At the world-famous Madonna Inn, let them eat pink cake

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The signage is pink, the rooms are pink, and the rose-patterned carpet is pink. But nary are arsenic quintessentially pinkish — oregon recognizable — arsenic the long, hand-peeled ribbons of custom-dyed achromatic cocoa atop the pinkish Champagne barroom astatine the Madonna Inn.

The Central Coast’s quirkiest landmark is celebrated for its 110 candy-colored impermanent rooms themed to the likes of cavemen, carousels and pioneer America, but this maze-like, kaleidoscopic lair of chroma and whimsy is besides location to immoderate of the astir iconic nutrient connected the Central Coast.

The motel turns 100. Explore the state’s champion roadside havens — and the coolest stops on the way.

Husband-and-wife squad Alex and Phyllis Madonna opened their achromatic woody edifice with lone a twelve rooms connected Christmas Eve successful 1958. Through the years much rooms would debut, on with further wings to conscionable the demand. In 1960 they began operation connected the main structure, which present houses a steakhouse, a copper-and-wood-accented cafe, a bakery, a cocktail bar, a vino cellar, a food-focused acquisition store and a creation floor, successful summation to private-events spaces adorned with gold, stained solid and, of course, plentifulness of pink.

Hotel rooms astatine Madonna Inn successful San Luis Obispo, Calif., Friday, April 18, 2025.

“Our inn whitethorn not suit everyone’s taste, but from the fig of pleased guests we’ve had from practically each state successful the satellite ... we consciousness that we person contributed to the joyousness of traveling,” the precocious Alex Madonna erstwhile wrote to The Times.

At the Madonna Inn astir everything is made on-site, and what isn’t is often sourced from adjacent specialists. San Luis Obispo’s long-running Cattaneo Bros. makes the linguica sausage that’s served arsenic an appetizer astatine Alex Madonna’s Gold Rush Steak House and a filling for the Copper Cafe’s omelet. Some of the food is caught from the adjacent coast. Castoro Cellars’ section San Miguel installation makes the hotel’s house-brand wines.

At the Silver Bar guests swivel connected pink-and-wood stools to sip vacation-perfect cocktails specified arsenic the signature Pink Cloud, which comes topped with whipped pick and the motel’s ubiquitous house-dyed pinkish sugar. Monstrously heavy wedges of barroom marque their mode from the bakery to astir each array astatine each restaurant, portion full cakes remainder successful agleam pinkish cardboard boxes, lids lone half-closed astatine an space and taped to the sides — a testament to the size of these celebrated baked goods.

And nary barroom is arsenic celebrated present arsenic the pinkish Champagne cake.

Behind the scenes astatine the bakery

It’s a spot of a misnomer; there’s nary pinkish Champagne successful the barroom astatine all. Bakery manager Margie Peau says it was served during the hotel’s “Champagne hour” and the sanction stuck. Since its inception astir 50 years ago, the look remains astir identical and intimately guarded. Layers of springy, fluffy achromatic barroom are surrounded by a butter-yellow Bavarian pick and whipped cream, each frosted and coated successful shards and ribbons of custom-dyed pinkish cocoa and a dusting of confectioner’s sugar, a textural, creamy delight.

Last twelvemonth instrumentalist Kacey Musgraves swooned implicit “the layers and ruffles of [her] favourite pinkish Champagne cake” successful her opus “Dinner With Friends.” Dozens of copycat recipes are dispersed astir TikTok, Instagram, idiosyncratic blogs and publications specified arsenic America’s Test Kitchen. Everyone wants a taste, with immoderate guests driving hours for the treat.

Pink champagne barroom astatine Madonna Inn successful San Luis Obispo, Calif., Saturday, April 19, 2025.

“I deliberation it’s conscionable truthful unique,” Peau says. “We person a batch of radical who came arsenic children, and present they travel backmost arsenic adults and they’re conscionable benignant of successful awe of it. Nothing has changed; it’s similar going backmost successful time. They’re getting the aforesaid barroom that they got erstwhile they were small kids, and present they’re bringing their grandkids and they’re getting the aforesaid cake.”

They travel successful each shapes, sizes and colors: afloat expanse cakes, half-size cakes, circular cakes and wedding cakes, azygous layers, treble layers and more. Peau erstwhile weighed a 12-inch German cocoa cake, which rang successful astatine 25 pounds.

Eleven radical comprise the bakery team, and they marque hundreds of cakes passim the week for slices — 80 connected weekdays, 100 connected weekends. They churn retired arsenic galore arsenic 65 barroom orders each time for play pickup, positive further cakes for events held on-site.

“We ever person an other stash of cakes that we tin merchantability full erstwhile radical are like, ‘Oh shoot, I forgot to reserve my barroom for my kid’s birthday’ oregon thing similar that,” Peau says. (But to beryllium safe, spot your whole-cake bid online astatine slightest 48 hours successful advance, oregon 3 weeks retired during the summertime peak.)

The enactment begins astatine 4 a.m. erstwhile the archetypal displacement arrives astatine the pint-size bakery, with astir moving astir a tiny halfway table.

Bakers enactment the finishing touches connected pinkish champagne cakes astatine Madonna Inn.

“It’s tiny!” Peau says. “It was for a mates people; it was decidedly not for this measurement backmost then. We are ever successful each other’s abstraction for sure, but we similar each different a batch backmost there.”

During the holidays the bakery tin consciousness adjacent much cramped arsenic it cranks retired seasonal additions, specified arsenic 1,600 mini cupcakes and muffins for Easter and Mother’s Day brunch and hundreds of further pies for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The bakery squad whips up 9 flavors of pie, positive danishes, eclairs, elephantine cinnamon rolls, pick puffs and cupcakes, each of which gleam from their wood-and-glass cases astatine a country of the Copper Cafe. Once they merchantability retired for the day, they’re done.

Its tandem restaurant, the Copper Cafe, is wherever locals often halt by for breakfast: copious corned beef hashes, cheesy linguica omelets, fruit-topped Belgian waffles and different Americana acceptable to the clatter and clang of a engaged diner. This 1 conscionable happens to person a roaring fireplace astatine 1 end.

Crown-jewel steak

Just beyond the bakery and the Copper Cafe is the inn’s culinary crown jewel: the ornate Alex Madonna’s Gold Rush Steak House, a red-pink-gold dreamscape of a edifice decorated with a 28-foot-tall aureate faux histrion astatine the halfway of its eating room, cherubs, candlestick lights and seasonal decor hanging from its sprawling branches.

Beto Zamacona started arsenic a dishwasher astatine the Madonna Inn erstwhile helium was hardly 18 years old. After 25 years, he’s present the caput cook astatine the steakhouse.

Beto Zamacona cooks steaks connected the grill wrong the edifice astatine Madonna Inn.

According to Zamacona, the inn’s popularity exploded implicit the past 5 years. Pre-pandemic engaged nights were Friday to Sunday; now, helium says, they’re engaged Thursday to Monday, and sometimes service 300 guests astatine the steakhouse alone. Fifteen years ago, helium cooked for lone 35 to 50 guests connected weeknights.

“It’s getting insane,” helium says.

Reservations often publication up weeks successful advance, particularly for play dining; it’s not uncommon to spot guests feasting connected the steak dinners with gold-jacketed baked potatoes astatine the adjacent barroom oregon cafe, which service arsenic overflow seating.

Zamacona grills hand-cut steaks Santa Maria-style implicit a red-oak unrecorded fire, from down stained-glass roseate model panels. Given its proximity to the Central Valley, the restaurant’s vegetables are astir ever locally grown. He and his squad navigator rib-eyes, swordfish steaks, premier rib dinners, lamb chops, fried chicken, generous shrimp cocktails and much — astir of which person been served determination for decades — positive monthly specials that Zamacona creates nether the guidance of the caput cook of the full property, Jacqui Burns.

The steakhouse besides caters events, and Zamacona says he’s cooked up to 850 filets of steak for a azygous party. At Christmas and Thanksgiving, the steakhouse serves astatine slightest 1,400 radical each day.

There’s attraction to item and kitsch successful everything here. Decorating the eating country each play takes 2 to 3 weeks: bunnies and multicolored insubstantial Easter eggs successful spring, pastel pumpkins and cartoonish scarecrows successful fall, Santas and twinkling lights and faux-snowy trees toward the extremity of the year.

“There’s thing magical erstwhile you locomotion successful there,” says server Jamie Jorgensen. “You look astir and you’re conscionable like, ‘Wow, who thought of this?’”

The eating country astatine Madonna Inn successful San Luis Obispo, Calif., Friday, April 18, 2025.

She began moving astatine the steakhouse successful 2013, wherever she met and fell successful emotion with Zamacona. They joined 4 years later, and inactive enactment successful the edifice together.

Jorgensen regularly serves a premix of locals and tourists, including repetition customers she recognizes from years past. Some travel to meal successful formal that’s themed to their rooms, others successful midcentury glamour. One couple, she says, travels from Oregon doubly a year, eating successful the steakhouse each nighttime of their weeklong visits.

Like her husband, Jorgensen didn’t foresee moving astatine the steakhouse for truthful agelong — but she surely hoped she would. It is, she says, dissimilar anyplace else.

“It’s truly hard to locomotion successful determination and beryllium successful a atrocious mood,” she says. “I ever archer radical you person to halt astatine slightest 1 clip and cheque it disconnected your bucket list.… If you privation to spot immoderate radical dolled up connected a weekend, travel connected implicit to Madonna due to the fact that we person the glitter and the sparkle and the rhinestone.”