Cliff House, Historic restaurant at Lands End, San Francisco, US

The Cliff House is a neoclassical building on a promontory north of Ocean Beach in San Francisco, United States. The concrete structure rises above the water facing Seal Rocks and the open Pacific, with large windows opening the view westward.

Senator John Buckley and C. C. Butler opened the first Cliff House in 1863, leasing it to Captain Junius G. Foster; a toll road a year later brought carriage traffic. Adolph Sutro bought it in 1883, and the schooner Parallel exploded aground at Lands End on 16 January 1887, wrecking the north wing. Fire destroyed the building on Christmas night 1894, and Sutro's seven-story Victorian replacement burned on 7 September 1907. Sutro's daughter Emma Merritt had Reid & Reid rebuild it in neo-classical style by 1909.

The name refers to its position on the cliffs overlooking the Pacific, a landmark that has shaped local identity for over a century. Visitors recognize the building by its white facade and elevated setting, marking it as a visible reference point on the western edge of the city.

The building stands on the headland just north of Ocean Beach in the Outer Richmond, above the Sutro Baths ruins and Seal Rocks. The terrace holds a room-sized camera obscura. The site is exposed to Pacific wind and spray, so bring warm layers even in sunshine.

The guest register lost in the 1894 fire held signatures of three U.S. presidents and dozens of world-famous visitors. The first structure was a tavern leased to Captain Junius G. Foster, reached by the Point Lobos toll road opened a year after it began serving in 1863.