Hello Kitty Café Pops Up In California Mall

You can add another one to the growing list of unique and highly-specialized pop-ups — the Hello Kitty Café in the Irvine Spectrum Center mall in Irvine, California.

Yes, it’s a restaurant based on Hello Kitty, the popular Japanese anime character, that opened on July 15.

In its first few days, the Hello Kitty Café, painted pink and adorned with as much Hello Kitty memorabilia as possible, drew such large crowds to the mall that it had to temporarily close for a few hours at a time to let the crowds subside, according to Chain Store Age.

The pop-up Hello Kitty Café will remain open for a year, according to Sanrio, owner of the 42-year-old Hello Kitty brand.

The pop-up Hello Kitty Café features a menu heavily steeped in Hello Kitty-decorated sweets and specialty drinks, like hand-shaken iced teas and custom-made beverages served in Hello Kitty-adorned cups with bright pink straws.

Sanrio has actually been “testing the waters” for its Hello Kitty-themed café and eatery for the past year or so by having a Hello Kitty Café food truck visiting locations across the U.S., and the truck will continue to make stops all over the country throughout the fall.

“Since its debut last year, the Hello Kitty Café Truck has delighted fans in every city it has visited,” Jill Koch, senior VP of brand management and marketing at Sanrio, said in a statement. “The Hello Kitty Café Pop-Up Container is an evolution of our cafe experience, offering a new selection of treats in a modern, open concept space.”

Sanrio and the Irvine mall are also exploring plans to bring a permanent brick-and-mortar Hello Kitty Café to the area as well at some point in the future.