First Hello Kitty ‘pop-up’ cafe opens in Irvine

One of the desserts on the menu is a $9 strawberry cake.
Starting Friday, the first 50 customers will get a limited edition key chain each day through Sunday.
A neon Hello Kitty marquee sits on top of the converted metal shipping container. The pop-up location will be in Irvine for a year, before moving on to another city.
A bite size version of the opera cake.
Sanrio will open the first Hello Kitty Cafe Pop-Up Container in the U.S. at the Irvine Spectrum Center on Friday. Housed within a metal shipping container, the pop-up cafe sells an assortment of baked goods, pastries, cookies and espresso drinks featuring Portola Coffee Lab coffee.
A first of its kind by Sanrio, the pop-up cafe is housed in a refurbished metal shipping container. Seating is limited to a handful of tables (about 14-16 seats) located under a pink and white awning. You order on the side facing the Ferris wheel, and pick up on the other side.
The pick up window for drinks is on the opposite side of the order counter.
The Hello Kitty Cafe Pop-Up Container sells pastries such as this Strawberry Custard Pastry Puff. Cost: $5.50
The Hello Kitty Cafe Pop-Up Container at the Irvine Spectrum Center sells an assortment of baked goods, pastries, cookies and espresso drinks featuring Portola Coffee Lab coffee.
The Hello Kitty Cafe Pop-Up Container is located in the Giant Wheel Court at the Irvine Spectrum Center in Irvine. The cafe opens Friday at 11 a.m. The first 50 customers each day through Sunday will get a limited edition key chain. The cafe is the first shipping container Hello Kitty cafe in the U.S. It will stay at the Irvine center for at least a year, before it moves on to a new location. Sanrio and Irvine are in negotiations to bring a brick and mortar Hello Kitty Cafe to Irvine.
Bottled water is served in this collectible Hello Kitty-bow shaped plastic bottle. Cost: $3
Chocolate opera cake with a golden Hello Kitty topper. Cost: $9
During a media preview, guests sampled bite size versions of pastries on the Hello Kitty Cafe menu. A larger version of this mixed berry tart with a vanilla custard center sells for $11.
The Hello Kitty Cafe Pop-Up Container is housed within a metal shipping container. The menu features hot and cold drinks such as lemonade (left) and strawberry mint lemonade (right). Other cold drinks include peach iced tea, strawberry iced tea and passion fruit tea. Cost: $4.50 each.
Housed within a metal shipping container, the pop-up cafe sells an assortment of baked goods, pastries, cookies and espresso drinks. Shown: Strawberry streusel tart, $7.
Workers are decked out in pink Hello Kitty chef's coats with matching skull cap.
The Hello Kitty Cafe Pop-Up Container, a first of its kind in the U.S., opens Friday at the Irvine Spectrum Center in Irvine. The pop-up cafe, expected to stay at the mall for a year, is selling coffee and espresso from specialty roaster Portola Coffee Lab in Costa Mesa.

By Nancy Luna | nluna@scng.com | Orange County Register

July 15, 2016 at 10:54 p.m.

The Irvine Spectrum Center has earned some bragging rights for hosting the first Hello Kitty Cafe Pop-Up Container.

The temporary cafe, initially expected to debut over the holidays, opened at 11 a.m. today. It was so popular, drawing a line of about 200 people, the store temporarily shuttered. It was expected to reopen later in the day, according to a representative at Spectrum Center.

The cafe is housed in a bedazzled steel shipping container — refurbished with pink and white Hello Kitty hues. The menu features a limited assortment of cookies, pastries and pint-sized cakes, as well as hot and cold beverages.

Signature drinks include strawberry mint lemonade, peach iced tea and passion fruit tea. Espresso drinks feature coffee sourced from award-winning local roaster Portola Coffee Lab. Menu prices range from $4 to $11.50 for desserts, and $3 to $5.50 for beverages. (Note: Coffee comes only in a 16 oz. size. Sorry skim fans, but only whole milk is served here.)

Every item on the menu pays homage to the pop icon, first introduced to the world 42 years ago. Pastries are topped with Hello Kitty-shaped shortbread cookies, or bows. Plastic water bottles ($3) are bow-shaped. Hello Kitty’s face is stenciled with cocoa powder on the milk foam of latte drinks.

Allan Tea, managing partner of the cafe, said the container will stay at the Irvine mall for a year before moving on to its next location. Tea and Sanrio marketing representative David Marchi said Sanrio and the Irvine Co. are in negotiations to bring the first U.S.-based brick and mortar Hello Kitty Cafe to Irvine.

Sanrio has other themed cafes in other countries. But there’s no brick and mortar cafe dedicated exclusively to Hello Kitty in the United States, Marchi said. “This (pop-up) is the first of its kind,” he said.

Over the last 12 months, the Hello Kitty food truck has parked at the center twice, triggering throngs of shoppers. The turnout prompted Sanrio to choose the Spectrum as home base for its first Hello Kitty pop-up cafe.

“We know we have a huge fan base here,” Marchi said.

The cafe does not sell savory dishes — only desserts. Some merchandise such as ceramic mugs and T-shirts also will be sold at the cafe, located at the Giant Wheel Court at the mall.

The first 50 customers each day through Sunday will get a limited edition key chain.

Check out our slide show, which features photos of the cafe

Contact the writer: nluna@ocregister.com