A matcha and Vietnamese coffee bar in Folsom, California, built around capybara mascots and a lot of plushies. Open daily until nine, and there is not a live capybara in the building.
California's capybara cafe, in the sense that it is a cafe and there are capybaras on the cups.
What it is
Capy Cafe opened in the old Aun Brew & Co space on East Bidwell and built a genuinely serious drinks programme underneath the theme — ceremonial-grade matcha, Vietnamese egg coffee, ca phe sua da, milk teas and fruit teas made without artificial syrups. The capybara part is mascots, plushies and branding, not animals.
That combination is rarer than it sounds. Most themed cafes let the theme carry the drinks. This one appears to have done the drinks first and then covered the room in capybaras, and the reviews reflect it.
There are no capybaras here
Saying it plainly, because the name does not — there is no live animal on the premises. If you drive to Folsom expecting to feed a capybara you will be handed an $8.50 latte instead, which is a good latte and a bad substitute.
For the actual animal in California, the option is Nurtured by Nature down near San Diego, which is a five-hundred-dollar three-hour experience and a completely different kind of day. There is nothing hands-on in the Sacramento area.
What visitors actually say
Pulled from Google Maps, trimmed, and left alone otherwise — including the
complaints. We do not take the ratings as gospel and neither should you.
When you walk in, you're instantly greeted with capybara's everywhere!
Kayla Ewert · via Google
Great atmosphere and even better Vietnamese coffee.
via Google
This place is so cute the staff are so nice and the drinks are soooo good!
via Google
They post more than we do
The menu changes faster than anywhere else lists it, and the feed is the only place the seasonal drinks show up. Also, unavoidably, a great deal of capybara merchandise.
Open daily 09:00 to 21:00, which makes it one of the few places in this directory you can visit on impulse at eight in the evening. Pet friendly, validated parking, Apple Pay and contactless.
Prices are normal cafe prices — around $8.50 for the signature Capy Latte, $7 for the egg coffee or a matcha latte. No booking, no session fee, no minimum.
Good to know
No live capybaras. It is a themed cafe. This is the most important line on the page.
Open daily 09:00 to 21:00 — unusually long hours for anything in this directory.
The drinks are the actual draw. Ceremonial matcha and Vietnamese egg coffee, not novelty syrups.
Pet friendly with validated parking.
Published on September 2, 2026By Grumpy Capy
FAQ
Are there real capybaras at Capy Cafe?
No. It is a capybara-themed matcha and coffee bar — mascots, plushies and branding, no live animals. The nearest hands-on capybara experience in California is Nurtured by Nature near San Diego.
Do I need to book?
No. It runs as a normal walk-in cafe, open daily from 09:00 to 21:00, with no session fee or minimum.
What should I order?
The programme is built on ceremonial-grade matcha and Vietnamese coffee. The Capy Latte is the signature at around $8.50; the egg coffee and matcha latte run about $7.
Details change – always confirm hours, prices, and booking on the official site before you travel. Animal encounters are subject to each venue's welfare rules.
Keep exploring
More capybara cafes
Other real-world spots where you can be in the same room as a very calm rodent.
A capybara-themed boba and ramen house outside Chicago with fifty-plus claw machines and a photo booth. Chaotic, open until eleven, and entirely capybara-free in the animal sense.
Texas finally got one. Thirty minutes with Mickey and Minnie, an hour in a waterfall pool, and a cafe menu — reservation only, Monday to Thursday, an hour north of Dallas.
The St. Augustine team's second Florida location, on the other side of the state. Same small-group format, same ambassador animals, considerably easier to get to if you are anywhere near Tampa.
A Marana ranch outside Tucson that claims the largest group of friendly capybaras in the United States. Private bookings only, from $200, with a genuinely cheap local rate one Sunday a month.
Miami's $85 hand-feeding session, four slots a day, inside a park you were probably visiting anyway. No cafe, no coffee, just eighty-five dollars and a tray of snacks.
A capybara-themed boba and soft serve shop in downtown Vancouver, Washington. Note the state — this is the cafe that keeps getting mistaken for a Canadian one that does not exist.
Guides worth the screenshot, mildly cursed finds, and the occasional
photo of a capybara in a hot spring. We email at capybara speed -
slow, occasional, unbothered.
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