Cliff House closes (2020)
The Cliff House, a San Francisco restaurant landmark overlooking Ocean Beach and operated by the Hountalas family since 1977, closed at the end of 2020 when the National Park Service ended its concession contract. The building, on federal park land in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, had operated for more than 150 years.
The building sat vacant for years while the park service weighed redevelopment proposals and community objections.
The National Park Service later selected a new operator, and parts of the Cliff House have begun to reopen.
Like House of Air, a beloved institution on federal land closed because the terms set by the federal landlord no longer worked, and its fate then rested on a park agency's decisions.
