Hello Kitty Cafe serves SoCal residents

A pink pop-up truck, embellished with distinct, Kawaii designs centering around a worldwide phenomenon, makes a monthly appearance within the boundaries of Southern California.

Since its debut at the Hello Kitty Con in November 2014, the Hello Kitty Cafe truck has served thousands of customers with its delectable delicacies inspired by the popular fictional character.

On Sept. 12, the Sanrio-affiliated truck made an appearance at Victoria Gardens in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., garnering nearly 2,100 Facebook check-ins from residents of Orange County and San Gabriel Valley.

Photo by hellokittycafe on Instagram.

From the middle of the morning to early afternoon, people waited for as long as three hours to get their hands on the customized treats including donuts, petite cakes, and macaroons in Kitty’s likeness.

Hello Kitty Cafe delicacies. Photo by hellokittycafe on Instagram.

“Everything is evenly popular because when we curated the products for the truck, we tried to pick items that were highly customizable and trendy,” said Urania Chen, a managing partner of Hello Kitty Cafe, regarding on their best-seller.

Menu list and prices of Hello Kitty Cafe. Photo by Abigail Felix.

Although the truck started as a cafe, it slowly introduced merchandise as customers wanted something more to expand their experience. Thus, it began selling t-shirts and coffee mugs with Hello Kitty Cafe plastered on them.

Hello Kitty Cafe merchandise. Photo by Abigail Felix.

As the wait dwindled down to 30 minutes in the late afternoon, excitement continued to linger in the air with the presence of Hello Kitty fans.

Tommy Moreno, better known as “mrhellokittyboy” on Instagram, believes Hello Kitty Cafe continues to be popular among many because of the super fans on social media.

“A lot of us follow each other on social media and when there are events, a couple of people post them and meet each other in real life,” he said. “The whole meaning of Hello Kitty is that you can never have too many friends.”

With Tommy Moreno, also known as mrhellokittyboy on Instagram. Photo by Abigail Felix.

For fans who were new to the Hello Kitty Cafe experience, such as Darlyn-Feythe Valentine of Los Angeles, she attended this event to heighten her appreciation for the Hello Kitty-Sanrio world.

“It is cool that they have a truck for all ages,” she said. “Even though you would think of it for children ten and under, there is something that draws you to the characters that [makes] you want to be young and fun.”

As for the future of Hello Kitty Cafe, Chen said the truck’s purpose is to promote the brick-and-mortar store, which will open in Southern California in the “near future.”

Though the truck is usually found throughout Southern California, its next scheduled appearance is at the Fashion Show Mall in Las Vegas on Oct. 10.