Best of Cleveland 2015: Pop-up Restaurant

 A few times a month, get a taste of your old diner favorites at Katz Club Diner.

by Kathy Ames Carr | Sep. 22, 2015 | 4:00 AM

Sometimes the most difficult decision of the week is whether to grab a table at your old standby or check out someplace new for dinner. Now you can have it both ways thanks to chef Douglas Katz's reincarnated Katz Club Diner. After one of the 1948 dining cars was destroyed in an arson fire late last year, Katz decided to embrace the spot's history of restaurant musical chairs by turning the remaining half of the catering commissary and former classic diner into a pop-up restaurant. For 50 lucky ticket holders ($40-$60), the space temporarily becomes a new concept about three times per month. "When you think of a diner, it brings a community together," says Katz. "And what's better than to bring people together with food that they crave?" With a focus on comforting classics such as clambakes and spaghetti dinners, the car now functions more as an event space than a restaurant, and events consistently sell out. "It's a one-night-only sort of show, but it's a food show," he says. 1975 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights, 216-932-3333, thekatzclubdiner.com

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