Fodor's Expert Review Cliff House
Editor's Note: This location is reported to be under new ownership and therefore this review may contain inaccuracies.
Three buildings have occupied this site—today owned by the National Park Service—since 1863, and the current building, a city landmark, dates from 1909. Spectacular ocean views have been bringing diners to the Cliff House's several restaurants for more than a century—you can see 30 miles or more on a clear day. Sitting on the Cliff House's observation deck is the Giant Camera, a camera obscura with its lens pointing skyward housed in a cute yellow-painted wooden shack. Built in the 1940s and threatened many times with demolition, it's now on the National Register of Historic Places.
Those views still exist, but the restaurants are closed at this writing while the National Park Service seeks a new tenant. A reopening date has not been announced, and the site is closed to the public.
