Requiem Cafe in Anaheim, California is an immersive art cafe founded in 2019 and has grown to be a social third place celebrating nerd, gamer, and fandom culture in an inclusive environment.
Recently, Requiem had their Homestuck x Requiem Cafe event going from April 13 through April 30, and it was a mask-required and walk-in-only event. Their last featured event took in November of last year.
Homestuck is a multimedia webcomic that is part of a larger collection of webcomics called MS Paint Adventures all originally developed by Andrew Hussie that centers around 5 kids who play together a video game called Sburb that brings a meteor shower and accidentally provokes the end of the world.
There were 7 drinks and 2 food items based on the webcomic available from the menu with the top two most popular drinks being a blackberry butterfly tea topped with lavender lemonade called High Blood priced at $6.75. Requiem also sold a strawberry-rose and rose-lemonade Sprite with a rock candy stirrer for $6.75.
“We definitely wanted to be central to other themed places and conventions.” says Kristopher “Kris” Irons who is the CEO and founder of the cafe. The cafe is close to Disneyland and the Anaheim Convention Center. All cosplay is encouraged, and there’s a dedicated photo spot lit with ceiling lights, and the contents within change every so often in the connected item shop.
As for the interior, others can hang out in any of the 3 different themed areas that are each designed for a certain vibe.
The castle-medieval-themed area has a 14ft tall stained glass mural window. Nearby, is a large carved medieval table to play a range of tabletop and D&D games, and at the end of the table is a large ornate fantasy throne to also roleplay and have cosplay photo shoots.
The sci-fi-themed area is lit with cool-toned fluorescent lighting and stocked with media art books like The Art of Bee Movie and The Sky: The Art of Final Fantasy on a coffee table and mounted Roku® TVs and game systems for events like a video game tournament or an anime marathon for example.
The enchanted forest area is decked with themed tables that look wooden, and a handcrafted tree with cushioned hiding holes illuminated with warm lighting that you can squish into for some alone time with a drink or meal that you can order from their art deco coffee bar.
“We tried to create a space that allows for everyone from gamers to cosplayers to find something to enjoy,” says Kris Irons upon the founding of Requiem Cafe. The cafe also runs its own gift shop full of dice, games, plushies, trading card packs, and nerdy merch.
Requiem also hosts themed event nights and community events, and the best way to stay up to date is on their Instagram.
The cafe itself is located at 280 S. Clementine St by The Anaheim Ice Rinks and their hours run from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday to Sunday.
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