Laughing Cat Coffee Roasters Is South Reno on Airway Drive

Thomas Garner

Oct 7

10 min read

Aerial view of South Reno, Nevada neighborhoods, green fields and a winding pond

Photo: Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Ask most people to picture Reno's coffee scene and they will describe Midtown, S Virginia Street, maybe the Truckee Riverwalk downtown. Almost nobody pictures an industrial park stretch along Airway and Longley in South Reno. That is exactly where Laughing Cat Coffee Roasters has its home, at 3545 Airway Dr #110, a cafe serving a part of the city that citywide coffee coverage rarely reaches, and a name that has been part of Reno coffee since 1990.

I run Hillcane with my business partner Jacob, and one of the things I care about most in this work is making sure a city's real coffee geography gets an honest, complete telling, not just the version that photographs best or sits closest to downtown. South Reno is a real pocket of this city, with real residents and real businesses, and Laughing Cat is the cafe holding it down. It deserves a real telling on its own terms.

That a specialty coffee publication as respected as Sprudge chose to feature this specific address after its 2024 build out tells you something too. Industrial park cafes do not usually earn that kind of attention by accident. Something about what was built out on Airway Drive was worth a national coffee outlet's time, and it is worth understanding what that is, from the address itself to a history that runs back more than three decades.

An Address at Airway and Longley

Laughing Cat Coffee Roasters sits at 3545 Airway Dr #110, in the part of South Reno where Airway Drive meets Longley Lane, an industrial park corridor that looks nothing like Midtown's walkable commercial strip or downtown's Riverwalk scene. It is a working stretch of the city, lined with warehouses and light industrial businesses rather than boutique storefronts, and Laughing Cat sits right in the middle of it.

That kind of address is not an accident or a compromise. Industrial park suites give a business room to work, easy parking and a daytime population of people who show up at the same hour every morning. For a cafe, that means regulars who keep a schedule, a lot where a customer can pull in without circling the block, and a neighborhood that runs on weekday shifts rather than weekend foot traffic.

For anyone actually working or living in South Reno, an address like this is not remote at all, it is simply their own neighborhood. The industrial park framing matters mostly to outsiders picturing Reno's coffee scene from a distance. To someone who works nearby, Laughing Cat is just the closest good cup of coffee, in exactly the same way a Midtown cafe is the closest good cup for someone living near S Virginia Street.

It is worth picturing the daily rhythm around a cafe like this. An industrial park is full of people who work regular shifts at nearby businesses, warehouses and light manufacturing operations included, and those workers need a real coffee break option just as much as anyone in a downtown office tower does. A specialty cafe in the middle of that park gives the whole working population an alternative to a vending machine or a gas station cup, which is exactly the gap a cafe in this location fills.

Sprudge's 2024 Coverage

Sprudge, one of the most recognized specialty coffee publications anywhere, featured Laughing Cat's Airway Drive space in its Build Outs series after the 2024 relaunch, and Daily Coffee News covered the relaunch as well. That is earned attention from outlets with no obligation to cover any particular Reno business, and it says something about what was built at 3545 Airway Dr.

Coverage like that tends to follow substance rather than convenience. Sprudge is not writing about industrial park coffee shops because they are easy to find or conveniently located near a downtown hotel. It is writing about them because the coffee and the story behind the relaunch were genuinely worth telling to a national specialty coffee audience, the kind of audience that already has plenty of more conventionally located cafes to choose from writing about instead.

That kind of recognition also matters for how South Reno gets understood as a coffee destination in its own right. A single respected feature, naming a specific address on Airway Drive, does real work toward establishing that this part of the city is not simply an afterthought in Reno's coffee scene. It is a place worth a dedicated visit, the same way Midtown or downtown are, just for a different kind of visitor.

There is also something worth noting about the timing of that coverage, arriving alongside a relaunch rather than a first opening. A relaunch means an existing business chose to reinvest in itself, refine what it was doing, and come back with something worth a fresh look from outside coverage. That is a meaningfully different story than a brand new shop getting written up on day one, since it reflects a business that had already been tested in the market and chose to build on what it learned rather than starting from scratch somewhere else.

A Reno Coffee Name Since 1990

Laughing Cat Coffee dates to 1990, which makes it a name many Reno coffee drinkers have known for decades rather than a newcomer. A business that has carried the same name through more than thirty years of a city's growth has a kind of standing no new opening can buy: customers who remember an earlier room, a name that comes up when longtime residents talk about where they first had a real cup in Reno.

The 2024 relaunch sits on top of that history rather than replacing it. Coming back with a newly built space after decades in the city is a different story than a first opening, because it carries both an established name and a fresh room at the same time. That combination, a long past and a new build, is a big part of why the relaunch drew national coverage.

For South Reno specifically, a name that old matters. It gives the Airway and Longley stretch a coffee anchor with real roots in the city, not a satellite of a downtown brand, and it gives residents and workers in the south of town a cafe with its own story to point to.

Why South Reno Rarely Shows Up in a Midtown Weighted Search

A lot of general Reno coffee content, understandably, weights heavily toward Midtown, since that pocket has the highest concentration of cafes and the most walkable, photogenic setting. That weighting is not wrong exactly, it reflects where a lot of coffee activity happens. But it does mean South Reno as a whole can end up underrepresented in broad citywide coffee content that defaults to Midtown as the obvious center of gravity.

The numbers make the point. Reno proper holds about 268,959 people on the Census Bureau's 2023 five year estimate, and something like sixteen specialty cafes and roasters sit inside city limits before anyone counts Sparks. Those cafes are spread across Downtown and the Truckee Riverwalk, Midtown, the UNR edge, Wells Avenue, California Avenue and South Reno along Airway, Longley and Wedge Parkway. A guide that stops at Midtown covers only part of that map, and leaves out a whole side of the city where people live, work and need coffee every morning.

That is a gap worth naming plainly, not because Midtown coverage is somehow unfair, but because South Reno residents and workers deserve the same clear answer to where should I get coffee near me that Midtown residents already get. An industrial park cafe is a different kind of coffee destination than a walkable Midtown storefront, and it deserves its own specific mention rather than being folded into a citywide list.

This is a pattern that shows up in plenty of cities beyond Reno too, not just here. Whatever pocket of a city has the densest concentration of visually appealing storefronts tends to dominate general coverage, simply because it is the easiest area to photograph and write about in a single walkable pass. Less centrally located pockets, especially working areas like an industrial park, require someone to go out of their way to cover them specifically, which is exactly why a feature naming Laughing Cat's Airway Drive address by name carries real weight.

Planning a Visit to Airway Drive

The practical details are short. The address is 3545 Airway Dr #110, Reno, NV 89511, near the corner of Airway Drive and Longley Lane. The suite number matters in a business park, where several units share a building and a parking lot, so it is the detail to keep in mind when pulling in for the first time.

The hours follow the rhythm of the neighborhood around it. Weekdays the cafe opens at six in the morning and closes at three in the afternoon, early enough for a shift that starts at seven. Weekends it opens at eight and closes at two. That schedule fits a working corridor where the busiest hour is before the workday starts, not after dinner.

Weekend visitors should plan around that earlier close. A Saturday or Sunday trip from Midtown works best as a late morning drive, arriving well before two, and it pairs naturally with an errand in the south of town. Weekday visitors have the longer window, from six until three, which makes Airway Drive an easy stop on the way to or from work in South Reno.

South Reno has other coffee addresses nearby, which makes the Airway and Longley stretch a pocket rather than a single stop. Hub Coffee Roasters runs its Meadowcreek cafe at 15425 Wedge Pkwy #120, and Old World Coffee has a room at 6500 Longley Ln by Sierra Medical Center. Together they give the south of the city its own coffee map, well away from Midtown.

What Makes Laughing Cat Worth the Drive

Put it together and Laughing Cat Coffee Roasters is a real South Reno anchor: a cafe at Airway and Longley with a name that goes back to 1990, a 2024 build out featured by one of specialty coffee's most respected outlets, and hours built around the working corridor it serves. That is a coffee destination in its own right, not a consolation option for people who happen to already be near an industrial park.

For a Reno resident who has only ever explored the city's coffee scene through Midtown, a trip out to Laughing Cat is worth the drive on its own terms, not as some kind of detour. South Reno has real coffee worth seeking out, and Airway Drive is exactly where to find it.

That is ultimately the point worth carrying away from Laughing Cat's story. A city's coffee scene is not only as good as its most photographed street. It is as good as the sum of every real pocket serving real coffee to real people, including an industrial park corridor most citywide guides never quite get around to mentioning. Laughing Cat is proof that South Reno's coffee is worth the same real telling as anywhere else in the city.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Laughing Cat Coffee?

Laughing Cat Coffee Roasters is in South Reno at 3545 Airway Dr #110, Reno, NV 89511, near the corner of Airway Drive and Longley Lane. It sits in an industrial park corridor rather than a retail strip, so the suite number, #110, is the detail to keep in mind when finding the right door in a shared building and parking lot.

What did Sprudge cover about Laughing Cat in 2024?

Sprudge featured Laughing Cat's newly built Airway Drive space in its Build Outs series after the 2024 relaunch, and Daily Coffee News covered the relaunch as well. Both are national coffee trade outlets, so the coverage is outside recognition of the room at 3545 Airway Dr #110 in South Reno, independent of the cafe's own pages.

How long has Laughing Cat been part of Reno coffee?

Laughing Cat Coffee dates to 1990, more than three decades in Reno, and relaunched in 2024 with a newly built space on Airway Drive in South Reno. That history makes it one of the older coffee names a Reno drinker is likely to know, now anchored at 3545 Airway Dr #110 near Longley Lane, with national coverage of the new room.

What hours does Laughing Cat keep?

Weekdays, Laughing Cat Coffee opens at six in the morning and closes at three in the afternoon. Weekends it opens at eight and closes at two. That early weekday start at 3545 Airway Dr #110 suits the South Reno industrial park around it, where many nearby workers start shifts at seven and want coffee before the workday.

Why is South Reno easy to miss in general coffee coverage?

Citywide Reno coffee content tends to lean toward Midtown along S Virginia Street, where cafes cluster in a walkable, photogenic strip. South Reno, including the Airway and Longley industrial park, is spread out and car oriented, so it gets fewer mentions. It still holds several coffee addresses, from 3545 Airway Dr to 15425 Wedge Pkwy and 6500 Longley Ln.

Why does a cafe sit in an industrial park rather than a commercial strip?

Industrial park suites offer room to work, easy parking and a steady weekday population of people on regular shifts. At 3545 Airway Dr #110 near Airway and Longley, that means regulars who arrive at the same hour each morning, which fits Laughing Cat Coffee's six in the morning weekday opening and its early afternoon close.

Is Laughing Cat only relevant to people who already live in South Reno?

No. A name dating to 1990 and a 2024 build out featured by Sprudge make the Airway Drive cafe worth a dedicated trip from Midtown or downtown Reno. It is a short drive south, and with weekday hours from six to three and weekend hours from eight to two, a morning visit fits easily into a day.

What intersection anchors Laughing Cat's neighborhood?

Airway Drive and Longley Lane, in South Reno, a working industrial park corridor distinct from Midtown's walkable S Virginia Street strip and downtown's Truckee Riverwalk. Laughing Cat Coffee sits at 3545 Airway Dr #110, and Old World Coffee's room at 6500 Longley Ln by Sierra Medical Center is on the same Longley Lane corridor in the south of the city.

What other coffee is near Laughing Cat in South Reno?

South Reno has its own small coffee map. Hub Coffee Roasters runs its Meadowcreek cafe at 15425 Wedge Pkwy #120, and Old World Coffee has a room at 6500 Longley Ln by Sierra Medical Center. With Laughing Cat at 3545 Airway Dr #110, that gives the south of the city three coffee addresses of its own.

Which ZIP code is Laughing Cat Coffee in?

89511. The full address is 3545 Airway Dr #110, Reno, NV 89511, in the Airway and Longley industrial park area of South Reno. Hub's Meadowcreek cafe at 15425 Wedge Pkwy #120 shares that 89511 ZIP code, which is a quick way to see that both sit in the same southern part of the city, well south of Midtown.

Work with Hillcane

South Reno rarely shows up when people picture the city's coffee scene. Laughing Cat Coffee Roasters, out on Airway Drive, is exactly why that picture is incomplete.

If your South Reno cafe has a story worth telling this fully, reach Hillcane at hillcane.co/contact or call (256) 384-2449.