Update II: The Diner on Clifton’s unclear future, which began with news that it would close in February and continued when the restaurant stayed open past that date as owner Perry Drosos and the landlord tried to work out a solution, is a little more clear now. There’s a firm closing date as well as hope that they can find a home at 11500 Clifton Blvd, which used to be a PNC bank.
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Update: Owner Perry Drosos says that he is no longer closing the diner today, February 29. He decided to remain open while he and the landlord negotiate the next moves. Meanwhile, he adds, business has never been better.
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(Original story 2/22/2016): On February 29 the Diner on Clifton (11637 Clifton Blvd., 216-521-5003) will close its doors after 17 years. Owner Perry Drosos purchased the business at W. 117th and Clifton, formerly the 24-hour diner known as Clifton Lunch, almost 30 years ago. In 1999, he closed the shop for close to a year to transform it into the contemporary diner that it is today.
“We’re being thrown out on the street,” says Drosos, perceptibly distressed. “Next to my parents dying this is the most stressful time of my life.”
Drosos admits that he has been operating without a lease for years, and that he has been knee-deep in plans to relocate for about a year. But those plans are progressing much slower than he anticipated. He says that his requests for more time have been denied.
“I bought that place 27 years ago,” Drosos says. “This feels personal when it’s something that’s been such a huge part of my life.”
His landlord has a different interpretation of the situation.
“I’m surprised and disappointed that that’s what he had to say,” says Constantine Katsaros, who also operates Twist Social Club in the same block-long building. “This has been in the works for about a year.”
As part of a full-scale storefront renovation project slated to begin March 1, one that will go on for months and span the facade of the entire building, most businesses on the block will be forced to close at least temporarily, says Katsaros.
“The whole façade is coming off that space, so nobody would be able to operate in that space for several months,” he explains. “That was the catalyst for this whole thing.”
Katsaros also points out that the diner has been operating without a lease for about a decade.
“We have offered many, many times, but apparently the terms were not to his liking,” he says.
When the dust does eventually settle this summer, the former Diner on Clifton space will be home to a new restaurant, says Katsaros, adding that the precise name and concept of which will be announced in the coming weeks.
As for Drosos’ fate; he says that he does in fact have a bead on a new space, but can offer no estimate on an opening date. For now, Diner on Clifton fans have a week to support his efforts and say their goodbyes.
“It’s just heartbreaking to me because I love my people there and they have been there for a long time and people love us,” he says.
This article appears in Feb 17-23, 2016.
Perry has been the rock of the otherwise pitiful mess that serves as the gateway to Cleveland. That intersection has been shamefully neglected and disrespected. Horrible operators, landlords with no grasp of the importance. Shame on them all.
Shame on every landlord and most of the pitiful merchants trashing this vital neighborhood and gateway to Cleveland. The corner is a study on how to fail in every way at urban design and development.
Instead of the new façade, how about putting in a handicap accessible restroom??
What this article doesn’t talk about are people who have built there lives around the Diner. Most of the staff have worked there for 10-15 plus years, some even longer, and some of the regulars have been going there for 30 years.
The Diner On Clifton isn’t about food or business, it’s about community, it’s about being yourself, having a place where everyone belongs. It’s a family.
For some people it’s an extension of their own family, and for others it’s the only family they have. Either way the love there is real.
It wasn’t created that way, it just happened. It evolved on its own because of the people who became apart of that family, servers, cooks, dishwashers, customers, everyone…
For a lot of the people who work at the diner and many of the customers it isn’t just a restaurant with good food, it isn’t just a job.
It’s a home.
The saddest thing about the Diner On Clifton closing are the bonds, friendships, these connections that people have to each other and the community, all being severed. Cut-off, terminated, deleted.
Decade long relationships are just going to end.
It’s not just about food, it’s about a family being ripped apart.
I was lucky enough to be apart of this family…and for the rest of you who were lucky as well, you understand what I mean.
Many lives have been touched and changed forever because of the Diner. The energy that this place has goes deeper than coffee.
This isn’t just about business, it’s about love. There is literally no other place like it in Cleveland, and there never will be again…ever
This is so sad. I grew up on Clifton and always look forward to eating there when I return to Cleveland! Damn! Really hope they can find somewhere else to open. the FRESH SQUEEZED OJ WILL FOREVER LIVE IN MY HEART!!!
Cleveland has always thrown it’s own under the bus. From the reformations of Coventry, the Flats, and Euclid Avenue, land owners and officials have time and time again choosen a quick buck and fads over community, tradition and heritage. Three qualities that we are ironically nationally known for. What ever replaces The Diner, I hope finds new customers. I wont be one
Uhhh..let’s no get too dramatic. They are relocating and this crappy strip is in dire need of renovation.
Perry, Dana, Maureen, and everyone at the diner always treated my family like their family. When my kids come home from college, the first place they want to go when we go out is the Diner. The Diner is OUR place, always has been. That corner will not be the same without them, and we will be loyal customers of wherever they land. I just hope it is in Lakewood, or in the Clifton neighborhood.
PatrickRyan that was a great post. I love “The Diner!” I no longer live in Lakewood so I don’t get there as much as I like. I worked at a place growing up that was a “family” and not just a place to work. I am very grateful they are still open. The Diner will be missed. I hope they can relocate. Anything I order there I can tell its fresh and its always good. A lot of people I know would go to Dianas but I always hated it because I knew I was getting some old poorly prepared food.
“When the dust does eventually settle this (fill in) the former (fill in) space will be home to a new restaurant, says (fill in), adding that the precise name and concept of which will be announced (fill in)…”
Breaking up and destroying Old Cleveland in order to “fix” and “save” it. Putting up yet another restaurant with a “New Cleveland” façade that hides the Crocker Park and Legacy Village within.
Same shit…different day.
Chuckles the Clown
So sad to hear this!!!!!! Love eating here!!!!
oh noooooo! every time i drive from Buffalo to Indianapolis (thru Ohio) i used to stop there! this is so unbelievably sad… where am i going to find a corned beef hash breakfast as good as theirs?!?! 😢😢
Well, this just sucks. I’ve enjoyed many meals at the Diner on Clifton, going way back to when it was known as Clifton Lunch. I like the place so much I took Stephen Hough, a British pianist, there – and he raved about the Carolina Pulled Pork sandwiches.
Off lease for a decade, multiple refusals to re-sign, year long heads up for time to move. Sounds like a recipe for success.
Perry has been serving me there as long as I’ve been a clevelander. This news is sad and unbecoming of how the city treats the people who have believed and have built it all along.
Hate to see this. My favorite breakfast spot. I’ve been going there since moving to the neighborhood in 1981.
Hoping they can open up again soon. Starbucks is moving, maybe take that space? Or across the street in the empty PNC building?
I’m a server at The Diner on Clifton and have been for almost six years. Just like all of you found out today that the diner is closing from this article, so have all the employees that work there. Our family is being ripped apart at the end of this month with no warning and no explanation. None of us planned on not having a job in less then a week and each and every one of us are terrified financially as a result of this. It’s a slap in the face to our entire LOYAL staff to find out we are all losing our jobs in this manor. Truly heartbreaking.
I feel sorry for the employees that are losing their jobs due to gross negligence of the owner.
Let’s be honest here who in their right mind runs a business with no lease and is actually shocked when they are told to leave?
This fool owes all the employees a generous severance pay, since they are the only victims here!
Not to mention what they did to all of Clifton Blvd in Cleveland area with that silly worthless of no use piece of cement in middle of road taking away two lanes.. Pathetic. Clifton Lunch had an ambience they never should have changed like Tony Zappones anyone remember that place on west 117 street.
Amanda, I’m sorry to hear that you folks found out about this through the article, and not because your boss (the father of this “Family” you refer to) gave you a heads up…even AFTER he gave a media interview about it. I hope you all land on your feet somewhere. As for your jerk boss, I don’t give a damn what happens to him.
I feel bad the employees are losing their jobs but we stopped going here due to the terrible service we would receive every time we chose to eat there.
We love this place. Have gone there for years. And yes, it’s about the people who work there and the great food the chef’s produce. I have great disdain for the owner. So far, it seems that he has screwed his employees. He can make it better by providing a nice severance package to help them stay on their feet instead of leaving them with immediate financial instability. If he did so, I would be happy to patronize his new place, otherwise, I will never step foot in his new establishment. I can’t stand people who don’t care about any one else except themself.
That place was/is tight butthole. Another disappointing turn for cleveland/lakewood. This place has the best staff and food and is very reasonable. Guess I’ll be eating 3 meals a week there until they close. Better get my fill of coconut cake, garden chowder and artichoke bake. Hopefully they will reopen somewhere soon. I’ll miss the seatless stool at the lunch counter, a favorite seat for Jason Bukovan
The fact is that the Diner owner has known for well over a year that this renovation was coming, the exact date of it, and that his business would need to close for it. It sounds like he has also had multiple opportunities to sign a lease and secure this space as well and he failed to do so. None of this was a surprise. That’s purely a poor business man who’s now seeking public sympathy for his lack of action. Now his employees find out by a news release? This is not someone who should be running a business. The landlords are doing the right thing by renovating this strip to a beautiful new façade that will lend to a beautiful approach from Lakewood to Cleveland. A filthy, greasy Diner with poor ventilation and no handicap access will be fully renovated and home to a new neighborhood eatery. It’s progress and what everyone hopes for their neighborhoods. The poorly treated employees are the only real victims here. Very sorry for them.
The new space will be the closed PNC bank building right down the street. More parking and a larger space.
They’re only closing temporarily. They’re reopening in the former PNC bank building across from Starbucks on Clifton
What about the employees?
on the news this morning he stated that he is close to closing the deal on the old PNC building so he hopefully will not be closed for long.
i think its shameful “perry is not an good biz man” would create an account with that name simply to put out personal information they likely heard as a rumor. libel? definitely total disrespect.