Good news for anyone who was saddened by the closing of the Square Enix Cafe in Akihabara this past Friday. You won’t have long to wait before the next all-new cafe opens up along the newly-designed East-West Passage on Saturday, February 1st. This particular stretch was completely renovated and reopened on October 7th last year.

This new location, which you can locate here on Google Maps, will actually have two separate entrances, one for folks who just want to check out the variety of SQEX related merchandise and another for those who have made reservations for the cafe side of the store. The new cafe has added an additional 20 seats in the cafe area, bumping it up to a total of 60 seats including single-only counters for those who are visiting alone.

The SQEX Cafe is known for its monthly collaborations with a multitude of their main franchises and titles, but they’re still being a little secretive as far as what the first collaboration will be when the new location opens in February. I’m going to bet it will NOT be Final Fantasy VII Remake since the release date has been pushed back until April 10th, but perhaps we’ll see that as their collaboration in March?

Here’s a look at the new layout!

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The first week of February will be a sort of free time where you can come directly to the store to make reservations. The following week will begin the usual monthly collaborations. During regular business operations, the cafe area is usually based on pre-reservations only. You can make reservations through the official site and pick up your ticket (yes, tickets are necessary upon entry!) from a local convenience store. You might get lucky if you plan your visit during a slow point in the afternoon if the available seats haven’t already been sold out in advance (this usually only happens during a popular collaboration).

What’s New at the Cafe

Since there will be two separate entrances, this will greatly reduce the congestion within the store, making it much easier to simply purchase merchandise. Anyone is welcome to enter the store to peruse the public space set up for available merchandise. There will also be some limited time only items available specifically during this time to celebrate the grand opening (availability at both the Tokyo and Osaka branches).

Pre-Open Period

From February 1-7, the store will be operating on its “pre-open” schedule. It doesn’t seem like the usual pre-reservations which require purchasing your ticket ahead of time (generally at a convenience store), but they will still be separating dining windows at specific times during the day. You should be able to visit the store to reserve a specific time you’d like to enter the cafe area of the store.

Those who eat-in at the cafe during this first pre-open week will be given a limited time random coaster (two types) upon check-out. Those who order take-out or purchase an item in the store will receive a limited time novelty pen (available while supplies last).