee but the foam has a Hello Kitty cocoa portrait.

Fans lined up for two hours to try food at the Hello Kitty Cafe

The pop up cafe in Irvine has a variety of signages and decor in pink that are just perfect for photo-ops. I got a little crazy posing for photos.

During the opening I bumped into @hellokittyboy, a fan and a blogger. He said, “We’ve been waiting for this for a long time. We’ve been following the trucks to the different venues. So now that it’s here, we’re really excited.”

Hello Kitty Cafe first ever in the US

A. Venegas, a reporter from Telemundo who was there to cover the opening said, “Honestly I’ve never seen something like this. It’s live in person and it’s so cute ….. you just wanna be here and stay here. You kinda feel you’re walking into a Hello Kitty world. Everything is pink, nice, clean and cute.”

Lots of photo-ops

Telemundo Staff covering opening of Hello Kitty Cafe

Hello Kitty was my ultimate favorite collection growing up in the Philippines. I vividly remember when my mom bought me a whole bag of Hello Kitty stuff in 1978, and they were real expensive at that time. Being an only child I took advantage of shopping for Hello Kitty stuff – that was my obsession. And now the cafe is in my neck of the woods, just brings back my Hello Kitty childhood memories.