Best dessert combo to order from Madonna Inn in SLO

Have you ever heard of the Madonna Inn?

Maybe you’ve seen the Madonna Inn from viral videos on the internet and they’ve popped up in my instagram feed too but I had no idea I would ever visit. This is a hotel famous for its over the top decor and individually decorated rooms-there are 110 of them! I was on a trip to SLO sipping a hojicha latte at Field Day Coffee (this cafe is really cute with delicious coffee and pastries too) and chatting with two lovely new friends I’ve made from their tourism bureau and I mentioned that I loved banana desserts. One of them immediately told me YOU MUST go to Madonna Inn, it’s only about 5 minutes away and they have the best banana cream pie.

And when someone tells you something like this so earnestly, and it’s about something you absolutely love, you have to go and try.

But first Novo Restaurant…

We weren’t in San Luis Obispo for very long and we already had dinner plans at Novo Restaurant in SLO so we decided we would save room after dinner to get dessert at Madonna Inn. Novo Restaurant was voted best in outdoor dining in SLO in 2022 and we had a lovely table in a tent outside. The menu was very eclectic-my husband ordered a pasta, I had tofu lettuce wraps and one of the guys had what he thought was the perfect salmon salad. All of our food was delicious and it was so nice to dine outdoors by the water.

And nearby the restaurant was a store called Junk Girls.

You could spend hours in this little store, it’s packed with so many intriguing and artful things. I noticed that you could get things engraved and I’ve been looking for a little four leaf clover forever. Do you like customizable jewelry too? And it was so cool to meet Melissa one of the owners of this store and it was even cooler that she is the one who made my necklace. It is one of my most favorite ever souvenirs already. I love tokens like this that remind me of places that we’ve been.

And if you go to SLO you must go to Idlewild Floral Company

Especially because I missed going in. I have only seen this store from the window but I am following along with this dried floral shop on Instagram because it is just perfect. And thankfully nowadays you can shop places like this from Seattle and the rest of the world but I still think some stores are way better in real life and this is one of them. Next time we go to SLO I’ll be stopping in at Idlewild Floral Company (and I’m tempted to order myself the Self Care Gift Box for Valentine’s Day too)

And the door you need to go in when you go to the Madonna Inn

We went in the cafe door to get into the Madonna Inn because we were only going for cake. But if you go, don’t go that way-go to the main doors. They are absolutely stunning and then you get to see the real drama of all the fancy decor as you walk in. The cafe where the cake is does not have the same “wow” feeling but when we walked out through the main area I could immediately see why this place is photographed so much.

And quite by happy accident we found out you shouldn’t just order the banana cream pie. One of my sons decided he really wanted to try the German chocolate cake. And for research sake I couldn’t say no. So we left the Madonna Inn holding about 2 pounds of dessert. We could have eaten it there, but we had a really comfortable set up at our hotel at the Wayfarer where we had two connecting rooms and so much space and the hotel was only a short drive away. And to me it always feels like a pretty indulgent treat to eat delicious dessert in a hotel room.

And if like us you like BOTH of these desserts from the Madonna Inn…

you might want to try making Chrissy Tiegan’s famous banana bread recipe. It’s the only banana bread recipe I know with coconut, vanilla pudding and chocolate chunks in it which kind of hit on all the flavor profiles from the two desserts from the Madonna Inn above.

(PS. I didn’t know it when we first visited but the Madonna Inn has nothing to do with the Madonna we all know and who I absolutely wish I had tickets for her concert when she comes to Seattle. I learned on the hotel site that the Madonna who made this hotel was Alex Madonna and this is the link they attached.)

(PPS. My family had such a great time on a trip hosted by Visit California, Visit SLO, Visit Santa Barbara and Visit Oxnard where we learned any of these places or a combination of all three could make a really great weekend getaway from Seattle.)

Terumi

Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys.  She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live.  She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)