Alex Madonna's Gold Rush Steak House barbecues steaks over an oak pit inside the pink-on-pink Madonna Inn, San Luis Obispo's 1958 roadside fantasia.
Order: An oak-pit steak, then a slice of pink champagne cake from the bakery case.
Tip: The filet mignon is the house's most popular steak; stay for cake from the on-site bakery.
Madonna Inn Copper Cafe serves all-day diner classics under hammered copper and pink leather, with the famous cake case by the door in San Luis Obispo.
Signature: Pink champagne cake, Diner classics
Order: Any diner classic followed by pink champagne cake from the bakery case.
Tip: The bakery counter sells whole pink champagne cakes to travel; slices go fastest on weekend evenings.
The Nautical Bean has run as a family coffee bistro in San Luis Obispo since 1998, cooking a full breakfast and lunch board behind its espresso bar.
Signature drink: House mochas
Tip: Two more branches pour at 2010 Parker Street and 810 Orcutt Road; the original keeps the biggest kitchen.
Pardon My French Bakery pipes eclairs and builds French specialty cakes at SLO Ranch Farms & Marketplace on the western edge of San Luis Obispo.
Tip: Eclairs and entremets sell out before the 15:00 close on Saturdays; ring ahead to hold one.
Worth the queue: Eclairs
Madonna Inn Bakery calls itself home of the famous pink champagne cake, hand-finishing layer cakes daily inside San Luis Obispo's pink palace since 1958.
Tip: Whole cakes are subject to availability, so order ahead; a boxed slice survives the drive up Highway 1 surprisingly well.
Worth the queue: Pink champagne cake
The Saturday morning farmers' market fills the World Market car park on Madonna Road, the produce-first sibling of San Luis Obispo's Thursday night party.
Tip: It wraps at 10:45 sharp; the growers' stalls are picked over well before then in stone-fruit season.