San Diego Spotlight : When Going Out to Eat Is a Real Cliffhanger

The era in which Americans would walk a mile for a Camel may be dissolving into the mists of time, but a lot of us still will go the distance in order to scare up a good meal.

It is possible to go to extremes in the search for solid, flavorful, basic food in San Diego. Not everyone will want to risk the perils, which involve such things as lunching in the path of hang gliders, or diving into a Crown Point den that has a great deal of atmosphere as well as one of the best burgers in town. But this week we munch off the beaten track, and if the path strays too far from the High Road for some, it does lead to destinations as enjoyable as they are unlikely. In all cases, dress for trekking--shorts, stout shoes and light hearts are emphatically recommended.

If you lunch at the Cliffhanger cafe at the Torrey Pines Glider Port, you may find yourself pondering the same thoughts that Icarus must have held as he first soared up and away on homemade wings. Of course, since Icarus lacked certain smarts when it came to engineering, he and his hopes crashed into the sea, while most of the hang glider pilots sporting above the cliff and waves at this distant La Jolla park seem to be having the jolliest and most successful of flights.

The Cliffhanger combines the merits of a superb and unusual location (it’s superbly unusual, to tell the truth) with the qualities of the California beach shack eateries of an earlier age. This is not a restaurant by any stretch of either the imagination or the term, but the simple menu is well cooked, and it is hard to imagine a more stimulating place in which to eat than the observation deck, which overlooks stretching vistas of shoreline and water and is dotted here and there with brave souls gliding solo through the scenery. It’s a world apart, very much removed from the everyday of the city.

The cafe staff consists of a single person, a cook-cashier who takes your order, then your money, and tells you to return to the window in 10 minutes or so while she goes through the mysteries of grilling a hamburger or a chicken breast sandwich, or putting together a taco or quesadilla. The interval, of course, should be spent on the observation deck, from which the view is good in a food-less state and even more appetizing over one of the Cliffhanger’s devoutly tasty patty melts. It would seem pointless to wax too enthusiastic over the tuna sandwich--freshly put together with fat slices of red onion and ripe tomato--but it is awfully good. Freshly made french fries and a soda or canned lemonade complete the picture, so Maxim’s it isn’t--but, if the hang-glider pilots can throw caution to the winds, so can we, at least once in a while. The tab will not come to more than $6 per person unless you truly go to extremes.

Another extreme would be lunching above the rushing waves themselves, nearly embraced by the brisk arms of the blue Pacific.

A recent plan had been to take a short walk down a long pier to check out the cafe on Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach. In fact, the walk was taken, but the cafe is gone, swept away by a renovation that has left the pier well-groomed but bereft of deep-fried clams.

Given the number of possibilities in this neighborhood, all was by no means lost, and noses attuned to the scents of lunch-time beach cuisine quickly led the way to Armando’s The Green Flash.

Long-time habitues of the PB boardwalk will recall the years in which this location was occupied by World Famous, but The Green Flash seems an improvement. The view, of course, is terrific--although the “green flash” itself, a phenomenon that supposedly takes place at sunset, also supposedly occurs only above La Jolla Cove and seems witnessed mostly by those whose vision is aided by a martini or two. More important, the restaurant offers an ambitious menu that includes but goes beyond basics and generally seems well prepared.

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Table settings include a small vase of flowers and a jar of fresh salsa, the latter intended to spice the Denver and vegetarian omelets, or the fish tacos, machaca and eggs scrambled with chorizo. The menu also encompasses a goodly number of lunch-sized salads--Cobb, chef, shrimp and crab Louie, Oriental chicken, avocado stuffed with tuna or shrimp salad--and such seafood offerings as Cajun-style shrimp, fish and chips and a brochette of assorted tidbits.

Sandwiches are probably the main lunch attraction, and The Green Flash does them simply and well. A basic club was well-stacked with all the usual items, and a teriyaki-grilled chicken breast was done with particular style; features extended to a grilled slice of fresh pineapple and a home-made teriyaki glaze that tasted sweeter and more mellow than most. There are hamburgers, of course, including a Baja burger garnished with green chilies, onions and cheese.

Rocky’s Crown Pub is a Crown Point establishment known to its denizens simply as Rocky’s, and those who go there to eat--the place also offers pool tables, television sets tuned to sports events and seating at the bar or at stand-up counters along the aged, wood-paneled walls--go strictly for the hamburgers. There’s nothing else to order.

These are wonderfully good burgers, though, and while the ultra-casual, beachy atmosphere might seem extreme to those accustomed to at least a faint touch of formality or a few basic amenities, you will get a good meal here.

The menu hangs above the bar and consists of hamburgers, in one-third and one-half pound versions, with or without cheese, french fries optional--but fresh from the deep fat and highly recommended. An order placed with the bartender will result, a few minutes later, in a basket laden with a fat, juicy, fragrant burger, good to the last bite and even better with a few of the miniature pickled hot peppers that Rocky’s offers as an unexpected house specialty.

THE CLIFFHANGER Torrey Pines Glider Port, Torrey Pines Scenic Drive, La Jolla Lunch served 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. Closed Monday and Tuesday Lunch about $6 per person, including a soft drink and tax No credit cards

ARMANDO’S THE GREEN FLASH 701 Thomas Ave., Pacific Beach 270-7715 Breakfast, lunch and dinner Lunch entrees $5.95 to $10.25. Lunch for two, including a beer each, tax and tip, about $20 to $35. Credit cards accepted

ROCKY’S CROWN PUB 3786 Ingraham St., Pacific Beach 273-9140 Hamburgers served daily from lunch through late evening Hamburgers priced under $4; a meal for two with a beer each, tax and tip, under $15.