New capybara café offers unique animal experience in Coeur d’Alene

Coeur d’Alene’s newest spot invites people to relax and connect with animals -specifically, the adorable capybara. Capy Hour Café is a reservation-based capybara experience and café that opened in April by the Harris family, who also owns and operates Big Red’s Barn.

The Harris family explained that the Capy Hour Café is designed to be more than just a visit.

“We wanted it to feel like an experience people talk about long after they leave,” they stated in an email response.

Inspired by a desire to create something that didn’t exist already in north Idaho, the owners envisioned a space to introduce people to the special nature of capybaras. Currently, there are two capybaras who were brought to the family through a legal, regulated process.

A semiaquatic animal, capybaras are the world’s largest species of rodent, native to all South America except for Chile. The closest relatives to the capybara are rock cavies and guinea pigs. They can grow up to nearly five feet in length and two feet tall, with a recorded weight of just over 200 pounds.

Capybaras are herbivores, living sometimes up to 10 years of age in the wild. They communicate with barks, chirps and purrs.

“Capybaras have such calm, social and lovable personalities that they felt like the perfect fit for a concept centered around connection, novelty and hospitality,” the family said. “Capybaras have very specific needs. They require a clean, carefully maintained environment, room to move, access to water, proper nutrition, routine enrichment and a consistent care schedule. Because they are social animals, their emotional well-being matters just as much as their physical comfort. A lot of people see the cute side of capybaras online, but behind the scenes there is a lot of daily work and responsibility involved in caring for them properly.

The Harris family shared that opening the café took a lot of planning and care. Because they are already familiar with running a business centered around animals, they knew that each step needed to be taken with caution and responsibility. They worked closely to build out the physical space with keen attention to cultivating a habitat that makes sense for capybaras.

“For us, the biggest focus was never just opening quickly,” they said. “It was opening in a way that reflects a high standard of animal care, guest experience and professionalism. Exotic animal care is significant and ongoing. It includes habitat upkeep, food, enrichment, climate control, supplies, staffing and veterinary oversight … our philosophy is that quality animal care is not an area where we cut corners.”

The capybara café experience is open by appointment. Guests can book a 30 or 45-minute per-person session that includes a complimentary café drink, or guests can reserve the whole café for themselves with a private capybara experience – ideal for birthday parties, family events or other special occasions.

“From the beginning, there has been a huge amount of excitement from both locals and people traveling in from out of town,” the Harrises stated. “We’ve seen very strong demand, an incredible amount of social media engagement, and a lot of enthusiasm from guests who are excited that something this unique exists in Coeur d’Alene. What has been most encouraging is not just the volume of attention, but the quality of the response. People have really connected with the experience. Guests describe it as calming, memorable and unlike anything else they’ve done before.”

Looking at the future, the Harris family is looking at ways they can grow to truly make it a destination experience.

“We’re excited about the long-term potential of building experiences that combine animal connection, education, design and hospitality in a way that feels truly distinctive and intimate,” they explained. “We’re proud to be building something in Idaho that feels imaginative and fresh, while still being family-driven and community-minded. We hope it encourages people to think bigger about what small businesses in our state can look like.”