First-time Friendly! A Breakdown of Fun at Akihabara’s Maid Café Scene.

Many maid cafes charge by time with a minimum one drink order to enter. Below is a breakdown of about what to expect for pricing.

Expect to budget for a minimum spend of 1,500 yen (entry free + one drink) or up to 3,000 and over if you plan to try full meal and services.
If its your first time, you may want to check out the “tutorial” set or a similar crash course to start. As a general rule, the overall pricing will vary based on the style café or which particular spot you choose.
Once you’ve found one that strikes your fancy, be sure to check their official website upfront for individual pricing.

Maid cafes are portals to fun, but be sure to check these rules below to get the most of it. Here are some common, blanket rules to know:

Maid cafes often use unique Japanese phrases not typically heard in other restaurants or facilities.
One prime example is the iconic maid line, "moe moe kyun".
This phrase is a magical charm maids utter to make food and drinks taste better when ordered.

If it's your first visit to a maid cafe, getting to know 'moe,' a hallmark of otaku culture, is highly recommended. While you can get a sense of the world just by being in the cafe, taking part in services and events can enhance your experience. Services and events where you can feel 'moe' include:

Some maid cafes go above and beyond with world-building. Step in to join in all the fun and spend a few moments forgetting time away from reality. With so many to try, we’ve listed a few samples below.

Besides these, there are various other types like Chinese-themed or school-themed, allowing you to physically feel Japan's subculture through their uniquely crafted worlds.

The world of maid cafes is one that deserves an especially deep dive.
With so much variety the ways to enjoy are each their own, but making sure to let go and taking it all in for what it’s worth is what makes each visit so fun.
You might even shy away from words like “moe” and “kyun”.
However the fun for maids is creating a world that you can enjoy too, so forget everyone else and have a fun time with the performance.
Let go of all your nerves and soak in the full experience, or dive in by choosing your favorite plate or service to try.
If you have the chance to sample a number of different cafes you’ll start to see what makes each one so amazingly unique.
When in Japan, dig in and dive deep while enjoying the many extraordinary cafes to try.

The cafe style is a type of maid café, or “maid parlor” that works as an extension of a regular café or coffee shop.
Step inside to find wall-to-wall retro vibes and maids dressed in classic outfits like long black skirts and white aprons. Here the maids are not really there to interact, but as a trade off your time is not charged or limited.
The focus in these types of maid cafes are the coffee and homemade meals, with many items averaging a pricetag around 1,000 yen.
As the many veteran patrons know, the elegant atmosphere and demure grace as the maids move about make for an especially relaxed and calm space to kick back in. This is an excellent spot to start if you want to try a maid café without the extra world-building.

The most famous type is the highly stylized “moe” cafes, which lines up more closely with what people expect from TV and anime.
Fares here typically range from 1,500 to 3,000 yen, in line with estimates above.
Maid outfits vary by cafe but are often accessorized with ribbons and headbands for an extra dose of “moe”.
If this is your café of choice, keep an eye for the moe moe kyun spell cast on food and drinks, or drawings and messages written in ketchup on omelet rice.
Some spots even have live mini-stages for even more themed fun.
With so much to try and enjoy, maid cafes are more of an in-house attraction, making this the style to try if you want a full-on experience like never before.

Bar-style maid cafes are where to go for conversation. Here you won’t typically find the anime-esque “moe” or “goshujinsama” phrases.
True to its name, it is more akin to a bar, with later operating hours and a clientele that often enjoys alcohol.
Unlike other maid cafes, this is one particular group where you can enjoy a slightly deeper conversation, as far as life and love advice, especially if you can speak Japanese.
There’s not much in terms of language support on the menus and the cost runs a little higher, around 3,000 yen, so you may want to try something else if you’re not quite ready.

New-age style maid cafes tend to provide heaps of entertainment with a highly detailed sense of world-building.
In terms of cost, you can expect a budget close to the typical entertainment style
, ranging from 1,500 to 3,000 yen. A characteristic of these cafes is the ability to enjoy cutting-edge Japanese subculture content while receiving the classic services offered by standard maid cafes.
Here are a few maid cafes in particular that have thrown out all the stops.

In Japan, one of the key perks of a maid café is finding one where the staff are great conversationalists.
If you’re similar, then one local hack is to search your favorite maid café for official websites and social media to see who works there.
Nowadays, many maids operate personal blogs or Instagram accounts, so people choose cafes based on photos and posts that align with their preferences for maids.
Just remember, its not always a given as the maid may not be working on the specific day of your visit.
※Some cafes publish the work schedule of their maids. Check online to be sure.

Choosing a maid cafe based on its unique concept or world theme is another popular option.
Some cafes recreate the world of manga or games, allowing for a full-on interactive space where you can coordinate your outfit with your favorite cosplay.
The entertainment world of maid cafes is filled with themes like anime and idols, so be sure check online to see what theme is in store in addition to the shop services.

Even among the brighter glimmer of maid cafes there are a few bad apples to avoid. Randomly entering a cafe is a high-risk way to find a few subpar options, especially if visiting for the first time.
You can never really tell by the front door, so as a general rule its usually advised to avoid spots that aggressively solicit customers. *Not all soliciting cafes are dubious, but avoiding them can help mitigate the bad apples. If there's a cafe you're particularly interested in, search for its name online beforehand to check for an official website. If you can't find one, you may be better off looking for a different café.