I learned about Don't Eat Me from one of my favorite herpetological artists (reptile and amphibian) artists, Derptiles!
Don't Eat Me is a pop up shop powered my MOMENT, which works in the Bay Area to hold creative pop up shops for small businesses and local artists.
Don't Eat Me features the following artists: Derptiles, Art by Julia, Karepango, and Notebeans Stationery. They're an Asian American owned artist collective and this pop up is slated to last around 1 year until December 1, 2026, but things may change depending on the city and the people.
Storefront is super cute and draws you in immediately with all of the artist prints and merch, as well as the burst of color. My boyfriend and I visited on Valentine's Day and they had their pop up cafe outside too. I've always seen these pop ups on Derptiles' Instagram and I've never had the chance to attend as I'm a SoCal native, but I've coincidentally was able to make this collective pop up cafe (it's a tent in front, not some crazy room one, don't misquote me) and I'm glad I did. I got a strawberry milk and my boyfriend got a coffee. Good pick me ups! We got some super cute cat with a horse stickers for the Year of the Horse from Art by Julia. Love it!
As for the pop up store itself, it's a great mix of colors and feels very cozy. I'm not the best at describing these kind of things, but the mix of bright colors with the natural wood displays, and the cozy corner to sit down, the mirror, the lighting, it just goes together all so nicely. Same can be said with the artist displays as well.
There's lots of prints in all sizes, some gacha in the front, stickers, key chains, bags, apparel, lanyards, plushies, a DIY station for lanyards, mini bags, an omamori, etc, and much much more. Great place to get something for yourself or a gift for someone else, or both to be honest!
I'm glad that this location exists as I don't always catch Derptiles at reptile shows (I own every single one of your beardie goods www), but also that I got to peruse the wares of the other artists featured as well. Great way to support independent artists and a unique business in the area too.
Definitely will stop by again if I make it up to NorCal before the pop up is over! read more