Cliff House: A cliffhanger with a delicious ending
Most San Francisco visitors spend their time downtown or along the bay with its piers and restaurants. Few make it out to the ocean, where there’s a landmark restaurant at the northwestern tip of the city poised majestically atop an ocean cliff. The view is unmatched, and unlike many "view" restaurants, the food is excellent, too.
The stubbornness of San Franciscans is the only reason the Cliff House exists today, because after it first opened in 1863, it was lost to fire twice, in 1894 and 1907, and then dramatically renovated in 2003-2004. Architects of the rebuild added windows, skylights and outdoor promenades so that you feel like you’re outdoors above the waves, which crash on nearby Seal Rock far below, even when you’re seated indoors at one of the dozens of window tables.
Inside the Cliff House are three restaurants: Sutro’s (fine dining), The Bistro (casual dining) and the Terrace Room (Sunday buffet brunch and private parties). You can spend just $13 for a full breakfast at The Bistro, or $45 or more for the Sunday brunch or a full dinner at Sutro’s, but regardless of which meal or restaurant you choose, you get the same million-dollar view. All three restaurants emphasize west coast seafood, delivered fresh daily. Trademark entrees include the Mussels Steamed with House-made Harissa (hot chili sauce) at Sutro’s, the Cliff House Clam Chowder at The Bistro, and poached salmon at the Sunday brunch.
Tourists from around the world flock to the Cliff House, but more than 80 percent of diners are locals. They come because the Cliff House is whatever you want to make it. To families it’s a hearty breakfast before a day at the beach. To seniors it’s an escape to the past, as autographed photos of old movie stars and black-and-whites of the old Cliff House adorn every wall. To couples and singles, it’s one of the most romantic restaurants you can find—there are two bars, too—especially when you can score a window table just before the sun sets over the Pacific.
The Sunday brunch is the toughest reservation, although they’re also recommended on weekends at Sutro’s. The Bistro doesn’t take reservations, but there’s seldom a long wait—and if there is, you can go for a stroll on the Coastal Trail, into the Sutro Baths ruins, through Sutro Heights Park or along Ocean Beach, which are all located within 300 yards of the Cliff House. In fact, you should do this even if you don’t have a wait—before the meal to build up an appetite or afterward to walk off the calories!
Sutro’s is open daily 11:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. and 5-9:30 p.m. (lunch entrees $19-$28, dinner $25-$39). The Bistro is open daily 9 a.m.-9:30 p.m. (breakfasts $12-$19, dinner entrees $13-$30). The Sunday Brunch buffet is open 10 a.m.-3:30 p.m. (last seating at 2 p.m.) for $45. The Zinc Bar and Balcony Lounge is open until midnight (1 a.m. on weekends).
- by Bob Cooper, San Francisco Reporter for HelloMetro
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Bob CooperBob Cooper is a full-time freelance writer (www.bob-cooper.com) who writes about travel, outdoor sports and health. He is a monthly contributor to Runner's World and has written recent articles for other national magazines such as Continental, Ladies' Home Journal and Inc.
