Cosplay restaurants (コスプレ系飲食店, Kosupure-kei inshokuten), are theme restaurants and pubs that originated in Akihabara, Tokyo, Japan around the year 2000. In a meido cafe, waitresses impersonate animated characters by making up and wearing costumes. For animation geeks, the heroine in animation is an idol. Therefore, it was not long before the meido cafe became their holy place. After they got a lot of media exposure, they were called “Akiba Kei” geekheads and captured the attention of business circles as a potential market. Such restaurants and cafés have quickly become a staple of Japanese otaku culture.(*) Akiba-kei: It is kind of “Otaku.” Otaku indicates those who become addicted to things such as animation, computer game, etc. Akiba = Akihabara in Tokyo.
Unlike “ordinary” cafés, maids serve customers as if they were their masters. For example, staff sometimes kneel on the ground to mix sugar or milk in teas or other drinks. The purpose of the maid cafés and their service is to make customers feel at home and relaxed. Although exemplary customer service is typical of Japan, maid cafés take special care to pamper their patrons.

Upon entering one of such stores, the customer is greeted with the customary “Welcome home, Master” (お帰りなさいませ、ご主人様！, Okaerinasaimase, goshujinsama), offered a wipe towel and shown a food/drink menu. Popular dishes include cakes (sometimes　baked by the maids themselves), ice-cream, spaghetti, as well as drinks such as coca-cola, tea, milk or alcoholic beverages such as beer or, in some cases, even champagne.

While maid cafés are everywhere in Japan, Akihabara in Tokyo is famous for them. Akihabara (秋葉原, Akihabara)(“Field of Autumn Leaves”), is the electronics capital of Tokyo and is a focal point for electronics and anime maniacs (also known as otaku). When you exit Akihabara station, you will meet many maids handing out flyers for their respective cafés. I highly recommend that you go to one, if only just the experience. It’s not everyone’s ‘cup of tea’, haha pardon the pun. However, it is a very unique café experience.

When you enter the café, a young woman will greet you “Okaerinasaimase, goshujin-sama” (Japanese for “welcome home, Master”). The waitresses will all be dressed in Lolita fashion, as a French maid, or as an anime characters. I met one dressed as a mikosan (staff at a shrine) with cat ears and a tail!

Generally you are not allowed to take pictures in these cafes or of the maids out on the street promoting their cafe. There are some Meido Cafes that do specifically allow this, but there is a fee for this service.