Join us at a nostalgic American Girl Cafe for adults.
USA TODAY’s Kate Perez visited American Girl Cafe with her doll Samantha to experience the nostalgic food and sentimental atmosphere.
On the morning of January 17, nearly every table at Chicago’s American Girl Cafe was occupied, and the sounds of laughter and chatter echoed through the restaurant’s entrance. The usual crowd of children were jumping up and down with excitement on the booths and chairs next to the dolls. Many of the toys depicted a time long before the children who held them were born.
American Girl Dolls, known for its popular historical dolls and Girl of the Year series, has been a staple of the toy industry for 40 years. But its scope extends beyond childhood dolls. As adults, people are returning to the company’s in-store cafes to recapture the whimsy they felt as children.
The Chicago store was no different, and at several tables dotted around the cafe, alongside work lunches and birthday celebrations, young people sat in colorful booths next to dolls dug out of warehouses. Looking at posts on social media platforms like TikTok, it’s clear why this restaurant was chosen. This group is trying to turn them into children again, gifting them with experiences they might not have had when they were younger.
Adults can enjoy the wonder and nostalgia of childhood at AG Cafe
For Kelly Nordell, a trip to Chicago’s American Girl Cafe last weekend was a familiar start to her 23rd birthday celebration. Knodel once went to the cafe at 7 o’clock with her cheer team, and her doll was wearing a matching uniform.
On Saturday morning, Knodel and 11 of her friends sat at a table facing a black-and-white striped wall, each with a doll next to them. Most of her friends had never been to a cafe and didn’t have dolls, she told USA TODAY. But there’s no need to worry. The restaurant has a wall of dolls for customers to borrow for their meals, complete with small chairs attached to tables and complimentary mini tea cups.
Knodel said the experience was a chance to recreate the “magic” she felt when going to restaurants as a child. With everything on the menu from burgers to chocolate milk to glasses of wine, the cafe feels like there’s no age limit, which is why adults want to come, too, she added.
“I think it’s accessible. It’s nostalgic and it’s an experience. You’re paying for an experience, not just food…it’s for everyone,” Knodel said. “I felt a little out of place, but I felt like I was watching the kids and their mothers… It was so much fun. I felt like a kid again.”
Still, some parents are happy to see young people in cafes alone. Roxy Ogle, 21, decked out in a dress and birthday crown, visited an American Girl Cafe store in Los Angeles with a friend in January 2025. While there, she said two separate groups of parents came up to them and commented on them being there.
“Moms have come up to us and said, ‘I’m so glad you’re doing this. I hope this is what your daughter is doing when she’s 21,'” Ogle said. “It was really delicious…I go there for dinner 100 times a year. This was something I remembered very well.”
Michelle de Groot, 22, also visited the American Girl Cafe in Los Angeles last year to celebrate a friend’s 23rd birthday. De Groot, who was inspired by social media to visit the restaurant and make a viral video about her experience, grew up with American Girl for a major part of her life, reading books and watching movies about historical dolls.
The cafe itself also holds special memories for de Groote, who celebrated her seventh birthday there.
“It brought back so many memories. We were scrolling through the photos and it was just nostalgia, childhood happiness,” De Groot said of the trip to the cafe. “I think American Girl dolls and their stories and all of that was such an integral part of growing up in the early 2000s. So having the opportunity to go back to that time and purposefully reflect on the impact they had on me and my friends was obviously a lot of fun.”
What has stuck with De Groot over the years about the American Girl brand and cafes, she said, is the way they are passed down from generation to generation, whether it’s the physical dolls or the in-store dining experience. She added that returning to the cafe gave her an opportunity to reminisce about her childhood with friends.
“It’s very pure, and there’s not a lot of pure fun in our world today,” De Groote said. “I think it’s special to have a nostalgic, pure heart. That’s really cool.”
A cafe trip for adults that will make your childhood dreams come true
For 28-year-old Fiona Keene, going to a cafe has been a long time coming. On January 17, Keene, dressed in a costume matching doll Kit Kittredge, traveled from central Illinois to Chicago with two other friends to visit the restaurant for the first time.
“I had never been to an American Girl store before,” Keene said. “I grew up in Massachusetts, so the closest one was New York. It was too much of a trip for my family, so when we were planning it, we were all really looking forward to it because it was a first for me and it was such a great way to live out a childhood dream with my friends.”
Those friends also told USA TODAY they felt affected by going to the restaurant. Alexa Hansen, 31, has been to the store before, but said this time was even more memorable.
“I was sitting in a cafe and I wanted to remember this,” Hansen said. “When you were a child you remembered bits and pieces, but as an adult you remember everything and intend to save it for future happiness and memories. As a child you were grateful for it, but as an adult it’s a completely different experience.”
Beyond that, Elise Feltman, 32, said the cafe’s intricate details transport people, even adults, into the world of American Girl.
“I think the attention to detail is so cute and lovely, like the chair for the doll, the little hair tie that the doll gave me, the little teacup for the doll. I think it’s quirky in a quirky world that’s a bit of a doom at the moment,” Feltman said.
40 years later, American Girl says cafes are for everyone
As the American Girl brand celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2026, more adults are stopping by its restaurants and cafes, Jamie Cygielman, Mattel’s global head of dolls, told USA TODAY. She said the company is seeing girls who grew up with the brand in the 1980s and ’90s return to its restaurants as parents and fans to reminisce about their childhoods.
“I think it’s great to see adult women coming back because… they appreciate the brand. It has staying power. It’s meaningful and it’s engaging. And there’s a desire to share that with other people,” Cygielman said. “I think this is something really unique. Women want to share that experience with other women and children and their families, so we definitely embrace that.”
The American Girl brand and the lessons the dolls teach also have a lasting impact, Cygielman added. The emotions, peace, and sense of childhood that dolls evoke don’t disappear when you become an adult. She said that amidst the pressures of adulthood and the complexities of life, returning to the happiness of childhood can be liberating.
“Having the opportunity to kind of look back is cathartic. It adds joy. And I think that’s what American Girl really does: It definitely evokes joy in young women who were fans as kids,” Cygielman said. “It reminds you of a time when your life was a little simpler, a little more innocent. I think there’s a certain comfort in that.”
This sentiment, that cafes are places of escape, was shared by multiple participants interviewed by USA TODAY, including Knodel. For her, the cafe provides a sense of birthday celebration and casual refuge.
“I wish I could shut out the outside world and be with my dolls and my friends,” Knodel said.
What’s more, Ogle added, the experience allows people to bring out the child inside them.
“I also think we’re in a time where a lot of people want to heal their inner child, and now we have the money as adults to do things that we weren’t able to do as kids,” Ogle said. “This is a great example of how we can do that to the fullest.”
Kate Perez covers national trends and breaking news for USA TODAY. You can reach her at kperez@usatodayco.com or X @katecperez_.
