One Montana Cafe Is The Purrfect Place For Cat Lovers

If you identify as both a cat lover and a food lover, we've found the perfect place for you. Nestled in the mountains of southwestern Montana is one of our new favorite experience-based restaurants called Cateye Cafe. Named after the shape of a pair of eye glasses, Bozeman-based Cateye Cafe is a quirky and cozy nook founded by the Caracciolo family back in the early 2000s. The walls are dotted with feline-themed art, and the customers come back time and time again for not only the good food, but also because it's the kind of place where you're instantly treated like an old friend. It serves homemade breakfast and lunch among its humorous décor — want to find the bathrooms, for example? Just follow the sign for "Litterboxes." 

If you like an old-school diner vibe, the restaurant strives to deliver just that. Whether it's in the form of its hand-written checks or how customers tend to get acquainted with each other while waiting for a table, the Cateye Cafe wants everybody to feel like family. The staff also love hosting wine dinners, where customers get a four-course meal served with tasty wine pairings. So if you're looking to enjoy a cozy meal with a side of silliness and a love of cats, you'll probably want to stop at Cateye Cafe the next time you're in Montana.

Now, the American West is full of healthy food choices, and Cateye Cafe doesn't shy away from including some in its menu, like potatoes and salmon. If you're in the mood for breakfast, you can choose from a ton of on–theme items, like the Alley Cat, a breakfast sandwich that includes fried eggs, bacon, brie, tomato, and peppercorn aioli. Or there's the Felix, another breakfast sammy made with fried eggs, crispy prosciutto, spinach, gouda, and roasted red pepper aioli. And the Fishbowl Scramble is made with salmon, cream cheese, spinach, and tomato. The restaurant even has a section called Aristocats of the Grill where you can order French toast or pancakes (lovingly called cateye cakes). You can also order the biscuits and gravy, made with buttermilk biscuits and country gravy (which is not the same as sausage gravy). Another plus? Breakfast is served all day, aside from oatmeal and pancakes, which end after 11 a.m. 

If you're looking for lunch, you can choose from a variety of sandwiches, soups, and salads from 11 a.m. until 2:30 p.m., including the Purrfect Lunch, which consists of half of a BLT, cold tuna, or cold turkey sandwich, and a cup of the house-made soup; the Bird Catcher Salad, made with grilled pesto chicken, kalamata olives, carrots, cabbage, parmesan cheese, pine nuts, tomatoes, and red onions; or the Pork Belly and Brie Grilled Cheese, made with roasted pork belly, cheddar and brie, and sliced apples.