Your check's in the mail.
We still can't say what they will become or what they will serve, but the wheels of the federal government and National Park Service are turning ever so slowly to get new restaurant tenants into The Cliff House and Louis' Diner spaces, both closed since 2020.
The iconic Cliff House has sat sadly dormant for over two years, having shut down fully in late 2020 with its longtime operators, Dan and Mary Hountalas, blaming the National Park Service for forcing their hand. The fact is, the Hountalases were getting up in years — they were both in their 80s or nearly 80 as of 2020 — and the restaurants inside the Cliff House, upstairs and down, had gone decades without much updating, respect from locals, or critical praise. Nearly a year before the pandemic began, in fact, the Park Service announced that it was putting the place out for bids for a new operator, which the Hountalases loudly resented.
Two Historic SF Oceanfront Restaurants, The Cliff House and Louis' Diner, Set to Come Alive Again...
Greg