Netflix's pop-up eatery serves up an alternate reality as Hollywood grinds to a halt

The Netflix Bites pop-up restaurant, a marketing campaign by the streaming service, launched at the end of June. (Grace Widyatmadja/NPR)

LOS ANGELES — The experience starts outside, with diners queued up behind the velvet rope as if they're headed into an exclusive movie premiere or a buzzy nightclub.

Instead, people like Justin Bernal are waiting to enter Netflix Bites, the streaming service's pop-up restaurant in Los Angeles' Mid-City neighborhood.