The Cliff House (shown here in 1894): pretty much guaranteed not to be on fire when you are having your $25 three-course meal.

Sure, the menu isn't exactly on the cutting edge of cuisine. But I'll tell you what, any buddy that turns down a three-course meal at the Cliff House? Clearly, the two of you need to have a talk. Preferably, over ocean views, cheese ravioli, baby spinach salad, and bread pudding.We consider the Cliff House one of SF's premier destination restaurants. It clearly has one of the more epic locations. Perched on the crags overlooking the ruins of the Sutro Baths and that one creepy cave everyone walks through, it appears to be the gatekeeper to the roiling greyness that the Pacific usually is this time of year. It's just about the perfect length of a bike ride down through the park (say hi to our freshly acquired baby bison, thanks Dick Blum, husband of Senator Diane Feinstein!), with a couple 100 feet of monster hill climb at the end, so you're guaranteed to be hungry by the time you get there. 

And now you can take your roommate to the Cliff House's fancy dining room, the Bistro, for 25 lousy bucks! (Just tell them in advance that they're paying for their own drinks, unless you've been leaving your dirty dishes out recently) Every Wednesday, a different three-course meal beckons you out to where the avenues reach the sea, just north of where the Murphy Windmill's vanes wait to turn, expensively. 

Hey, today is Wednesday! What's on offer at the Bistro? Glad you asked... 

This week's menu:

Course the first: Baby spinach salad with satsuma tangerines, candied walnuts, ricotta salata, and white balsamic vinaigrette

Course the second: Cheese ravioli with sautéed wild mushrooms in pomodora sauce and Parmesano-Reggiano

Course the third: Persimmon and white chocolate bread pudding with cinnamon crème anglaise

Incredible, yes? Scoop up your lucky holiday honey and celebrate not being at the mall. 

Cliff House

1090 Point Lobos, SF

(415) 386-3330

www.cliffhouse.com