Are you ready to meet Doc, Grumpy, Happy, Sleepy, Bashful, Sneezy and Dopey?
These “Seven Dwarfs” are furrier than most: They’re capybaras. And they’re the exotic stars of the new Capybara Café, an indoor petting zoo soft-opening Sept. 17 in Fort Lauderdale’s Thrive District.
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The idea, from owner Stephanie Angel, is for people to pet the roly-poly rodents while pampering them with fruits and vegetables. The 5,000-square-foot nonprofit sanctuary, which combines exotic animal rescue with public education, also houses an African-crested porcupine, a three-banded armadillo, two Virginia opossums, six ferrets and two rabbits.
“Capybaras are so chill and friendly, they’re really just fun ambassadors to experience other exotic animals,” Angels aid. “All they like are scratches and to be petted and food, and they love people.”
Despite its name, keep in mind: The café offers no food or drink (not for humans, anyway), though hungry guests can have snacks delivered from neighboring Thrive District businesses, including Uncommon Path Brewing, Casa De Kava and Alma Matcha.
Starting at $59, visitors can book 30-minute “encounters” to sit with the capybaras, with blankets provided to protect their laps from the giant rodents’ sharp nails. For $99, they can upgrade to a 55-minute session that includes time with capybaras and another exotic animal, while private group experiences (for up to 10 people) run $216. A $49 date-night Sunset Safari experience excludes capybaras but features other exotics, she said.
The semi-aquatic creatures, considered the world’s biggest rodents, are native to South America — from Panama to Argentina. Lately, they’ve been saluted in Internet memes and songs for their chill demeanor and social nature, especially when motivated with snacks such as kale, collard greens, hay and apples. Online clips show them calmly sharing spaces with pelicans, monkeys and other animals without disturbing the peace.
Inside the Capybara Café, the 6-month-old Seven Dwarfs free-roam a lounge filled with baskets of hay. Their names match their “Snow White” personalities. Grumpy, the undisputed leader of the herd, swats at anyone who messes with his hay bale, while Sleepy snoozes “practically all day long,” Angel said with a laugh.
There’s also an “Encounter Room,” which is desert-themed for fennec foxes and three-banded armadillos. During sessions, a Capy Crew of 28 educators teach ticketbuyers how to handle and treat capybaras, sharing trivia along the way.
For example: Capybara fur isn’t soft but rather coarse, like a coconut, and their feet are webbed, making them excellent swimmers. Full-grown adult capybaras can weigh up to 175 pounds. Angel said she potty-trained them like cats to use the bathroom in special litter boxes.
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“People think they’re soft, but their fur is scratchy,” Angel said. “If they really like you, they’ll fall over and let you scratch their chins and bellies. It’s the funniest thing ever.”
The Plantation-raised Angel, formerly a firefighter in Palm Coast, said she started the first café in St. Augustine in 2024 as a way to help her nearby nonprofit animal rehabilitation clinic, Noah’s Ark Sanctuary, stay open. Customers began swarming her Capybara Café so quickly, she said, that she expanded with a second location in St. Petersburg in 2025. The Fort Lauderdale outpost is her third.
For anyone wondering about the legalities, Capybara Café is fully licensed to house its critters. Spokespeople for both the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed this week that the business holds active state and federal wildlife exhibition permits.
Angel said a portion of proceeds from Capybara Café sales will benefit Broward County animal rehabilitation clinics such as Flamingo Gardens in Davie and the South Florida Wildlife Center in Fort Lauderdale.
Ticket sales have gotten a boost, she added, thanks to the capybara’s recent internet fame. Another reason: Capybara lovers think they’re aspirational.
“They have the life that every human aspires to have,” Angel said. “Not a care in the world, nice food and lots of massages all day long. Wouldn’t that be the best day ever?”
Capybara Café, at 744 NW Fifth Ave., Suite 1111, in Fort Lauderdale’s Thrive District, is scheduled to open to the public from 2-5 p.m. Sept. 17 and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sept. 18. Go to CapyCafeFTL.com.
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