Rob Katz

Where They Are Now

Hospitality, for Rob Katz, came out of a different kind of pressure chamber. He began in Chicago in 1987 as an options trader, where speed, instinct, and constant attention were table stakes. That background reads less like a detour than a training ground for restaurants and bars, where timing, nerve, and reading the room matter just as much. Ownership came next, and with it a working view of Chicago nightlife as a set of moving parts rather than fixed addresses. As a non-equity partner at Otis's Bar in Chicago, then owner at Waterloo Tavern in Chicago, Elbo Room in Chicago, and Catacomb in Chicago, Katz moved through spaces defined as much by energy and crowd control as by the menu. Each role added another layer to the same trade: how to build a room people want to stay in. Since 2002, that work has run through Boka Restaurant Group, where Katz has been co-founder and co-owner. The company sits at the center of his long Chicago run, shaped by the same practical concerns that govern any serious hospitality operation: service rhythm, packed dining rooms, and the choreography behind a night that feels seamless to the guest. His own shorthand for the work is direct: "I feel in love with the business."

In Their Words “I will take this standing gig forever more.” “I feel in love with the business.”