Downtown's newly restored and hotly anticipated Clifton's Cafeteria was expected to reopen last week, but right before the big day, opening was pushed, and then it was pushed again to yesterday. It all seemed like a very Clifton's move—the process of restoring the 1930s place had been a very long, challenging, and complicated one that took years, so it seemed only likely that some last-minute hurdles would pop up.
Clifton's delayed its opening because it hosted an exclusive "secret" Imagine Dragons show that was streamed to Times Square. -_____-
— Eddie Kim (@eddiekimx) October 1, 2015
But now, a tweet from Downtown News senior reporter Eddie Kim says that at least part of the reason the opening was pushed to October 1 was so that Clifton's could host an acoustic concert by the dramatic pop-rock band Imagine Dragons on September 30. (The concert streamed to Times Square too.) Kim also notes that owner Andrew Meierian dropped $14 million into fixing up Clifton's; hopefully, he made a good chunk of that back from hosting that show.
· Tour Downtown's Renovated Clifton's as It Patiently Waits to Open to the Public [Curbed LA]
· First Look Inside the Huge Makeover at Downtown's Weird and Wonderful Clifton's Cafeteria [Curbed LA]