Canada’s first ‘reptile café’ opens in Toronto

Mystik Café offers customers the chance to get up close to snakes, lizards and tortoises

Mystik Café offers customers the chance to get up close to snakes, lizards and tortoises

Would you have a cappuccino with a chameleon? Or a sweet treat with a snake?

One of Toronto’s newest cafés invites customers to see – and even touch – lizards, frogs, snakes and other reptiles alongside their lattes.

Mystik Café, which houses its exotic animals in one enclosed area and serves reptile-themed snacks and beverages in another, opened in November, 2025, in Toronto’s Kensington Market.

Sixty animals across 40 different species live on one side of a dividing wall, including frogs, lizards, geckos, tortoises, bearded dragons, chameleons and axolotls. On the other side, you’ll find standard café fare, including flavoured lattes, tea-based “refreshers” and an array of pastries provided by Circles & Squares Bakery.

Prior to paying the animals a visit, guests are walked through a mandatory informational session and a run-down of the house rules. They then choose between a 15 or 30-minute self-guided look-around for $15.99 or $29.99 per person, respectively, or a one-hour guided tour with an “animal ambassador,” which includes a beverage for $30.99 per person.

There’s also a one-hour VIP interactive experience where they can hold some of the animals for $35.99, which includes a free drink and printed photo.

Co-founder Millie Tang says her longtime friend-turned-business partner Jackie Lin, a serial entrepreneur and exotic animal enthusiast, came up with the idea after visiting a reptile café in Japan.

“We just saw that in Canada and North America there is a gap between [reptile] education, wellbeing and social spaces,” says Ms. Tang, who previously worked in product management and investment banking.

While the idea is inspired by similar establishments across Asia, Ms. Tang says Mystik Café is distinct for several practical reasons.

“There, you’ll be drinking coffee with a lizard or snake by your side, and [here] we created something that’s quite different, focused on display and education,” she says. “With these animals there’s a lot of fear and a lot of sensationalism, and at Mystik we want to reframe the conversation through science, care and respect.”

Outside of its regular café offerings Mystik also hosts workshops, school groups and private events.

“For example, we just did a collaboration with another small business called Ecovine Studio to host a ‘Build Your Own Terrarium’ workshop, and we did another one with Natasha von Richter, who started the reptile exhibit at Ripley’s Aquarium,”
Ms. Tang says.

Having a rotating roster of unique events and experiences will be key to building a regular customer base, according to Brad Poulos, a serial entrepreneur, author and lecturer at the Ted Rogers School of Management.

“One potential challenge is repeat business,” he says. “It’s the kind of thing where people come, they try it, but it’s like, ‘Oh yeah, that was fun, but I’m not really going to go back.’”

Mr. Poulos says having new events and exhibits gives guests a reason to return, while having a prime downtown location can help maintain a steady stream of curious first timers.

“If you’re going to try something like this, Kensington Market is the right place to do it,” he says. “You’re in the big city, it’s easy to get to, and you’re going to get lots of foot traffic, because people treat it as a destination.”

The other key to introducing a novel business to a new market is a robust branding and social media strategy. That, Ms. Tang says, is well underway, especially since Mystik introduced its new mascot, “Brick” the Uromastyx, a spiny-tailed type of lizard.

“I was able to reach out to a local artist to design some artwork of Brick,” she says. “Now we have holiday cards and postcards featuring the Uromastyx, and we’ll be coming out with more merchandise and art designs featuring our animals.”

Though the business is unlike anything Toronto has seen before, Ms. Tang believes it’s exactly what the city needed.

“A lot of people in Toronto are looking for a place to relax, slow down and create special memories, where they can put down their phones and engage,” she says. “People who are a little bit skeptical and don’t know what to expect, once they’re here they have the best experience, and it’s great to see how much they enjoy themselves.”