Madonna Inn Banquet

DO NOT have your wedding reception here! The food was SHITTY and the service was SHITTY for the amount of money you pay. They could care less about customer satisfaction, hospitality and experience. All they care about is your money.
We had our wedding reception in the Garden and Round Room recently and we are disappointed with the horrible food and service we received.
First of all, the food was not served on time as expected. The dinner was ready before the appetizers. And the kids pasta dinner was doughy and undercooked. The prime rib that was served was so salty, undercooked and bloody that many of our guests said it was disgusting and therefore inedible. We’ve eaten the prime rib for dinner at the Madonna Inn on different occasions and it was delicious. But this time it was a complete fail. The only food that was decent was the salmon and red potatoes. We paid a lot of money for food that we thought was going to be top-​notch (and edible) but turned out to be distasteful and food that my guests couldn’t even eat (which we paid for)!
Another outrageous incident was that we bought mini bottles of Whiskey and wine for our bridesmaids and groomsmen as gifts and placed them at their seats when we were setting up for the reception. But when we arrived at the reception after the ceremony, the bottles were gone! We asked one of the waitstaff what happened to them and they said that they removed them and will give them back to us after the party! No one on the waitstaff bothered to tell us beforehand. We had to ask what happened to the mini bottles. If we hadn’t asked about them, who knows if they would have gave them back to us at all.
In addition, two of our groomsmen were holding beers as they were making their grand entrance into the reception and the manager of the waitstaff had the tenacity to snatch the beers right out of their hands while they were walking in! My groomsmen were totally offended. That was completely uncalled for, rude and disrespectful of the manager. He could of at least waited for us to settle down in our seats and ask them kindly for their beers or at least let them finish it!
I get that due to their liquor license outside alcohol is prohibited, but the way they handled it was UNACCEPTABLE!
We were also charged an extra $ 600 for ten extra people which we did not authorize and we did not need the extra food.
The waitstaff manager was very pushy, impolite, rude and disrespectful.
I emailed Nicole, the Banquet Manger, after the wedding to express our dissatisfaction with the food and service we received. She provided NO APOLOGY and had the nerve to turn the table on us and tell me their complaints about us! Um excuse me! They complained about kids running around and bumping into the servers and they should’ve been «controlled»!They knew beforehand that 20 kids were going to be there and you can’t «control» 20 kids simultaneously! What do they want us to do, tie them up? And, they’re not the one’s paying us for OUR service, we’re paying for THEIR service! They’re in the CUSTOMER SERVICE industry for crying out loud! They’re not supposed to complain TO the customer after the customer PAID their asses money! That’s just FUCKEN RUDE! This further backs up my claim that they don’t give a shit about customer satisfaction!
We’ve been to the Madonna Inn many times before for dinner and enjoyed the food and hospitality. So we were really excited to have our wedding reception at such an iconic place in San Luis Obispo that we have adored. After our horrible experience at our wedding reception there, we are beginning to think that they take advantage of the Madonna Inn’s image as the «big guys in town.» They are overrated, overpriced, and could care less about the quality of food, hospitality and experience of guests and more about money. UNAPPRECIATIVE, GREEDY BASTARDS!

We attended a holiday party in the banquet room, located downstairs under the Steak House. We were impressed with how efficiently the staff brought the courses of food to our tables… Most everyone was eating the same course at about the same time. And the food was hot! My wife and I had the ribeye steak, and they were excellent. The ambiance is very cool and unique. I recommend this venue for any banquet. Can’t speak to pricing, as we were invited guests of another company. The only negative — this building was built many years ago, and access is via a staircase. There is a long route, through the kitchens, to get to a ramp if you are in a wheelchair, but if you’re just having trouble walking then that extra distance offsets the benefits of avoiding stairs. An elevator would make this place 5 stars for me.

Was invited to a banquet located in this beautiful rustic Inn. When you walk inside it is unlike anything else you’ve ever walked into. It is completely breath taking while feeling warm and homey with a touch of elegance.
The salad was scrumptious with all the right vegetables, fresh and local I’m sure!
But the award winner… DRUM ROLL PLEASEEEEE! bumbumbumbumbumbumbumbumbum… STEAK! Its so thick… atleast 2 inches tall (more or less. the wine might’ve hazed my sizing up) but it was grilled and roasted more than just right. its tender to the cut and just the right amount of rare. which is way nice and pink without being chewy, just tender all around.
The goblets that they use as cups make the place feel like a magical fairy tale place, filled with an elixir full of life.