My Experience at Chicago’s Malibu Barbie Cafe

*Just* in case you didn’t realize, I am a HUGE fan of ALLLLL things Barbie!!!! I have a Barbie Christmas tree, a few Barbie dolls (including one Christmas one!), and watch the movie *pretty* often, too. My friend Briana and I are *even* going to see Barbie The Movie In Concert this Summer at Jiffy Lube Live! SO, I *of course* had to visit the Malibu Barbie Cafe last Summer 2023 when in Chicago!

As a HUGE fan of the Barbie movie and, well, Barbie in general, I could NOT miss the chance to visit the Malibu Barbie Cafe at one of its pop-up locations back in Summer 2023. And, yes, we are *getting there* to Summer 2024, which I am SOOOOO excited for (!!!!), however, I am oh so excited for one last look back at some Summer adventures from 2023! In August of 2023, my Instagram bestie Lindsay of @sunshineandstairclimbs (GO FOLLOW HER!!!!) and I visited Chicago for a quick 24 hours (here) and before that Indianapolis, Indiana (where Lindsay calls home!) (here) AND ended up visiting the Malibu Barbie Cafe when it was in the Windy City. I shared about my experience at Chicago’s Malibu Barbie Cafe over on my Instagram (follow me @_thepinkchickadee), as well. As I am planning my next trip to the Windy City this August 2024, I am excited to share ALLL the details of this incredible experience of Lindsay’s and mine!

For more United States travel inspiration, check out my Exploring 50 States expedition page.

Tickets:

Lindsay and I booked tickets together a few months before visiting the Malibu Barbie Cafe. Lindsay booked the tickets on our behalf and, being transparent over here, I CANNOT seem to remember how much they were. ALL I remember is that each ticket came with a time slot and complimentary meal per person per ticket. Lindsay and I both picked a delicious vegetable quinoa bowl! Though, I do remember that time slots were required upon booking for crowd control purposes.

Our Experience:

To kick it off, we started off waiting in line to get into the Malibu Barbie Cafe about 20 minutes before our time slot. The super kind staff let each party in every few minutes at the beginning of each time slot and gave us 90 minutes-2 hours to be in the space before we were given the boot (ALL for crowd control purposes though!). And, the wait at the end of the line which was by the way filled with the sweetest Barbie-loving people of all ages, we were greeted with “HEY BARBIE” and the BESTTTT energy from all of the staff! We *truly* entered into Barbieland!!!!!

Once in Barbieland, we were seated at our table and were greeted by our waitress and given a fun cocktail menu. Drinks and any other additional food items were NOT included in the admission tickets (unlike our entrees) and we *of course* ordered pink glitter decked out cocktails and, well duh, French fries!!! Our waitress told us that we had *plenty of time* before any and all of our food/drinks came out to go and check out the merchandise AND *of course* get some photos which the photo opportunities plentiful at the Malibu Barbie Cafe. Not to mention, Barbie AND beach-themed music was played ALLL across the Malibu Barbie Cafe in *of course* true Barbieland fashion!!!

From ALLL THINGS beach to a surf board to travel and a roller rink and everything in between, Barbieland was TRULY decked out to brighten up the Windy City! Lindsay and I enjoyed SOOOO many of the photo opportunities here at the Malibu Barbie Cafe both before and after getting our food/drinks. It was a pretty gloomy day while we visited the Malibu Barbie Cafe, however, being with one another in Barbieland truly brightened both of our spirits!

Wrap-Up:

While it has been a Summer ago ever since my visit to the Malibu Barbie Cafe, I truly LOVED my experience in Barbieland with the incredible other guests and staff that brought such great energy and most definitely with my fellow Barbie loving bestie Lindsay! Summer 2023 brought about SOOOO many incredible Barbie-themed memories and going to the Malibu Barbie Cafe truly was the cherry on top of the cake of a truly incredible Barbie Summer!

XOXO – Katie <3