Arcane Maid Café · Arcadia, CA
Our Café
We’re a maid café and card shop on Live Oak Ave in Arcadia. Open Wednesday to Sunday, 12 to 8 PM.
A little about us
Hi, thanks for stopping by
We started Arcane Maid Café in January 2016 in Pomona, CA, because we wanted a maid café we’d actually want to hang out in. For the first eight years that meant pop-ups at anime conventions and food festivals around California. On April 1, 2024 we finally moved into our own place in Arcadia.
These days it’s a sit-down café with a real kitchen, and there’s a card shop up front. Some people come in for omurice with a drawing on top. Others are here every week for the tournaments. There’s wifi and outlets around the room, so plenty of people just bring a laptop and stay a while.
Our own staff did the renovation, down to the floor planks and the art on the walls.
Our story
How we got here
Short version: eight years of pop-ups, then a run-down building we fixed up ourselves.
January 2016
We get started
Arcane Maid Café starts in Pomona, CA as a pop-up for anime events. The name comes from the Latin word arcānus, which means secret.
2016
First event at Anime Impulse
Our first pop-up was at Anime Impulse 2016. Next to the desserts we set up PC and console gaming and tabletop games, which maid cafés weren’t really doing back then. We kept coming back to Anime Impulse until 2019.
2017 to 2018
Festivals around California
The pop-up turned into a regular at festivals, including Aniplex’s AkibaFest in Little Tokyo and OC Japan Fair in Costa Mesa.
2018
We throw our own festival
After more than a dozen events, we put on AniFest 2018 in Torrance. 1,883 people came out.
Pandemic years
Everything on hold
We postponed every event and followed the lockdown rules. We spent the time working on our food and getting better at photo and video.
2021 to 2024
Food booths
We ran food booths at 626 Night Market and OC Japan Fair. They kept inviting us back, and we placed in the top three booths for sales volume.
2023
An empty building
An old friend and partner asked us to come look at a building. It was empty, run down and needed a lot of work. We said yes.
2023 to 2024
Building it ourselves
Our staff did the demolition and the renovation by hand, in two months. We laid the floor planks, reupholstered the seats, repainted the tables, fixed the walls and ceiling, built the kitchen to commercial standard and drew all the 2D art on the walls.
April 1, 2024
Moving into Arcadia
We opened our Arcadia location at 171 E Live Oak Ave, Suite D. These days we also run weekly card tournaments, and we’ve hosted collab cafés like Phase Connect x Arcane Maid Café. You can see those on Past Collaborations.
Want every chapter, year by year? Read our full story.
When you come in
What a visit looks like
There’s no cover charge. Grab a table and order like you would at any café, either one of our maid café combos or anything off the menu.
The maids
Your maid welcomes you home as Master or Princess and says a little magic spell over your food. Maids rotate through the day, so you’ll meet whoever is on the floor.
Food and drinks
Japanese comfort food like omurice and katsu, and drinks like bubble tea and espresso. Some dishes come with a drawing from your maid.
Card games
We run TCG tournaments every week, and new players are welcome. We have house decks if you don’t have one yet.
The shop
The glass cases by the front desk have our café merch, maid merch, trading cards and gacha. A lot of it is in the online shop too.
Photos
Around the café
Regular days and tournament nights. Tag us on Instagram @arcanemaidcafe if you take some of your own.
Come see us
Plan your visit
Address171 E Live Oak Ave, Suite D
Arcadia, CA 91006
HoursWednesday to Sunday, 12 to 8 PM
Closed Monday and Tuesday
Phone(626) 600-0452
ParkingFree parking in the lot out front
ReservationsWe’re walk-in only right now. We plan to take reservations later.
Good to knowWe don’t serve alcohol. The café is wheelchair accessible, including the restroom.
First time here? The FAQ and café rules answer most questions.
