After many years of being closed, three well-known restaurants–Julius’ Castle, Equinox, and the Cliff House–are poised for a rebirth, seeking to resume the city’s bright dining scene. These famous Bay Area restaurants are known for their amazing food, beautiful views of the city, and their special dining experience.
For many, the Cliff House was a go-to checkpoint for amazing food. Violet Losilevsky ’25 said, “I always loved driving by the Cliff House. I went as a kid before it was shut down.”
Established in 1863, the Cliff House has been one of the many restaurants in San Francisco that shut down due to the pandemic in 2020 because of financial challenges and not enough customers.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, in September of 2023, “The National Park Service announced that Sutro Lands End Partners, LLC, has signed a 20-year lease to operate the famous property, set on a rugged cliff with sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean. Alexander Leff, a San Francisco native and attorney who grew up in the Richmond District, is leading the operation. He brought in a popular San Francisco restaurant group, Hi Neighbor Hospitality Group, to consult on the upcoming Cliff House project.”
The restaurant was projected to open in late 2024, but did not.
The Chronicle also reported, that the opening “has been delayed from this year until 2025 due to extensive, unanticipated repairs that will cost more than $10 million, according to the site’s new operator.”
Alexander Leff of Sutro Lands End Partners, which signed a lease for the landmark site last year, told the Chronicle “that major infrastructure issues were discovered after they started demolition work on the aging cliffside building several months ago. There are issues with waterproofing, the HVAC system, electrical and roofing, among others.”
Liza Johnson with Postcard Communications, said in regards to an interview on the status of the legendary restaurant, “Unfortunately, we will have to decline this opportunity as we do not have updates to share about the Cliff House.”
Virginia Casey, who worked there from 1987 until its closing, said, “It was a beautiful place to work with the ocean – Lands End view. Just a stunning spot that was different every day. I loved being out there for the beauty of it all. But, the staff and owners and our neighbors up the hill at Louie’s were the best part of it all. We were all like family.”
In regards to its closure, Casey said, “Our lease with the National Park Service had been in negotiation for a few years and the owners wanted to sign for another term, but the Park Service kept us on a year to year basis for a short time. As far as I could tell it was just a matter of time before the paperwork would be signed but then COVID hit and the lease issue became a problem. We had to shut down and with no lease signed, everything was up in the air.”
With no official reopening date, Casey noted that the condition of the building is a concern. “What I have seen over the past few years, while the building sits empty, is the deterioration of the property. The windows are salt stained and the stainless steel railings are rusted out,” she said.
“Driving up or down Point Lobos is such a sad sight now. It’s all empty and memories are all we have. I am hopeful that the new restaurant group that holds the lease can create some magic and get it open and ready to welcome guests again. They are talented enough to do so but the building is a bear and I am sure they are doing their best.”
She added, “It’s time for a rebirth and not everyone will be happy (as I learned working there for so many years) but let’s get it open and support the business that takes on this behemoth that is so hard to keep up. They deserve support for taking this on and I, for one, am excited to see what they create.”
Sitting on Telegraph Hill, Julius’ Castle is another iconic landmark that is seeking revival. First opened in 1922, the castle is a neighborhood favorite for its unique architecture. Not only locals, but celebrities dined at Julius’ Castle. In 2007, it closed due to permit problems, leaving a known building in the city stoically silent ever since.
Spanish teacher Armando Castillo said, “Julius Castle was special because it had Victorian ambiance and character – just getting to it was a challenge as it clung to the side of a cliff on Telegraph Hill. It felt like you were going back in time when you went there. It was classy and historic.”
The building sits just below Coit Tower, and a recent visit revealed caution tape surrounding outdoor stairways and plastic covering a few windows on the Montgomery Street entrance. Visible from a few streets below, although still challenging, the once striking facade is partially obstructed from view because of overgrown foliage.
Castillo added, “The food was excellent. It was a combination of an Italian restaurant with a classic American chop house – pastas, steaks, seafood. They had a famous Cherries Jubilee for two that was especially popular. I loved the steaks and pasta and the abalone appetizer.”
The building is designated San Francisco Landmark 121, and according to the San Francisco Standard, attorney Paul Scott bought the decaying building in 2012 and has been working ever since on trying to reopen it.
Castillo said, “I would love to eat there again if they could get it going again. It was very popular during prom season. They need to hire a top notch chef and recreate the original menu.”
Math teacher Ken Harrington dined there in the 1980s and remembers it as being “incredible at night. It was a fantastic place, fun and cozy, super elegant… you felt like royalty.”
Zach Olsen was a bartender at Julius’ Castle in 2006. He said, “Challenges came along with working in such an old space. The equipment was quite dated and that presented some challenges.”
Like many architectural wonders, “Working at JC was like stepping back in time,” he said. “You really felt like you were part of history when you were there and I think that was a lot of the appeal for both employees and patrons. It was a portal back to old San Francisco.”
The email for Julius’ Castle did not respond to requests for an interview as of publication time.
Equinox, known for its rooftop dining, lets customers enjoy a full view of the spots in the city. This restaurant was shut down in 2007 because of financial issues, disappointing lots of customers and tourists. But many years later, in May 2024, news spread that the rotating restaurant that offers a panoramic view of the skyline, different neighborhoods, and the Bay Bridge, while enjoying their meal would once again be open.
A call to the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero revealed that the Equinox is now called the Regency Club, and is only open to hotel guests. “It is not open to the public,” a hotel employee said. The employee confirmed that it does rotate “in the afternoons,” but again, only for those staying in the hotel.
According to Elizabeth Lazzari, Executive Assistant Marketing Director, it is now “a lounge for our guests that you can upgrade to access it or if you are a World of Hyatt Globalist, you have complimentary access. You can enjoy continental breakfast, mid day snack and evening hors d’oeuvres, drinks and dessert.”
SFGate reported in May of 2024, “Engineers repaired the floor of [the] former revolving rooftop restaurant, the Equinox, to once again rotate. The restaurant, which shuttered in 2007, was known for making a slow, 56-minute turn.”
According to KRON 4 News, the hotel “opened in 1973, [and] was designed by renowned brutalist architect John Portman.”
Lazzari added, “The best part is the incredible view and it now rotates again like it did when it was the restaurant. It started rotating just last year.”
Science teacher Michael O’Brien said, “The rotating Equinox was futuristic and fascinating–a great place for dining, or just beverages, to take in breathtaking, panoramic, 360 views of the bay and city (when you could still see them from that height).”
He added, “I went there numerous times with my family over the years after spending the day on the Bay in a ferry listening to my grandfather sing tenor for the San Francisco Cable Car Chorus under brilliant Conductor Bill McKenna.”
The hotel was featured in a few movies from the 1970s including science fiction thriller “Time After Time” and the lobby in the star-studded disaster movie “Towering Inferno.”
RSP Aide Marcus Escobar ’18 visited there as a child. “I remember how mesmerized I was to see waiters blazing through the restaurant while the entire space rotated around the city skyline, offering us its 360 degree view of the city and bay. I am not aware of any other rotating restaurants, which made my experiences at the Equinox special.”
Reserving it as only open to hotel guests, O’Brien said, “certainly evokes anticipation, mystique, and nostalgia.” However, “If it stays that way much longer, the Equinox will simply become a relic, an arthritic appendage.”
Escobar agrees. “Leaving the restaurant open to hotel guests only caters to a privileged few,” he said. “To relive a childhood memory, I called to see if there was any way I could reserve a table for an evening. Unfortunately, I was let down as they informed me I needed to book a room at the hotel in order to dine at the restaurant which would run me more than $375 a night.”
“While the restaurant’s exclusivity builds to its mystique, it also limits a treasure to what the city has to offer to its own residents. I recall many not knowing of the restaurant’s existence, and others that claim the rotating floor was a myth to fool people,” Escobar said.
The possible reopening of these historic establishments to the public has created excitement in San Francisco. Whether it’s coming back to those memories from the Cliff House, watching the cars pass on the Bay Bridge in Equinox (Regency Club), or looking out at San Francisco’s vibrant view at Julius’ Castle with family or friends, the reopening of these locations is what many are hoping for in the future. These restaurants offer a unique view into the city’s past, and the impending reopenings are a sign of the city’s love for keeping history alive for future generations.
