Whenever anybody refers to a restaurant/cafe/studio/gallery/anything as a "space", my pimp hand gets all twitchy for a smackin'. The place'll be filled with beanpoles with tousled hair, think black non-prescription glasses, and apathetic sneers, all thumbing their noses as the decor and commenting on the "strained, insincere, sell-out vibe." Then naturally they'll have to stay for a curry rice bowl, if only to comment on how much better their cousin's ex-girlfriend said the real stuff was when she was in Tokyo last year.

Sorry for the hipster hate; I lived in Brooklyn for a spell, and even the crazy crackheads peeing on you in the F train are easier to make friends with.

MisterSleep

Maid Cafe that appeal to American hipsters?
Yeah, it's called "Hooters"! =)

Dir_en_grey

@Yourspace:

These ones?

Act childish for tips.

Evdor

Call me when they open a tsundere cafe.

LowerHouseMember

America has maids? I thought it was only legal in Japan. Also, what do maids actually do?

Yourspace

@Scazza: You know what major intersections that's on, or a general idea where?

^_^

ReginaldTheSeventySecond

Freakin' Hipsters...

AsauPrime

that near beverly hills, why there. why not in central of l.a. or little tokyo.

Maaxxx

"Previously, a maid opened in Canada."
Must keep mind out of the gutter...
The art is... different: [royal-t.org]

Erwin

alot of famous japanese artists there. =P

why not bring Japanese maids to the cafe. I just think they're the only ones that can pull it off.

who cares if they don't speak english.

ashjaw

OMG a dog! I want. Well i think i might have to go check this out. It's no more then 20-40 mins from my house. hmmm... *maids*

[KU]Shindokie: Wishes for a Star

Theres actually 2 places now in toronto that have a maid cafe if I recall. But the original one closed down (no idea why, it was busy the few times I went by)

Scazza

That sounds about right, Ash. Seattle has a maid cafe in the University district, but I think it closed down.

It probably only last 2-3 months tops before the novelty wears off.

p_hon

This sounds like a superior business model.

If you can lure in hipsters, then do it... They love to be lured in by blatant exploitations of their hipster urges... Why? Because it's ironic, and that's hip.

So, either way... This will probably work.

blueshoals

Oh so true Ash, Im in LA and youre right on the money man...

dumanue

There's an anime/toy/game/video shop in San Jose, CA called Far Out Toys that's had a maid cafe every Saturday since around last August. The maids will serve you drinks and stuff, and you can chat with them, take pictures, or play games with them. They've got an LCD TV where its hooked up to all the current gen consoles, and they'll either play games, watch anime, or music videos and stuff. They're located in J-Town, San Jose. [www.farouttoys.com], though there's not much on the website as its being remodeled

Diafthora

Awesome, I'm totally going now that they're appealing to my douchey hipster sensibilities (& 'cause it's local)

PENI_MASTA

It makes me think more like 'Since there is no way in hell that we would get the average American Joe in here we are going to lure as many people as we can with art gimmicks.'

Neer'mo

so true ash!

nah, im playin. I dont agree with that last sentence.

KingKevin

Hmmm. Its only about 20 miles from my place in. Oddly enough its along the same route I take to get to my Mother's house.

Hmm...
Maybe next time I pay her a visit, I drop by on my way home. After all, it is along the way ;)

psycoking

Sounds interesting, I'll definitely be stopping in once or twice. This is why I love Kotaku :/

feiz

The language is a little cheeky but to be fair, it was an art space well before it was a cafe, so the hipsters, if they're there at all, were already in residence. This part of Culver City (southwest, give or take, from downtown LA) is now awash in warehouses-turned-art galleries, trendy overpriced restaurants and so forth.

humorbot

While I do think a local maid cafe would be great, that mix can't go well.
Hipsters with Otaku? They are like the opposite.

But that dog shure looks like something... Takashi Murakami? Or some of those japanese artists...

Bokusatsu_Tenshi

When I first looked at it I thought the statue in the pic was something like a bad replica of the drones from portal or some monster from Half-Life. Anybody else with me on that?

Anyway, they have some cool figures, I will probably drop by just to look a few of those.

...

*sigh* you know there was a time where I stayed away from collecting figures - like they represented some line in the realm of geekdom that I would not cross...

oh, well. *hugs his figma Yuki Nagato doll*

psycoking

eh I'll bite. It's just down the block and I love weird shit.

p.s. what is it about hipsters and their fucking hats?

Sicrowell

Hipsters suck.

NaryaMithrandir

That dog statue really reminds me of a Yoshitomo Nara piece that was in the Pretty Baby exhibit at The Modern in Fort Worth, Texas a while back. I don't think it's the same, but the similarities sure are there.

physical

Artsy fartsy shit and tight colorcoded skirts?

Eh, I'll stick with google image search.

Samnub

A maid opened in Canada? Can I enter?

Digitalguardian VII: Revival! A Commenter's Comeback!

Hmmm, those skirts are a little long aren't they?

Sam_Lowry

Hey, hey, HEY.

Why no love for the hipsters? :( We're the ones who give mordern artists and indie bands a chance of survival.

Antihippy

I doubt the main clientele will be hipsters, although they'll probably stop in once or twice when it opens.

I think creepy old dudes will be all over this place after a while, staring and making bad passes at the maids that will probably be somewhere along the lines of, "hey baby, I've got something you can clean".

If the keep the art updated and the food/coffee is cheapish, I'm sure the gimmick can keep them around for a while.

piendula

A good start. Now, can someone open one in London please?

system11

@piendula: They're using the art to attract hipsters, since the number of otaku in the area alone is probably not large enough to keep the place in business. In the end they may end up turning both crowds away. The otaku might not want to hang with the hipsters, and the hipsters will grow tiered of their newly discovered oddity over time. Though I'm sure you're right about the guys that'll come in thinking its just another version of Hooters (which at some level it technically is).

psycoking

Not really a bad model. If they manage to appeal to hipsters, they can also sell higher priced specialty coffees and beverages and meals, as opposed to, say, what the local deli or donut shop has.

But, yeah, I can see it drawing away both groups as well.

epherlite

i have yet to set my foot in a maid cafe...and besides, i hear they only serve instant coffees....

yuck!!

icepick314

@icepick314: The maid cafe in San Jose makes their own blend with coffee beans. They also have lots of different teas and syrups

Diafthora

You cannot appeal to hipsters with an establishment based on the premise of female servitude, and fetishistic sexual overtones.

You'll be lucky to even pull in the Hooter's crowd. All you'll get are depressed lonely men, and drunken frat boys.

hahnchen

@hahnchen: The dumb thing is there is clearly a large enough Japanese population in LA to support a single maid cafe all by itself. There's no reason they even need to try to appeal to American hipsters. Hire a bunch of cute Japanese girls and dress them up as maids and advertise in the free Japanese newspapers. The place will be packed day and night.

I don't really understand why there aren't any *real* maid cafes in North America for just that reason - there are cities in this country with hundreds of thousands of Japanese residents (New York has approximately 450,000 documented ones - more than many Japanese cities - and that's not counting people who have come here on tourist visas and never left, as a lot of people have). It would be incredibly easy to staff these places with real Japanese girls and just as easy to attract Japanese customers... as well as the occasional American one.

Anyone want to go in with me on a vacant storefront in Manhattan?

badasscat

American Maid...Check

Die Fledermaus????
Sewer Urchin???
Human Bullet???

Glen-L-Ivet

I thought I found some sort of weird maid cafe in Pennsylvania once. Turns out it was just run my the Amish. Or maybe it was an Amish maid cafe.

Or maybe all of that was a complete lie.

strideo

Great idea... Instead of artsy hip types, pervy businessmen will frequent these cafes. Ugh... Just like in Japan...

Anyway this does seem kinda interesting. I wonder how it'll go.

Angryrider

Just hope the girls are cute... To bad I'm on the wrong side of the US to check this out.

chirokitsune

@Glen-L-Ivet: You sir, need to watch out for. . . DOOR MAAAAAAAAN. . .

ggodo

@Dir_en_grey:

Thats what I thought of when I read this xD

doesntlikedede

If maid cafes end up like Starbucks over here it would just be too wrong. Then again IMO it's been blown 100x out of proportion in Japan already. Maids stand atop a massive heap of defeated alternative costumes, brandishing a bloody broom... it's chilling! :o

@LowerHouseMember:
*high five*
"Here's your coffee! I didn't bring it because I like you or anything... it's my job... *looks away*"
lol

fuchikoma

American Maid? SPOOOOOON!

Hostess bars for nerds :)

kftgr

Hipsters ruin everything. The cafe doesn't look very authentic especially with all that hipster/trendy art. I mean if I want to go see contemporary art I'll go to the MOCA. The maids aren't even Japanese??? American girls have a much different disposition from Japanese girls. Which is sadly one of many reasons why I don't think Maid Cafes will ever work in the US. *sigh* I guess I'll just have to fly to Akihabara...

HyperMomo-i

@fuchikoma: I actually lol'd pretty loudly.

Bam345

What has America done?

ketch

They should go for the Anime nerd demographic rather than the hipsters.

Wubbytoes

Why can't this in NYC :(?

I only remember a maid cafe at AnimeFest NYC.

MellowJade