Looks like a maid cafe is not unique to Japan any longer. Along with growing attention to Japanese pop culture, maid cafes are emerging around the world. Royal/T Café is one of them. It is located in Los Angels. Yes, United States of America, my friends :-)
Last month when I was in LA for business, I visited there for the first time. It was my very first experience visiting a maid cafe outside Japan. How was it? Well....... it was nothing like any maid cafes that I have seen in Japan. Indeed, I am not sure if I should call this place maid cafe, or pop culture cafe.
The bright interior with a tall bare wood roofing provides fresh atmosphere to the cafe. Walls are decorated with modern art pieces, and there is a small shop area where they sell cool fashion & pop culture items. There is a DJ booth where actual DJ was playing club music as BGM. Customers were all couples or families: I think I was the only one who was there alone. Yes, waitresses were all dressed in maid costumes and there were Japanese style foods and drinks on the menu, but I did not feel any sense of "otaku" that I feel in many maid cafes. :-p
I think Royal/T has evolved maid cafe out from realm of otaku, and took it to the completely different level where anybody can visit and enjoy. I think it is an interesting case to study when we talk about evolution of the maid cafes. While I don't think this will be the final form of the maid cafes, it will surely be one of the future forms.
Royal/T Café
http://www.royal-t.org/
MAP
Last month when I was in LA for business, I visited there for the first time. It was my very first experience visiting a maid cafe outside Japan. How was it? Well....... it was nothing like any maid cafes that I have seen in Japan. Indeed, I am not sure if I should call this place maid cafe, or pop culture cafe.
The bright interior with a tall bare wood roofing provides fresh atmosphere to the cafe. Walls are decorated with modern art pieces, and there is a small shop area where they sell cool fashion & pop culture items. There is a DJ booth where actual DJ was playing club music as BGM. Customers were all couples or families: I think I was the only one who was there alone. Yes, waitresses were all dressed in maid costumes and there were Japanese style foods and drinks on the menu, but I did not feel any sense of "otaku" that I feel in many maid cafes. :-p
I think Royal/T has evolved maid cafe out from realm of otaku, and took it to the completely different level where anybody can visit and enjoy. I think it is an interesting case to study when we talk about evolution of the maid cafes. While I don't think this will be the final form of the maid cafes, it will surely be one of the future forms.
Royal/T Café
http://www.royal-t.org/
MAP
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