Rocket Cat Cafe

I’ve never had change thrown directly at my face by an angry Barista before. That was an interesting (and unprovoked) situation. She literally picked up my change and tossed it at me. She missed my nose by an inch, and a quarter grazed my cheek, while another coin bounced off my chest. I don’t know what I did to deserve that treatment, but it happened at Rocket Cat. I wish I were exaggerating.
Since then I’ve bought my coffee elsewhere. I hope the Barista in question is feeling better though. She seemed like a miserable person.

I stopped in this café on my way to an appointment and right off the bat loved the atmosphere. It is very relaxed with paintings/​pictures of cats on the walls. The stools at the counter looked like there were made out of old bikes and there was a second room where you could sit and enjoy your food or do work. The barista was very cheerful and answered a couple questions I had about their coffee.
While I loved the atmosphere, I didn’t like the price. I ordered a small maple latte and my total came up to about $ 5! The coffee was average nothing to rave about

Wowzer. This is a disaster. The most personality lacking employees and they had NONE of the vegan sandwich options they offered. Myself and another person talked in line about how it was our first time here with excitement. He told the cashier and she said «word». Yep thats it. I never complain about service… check my other Unilocal reviews .this was garbage. .avoid.

When you first walk in you think that it’s cool how the staff is very relaxed and chill. However, I have never waited for coffee so long. Not even at a crowded crappy Starbucks. You’re basically fighting to get their attention to ask for an update on just an iced coffee. They forgot my order. Don’t expect a «thanks for waiting» or «sorry about that» even after 15 minutes.

Good coffee, great iced tea, nice selection of vegetarian and vegan fare. The service is uneven; occasionally you encounter truly friendly or really rude service, but most of the time I’d describe it as coldly indifferent. If you’re looking for a place to grab a cup of coffee or some quick lunch to go, Rocket Cat will work; if you’re looking for a neighborhood café where you feel like you belong, you might want to look elsewhere.

I really appreciate that Rocket Cat is so gluten-​free friendly. They have delicious sandwiches on Taffets bread and yummy GF cookies. It can be hard to find something to eat at a café for me and they do a great job. I don’t love their house coffee, but the espresso is very good.

Stopped in Rocket Cat Café after a cycling class at the studio across the street and I’m so glad I did! When you first walk in, you’ll get a sense of the relaxed atmosphere and hipster vibes — but not in a bad way at all. The interior of this café is absolutely amazing. All of the decorations, as well as the chairs at the little coffee bar, are super unique and antique-​looking. There are some nice tables by the windows on the left side of the café that give you a nice view of the street which is perfect for people-​watching. It was very relaxing and enjoyable to sit, read, and drink my coffee for a while.
One thing you’ll be sure to notice at this café is that there are TONS of different drinks! They have all of the classic coffee drinks you’d expect to find in any café as well as some unique drink options. There is also a refrigerator in the middle of the café that has a lot of vegetarian and vegan food options including the vegan pumpkin whoopie pie — so delicious!
I was so excited that they had a Thai Style Latte on the menu (which comes iced) so I ordered it and it exceeded all of my expectations. Hands down the best Thai Style Latte I’ve ever had! I also got a piece of the lemon pound cake with icing (which most certainly cancelled out any calories I burned from my cycling class… whoops). It was really yummy and I could tell that it was homemade and freshly baked.
On the real though, I am seriously considering coming back to get another Thai Style Latte even though I am rarely in this area. It was that good! Rocket Cat Café gets ⁵⁄₅ stars from me mostly because that latte was so perfect, but also for the awesome ambiance, friendly baristas, and the vegan options! I’d definitely recommend checking it out if you’re in the area.

I really, really, really hate doing this but I CAN’T give Rocket 4 or 5 stars like I would like to!
I moved to Fishtown back in August and this was one of the first places that caught my eye. I love the interior! Everything on the menu so far has been really good, and I like that it’s vegan/​vegetarian friendly. I love all their hot drink, esp their creative lattes, and their cold drink selection is awesome, too.
My only complaint is that the service, while not necessarily «rude», is kinda off-​putting? It’s hard to explain, but it always seems like placing an order is an inconvenience to the cashier. It’s not the same person every time, either, so maybe it’s just the mood/​shtick they’re going for?
Also, whether I’m the only one there or not, it almost always takes 5 – 10 minutes to get my drink. While not a big deal, it does prevent me from considering Rocket Cat as a morning stop before work: every «quick drop in» turns into a much longer visit.
These have been problems consistently every time I’ve gone to Rocket Cat, alone or with my boyfriend. He actually really doesn’t like it here because of the service, but I come back a lot because I love everything else, and it isn’t so bad that I can’t just deal.
TLDR; The ambience and hot drinks are great. Service questionable and often slow, but not unbearable. Recommend for chill place to hang out.

Not sure why previous comments are negative. Rocket Cat is a great café with a really cool ambience. The girls behind the counter are great. Super friendly, pleasant and accommodating. My latte and sandwich was great. And the service was super speedy. The only issue was a lack of seating. The owner should think about rearranging tables to incorporate additional seating options.
Overall, I rate the café ⁵⁄₅ and would recommend it for studying or getting work done. It’s also a great atmosphere for catching up with a friend over a tea or coffee.
Oh yea, and the menu is GF and V friendly.

Huge fan of rocket cat. So reasonably priced for any bagel/​light quick breakfast/​coffee in Northern Liberties & Fishtown. Their coffee is spot on, and I love the Lemon Honey Ginger iced T. Definitely where I stop when I’m craving Lox on a bagel. Try the vegan pumpkin whoopie pie for sure. They use a microwave/​toaster oven to make eggs, but I get that they have a small kitchen. Now that they accept cards — there’s nothing to not love!

I’ve been coming for 7 years off and on; I love the afternoon light here, but two things ensure I’ll never come back.
Last time I had coffee here, it tasted like it had been in a dirty airpot for 7 days. Tonight, I didn’t get back the change I thought I would ($ 1, for tip). I told the barista how much I thought she should have given me and she got really defensive and rude. She said «you’re fine,» meanly. I told her that I thought she hadn’t given me correct change and she snapped that she didn’t remember how much I’d given her (5.25, one second ago), and that the amount I owed wasn’t on the screen. It was so uncomfortable to suddenly have a stupid confrontation over being possibly shortchanged. The other guy was nice. I’m going to Reanimator.

Stopped here for coffee this morning while visiting Metal, Inc and was seriously impressed. Great baked goods, excellent coffee… I wouldn’t say the service was exuberant, but it was efficient and perfectly pleasant, and I’m not remotely a regular. Also: they do take cards… it’s just a $ 5 minimum.

Was inside for about an hour with my girlfriend meeting the account for a meeting and I’ll never come back. Food was delicious, service was super super rude. I’m seriously disturbed to read report after report here on Unilocal about how consistently rude the service is.
The two folks working at the bar had some sort of problem with… something that they never made known. I ordered a sandwich that was «called out» that i didn’t hear and had a super rude waitress who seemed to be ending her shift notify me pretty curtly that it was sitting there in a way that was more about me getting it off their counter than them being troubled about my not having it.
The young girl (all of the staff were youngish females) that cooked it made a serious effort to apologize that I hadn’t gotten it in a timely fashion. My girlfriend also noted that as soon as she came in and asked about ordering she got a ‘long, blank, rude stare” from the lady manning (lol gender-​pun) the counter.
It was like we did something wrong to them or were known dog abusers or vanadlizers or something, literally. I got that vibe, like I was KNOWN for having done something bad in the community or something. Sneers, rude curt snips.
Why would I pay money for people to treat me like this and wtf is going on in Fishtown where people are acting like this so much so that report after report says how mean these folks are.
I left feeling like they wished I hadn’t entered. And I most likely never will again. There are way too many places to sit chat, and eat in Philly.

I come to RocketCat every day to get my morning coffee, in fact I am sitting here right now as I type. Not only are the baristas sweet, remember my order and ask how I am, but I love their coffee.
I am appalled by the plethora of nonsense being posted about a team with such warm energy who were only doing what they thought was directed during a clear misrepresentation to their owner.
And to add to the insults thrown, slow service? Or personal service with attention given to each customer? I would rather come here where I feel greeted as a friend than have my coffee thrown at me in some factory line.

Ridiculously slow service. Rude. Never have I Waited longer for a cup of coffee. When people come to this place on way to work, they can be sure that they will most definitely make you late for work.

I’ve been coming here for about a decade despite the stingy, mediocre food and spotty wi-​fi, but I’m done. Today a creepy guy (I’ve encountered him before) was allowed to walk around NAKED for more than an hour. I was happily working away and suddenly found this dude’s junk in my face. I complained to the staff but they said the owner had given him permission. (I called the cops anyway, but they never showed.) The owner, of course, wasn’t actually there– she left it to the baristas to cope with the situation. So if you like coffee shops that inflict naked creepers on you and your children without warning or consent, you’ll love the Rocket Cat!

Inept and rude service the first time I went. Gave them the benefit of the doubt and went back a second time… different person was not rude. Third time I went, there was yet a different person who was also inept and rude. Apparently the staff at rocket cat do not like it when they end up having to stop socializing with one another in order to take a customer’s order.
These asshats are not the only coffee and locally produced edibles purveyor in the area, so I am instead taking my money to Reanimator as well as Steap & Grind.

This place has good hours and a decent location. The seating is deliberately mismatched and quirky, with the sum total of the décor adding up to a sort of cute divey sort of feel. Thing is, it’s kind of expensive for a dive, making the whole thing feel a little precious. (See my previous post where I acknowledge that I am getting old). Good vegan snack options, which is nice, though this area has no shortage of those. There’s no reason not to go here, but if you have the time, why not go somewhere like the (much better) Soy Café?

I enjoy stopping here whenever I’m in Philly. The beverages are okay, the ambiance is awesome.
Things I have enjoyed:
iced coffee
a hand-​drawn Star Trek poster hanging on the wall and other art around the café
the art outside (both the rocket cat sculpture and the painting on the building)
that it’s so divey
so deliciously divey
the t-​shirts they had for sale when I was there last. I wish I wore t-​shirts regularly; I would have bought them all.
This café makes me want to move to Philly. We talk about it all the time.

I’m still a little baffled with my experience here. I was warned it was cash only by a friend. I was also warned that the staff and patrons act a little different. Knowing it was cash only and I only had 1 100 dollar bill, I purposely padded my order to around 15 dollars so they could easily give me 4 20s back. Being a cash only place, I figured they would have plenty of change. I picked up a coffee cake, some juice, my friend’s order and my coffee. Lady pours my coffee and comes back to the register.
I pull out my freshly minted 100 dollar bill and I got the most confusing response to money I have ever gotten in my life.
«I’m sorry, but we don’t accept 100 dollar bills.»
I was like. what? You’re cash only and I have cash.
«I’m sorry, but that’s just our policy, you can get change across the street»
Lady points to two guys sitting on chairs outside of this ghetto ass car wash.
«i reply back, no thanks, that’s all I got»
Lady gives me look and goes here. I already poured the coffee, you can have it for free.
«I said, thank you, you don’t have too but I’ll take it.»
That’s where I started thinking… This place just lost money by giving me that coffee for free because they wouldn’t take my money. I can deal with cash only. I get it, like the rest of Philly you guys want to save on taxes.
But if you’re cash only, take my freaking cash. This is America, 100 dollar bills are part of the currency. I don’t know if you’re scared of fake bills, but your a coffee shop, who uses fake bills at a coffee shop?
I’m sorry, I just had to vent. I still can’t believe they lost money because they wouldn’t take my money. Unreal.