Supercharger - San Luis Obispo, CA (LIVE 5 May 2018, expanded May 2020, 14 V2 + 4 V3 stalls)

[ibdb]

My son started at Cal Poly this fall, and while the drive is a little longer from here than I'd want to do on a regular basis, I can imagine that I just might be putting this Supercharger to use a few times over the next few years.

 

[rrosenbl]

Great to see Tesla locating SCs among California's Gold (though Huel was in SLO twice, I don't recall he filmed at the Madonna Inn). BTW the Monte Cristo sandwich and the colorful water goblets were once my favorites and the Rock Room, and... and...

 

[Bigtanuki]

If you are the "buy something to go and eat it while charging" kind of Tesla driver I can suggest a few places in SLO to buy some chow for the charging stop. Do searches for the following:

Old SLO BBQ - KILLER tri tip sandwiches, pulled pork and chicken. If you really love tri-tip just get the meat on the sourdough roll. Nothing else. Yum. If you like beer, they have a taproom with dozens of beers to try. Give them a credit card and you'll be rewarded with a dispenser card to pull your own brews and ciders (many local). Get a taste or get glass. Your choice.

Ben Franklin's - It's been in SLO for more than 40 years for a reason. Great sandwiches.

High Street Deli - Another place that's been here for decades

Madonna Inn Copper Cafe - If you're not in the mood for a meal but just want a cup of coffee and something WONDERFUL go to the Madonna Inn coffee shop. Their bakery cakes and monkey bread are legendary in the county and it's a cool (of not a bit expensive) to have a meal too.

As a long time resident of the county I can say that there a lot of really good places to eat. Service can be a bit rough at sit down places since they serve a lot of less than discriminating students but hey, you can't win them all.
If you are in town for an overnight layover and love seafood, I must recommend the Ciopinot Seafood Grill. Only open for dinner. Great seafood, great service, FREE corkage for your first 4 bottles! Their "no-work" cioppino is to die for. Oh yeah, try the calimari appetizers. Amazing.

 

[PismoPat]

This is a great location for travelers:

Restaurants nearby:
Madonna Inn dining room and coffee shop. (Steaks as good or better as Harris Ranch )
Denny's
Ihop
Starbucks
Panera
McDonalds
Buffalo Wild Wings
Golden Gong
Madonna Plaza food court

Hotels adjacent:
Madonna Inn
Best Western
Vagabond
Marriott courtyard (4 blocks)

A bike trail is adjacent for a quick ride to town, or Uber to town ~$5 for lots more choices and shops.

Lots of shopping in the Madonna Plaza. Directly adjacent to the freeway for a quick on and off.

This is a great choice.

Also a Tahoe Joe's about 40 yards past Buffalo Wild Wings.

 

[T34ME]

This thread about SLOtown and Madonna Inn brings back a lot of warm memories for me. We are former 30+ year residents of SLO and I knew Alex Madonna (d.) well. The back story on Alex is that he started Madonna Construction Co. back in the late '50's. He made a small fortune in road and highway construction business. He kept his personal pick and shovel from his first road project in a frame in his office. You will see the crossed pick and shovel motif throughout the Madonna Inn.

Alex and wife Phyllis had a private table in the Copper Room where they dined for lunch with invited guests. Because of my position at the time, I was invited to eat with them a couple of times where he (unsuccessfully) lobbied me for favorable status on his various projects. Pink was Phyllis' favorite color. The SC location at Madonna Inn is a coup for the business.

I can see small communities throughout North America competing for a SC location as the system and EV's continue to grow in popularity. Having a captive clientele for a period of time can inject an economic shot in the arm for a small community. I see this scenario as a win/win for all of us. This the beginning of a personal transportation revolution.

 

[Wshowell]

How certain are you this of the location? The Supercharger map has it located up on Santa Rosa and Monterey intersection (the old Audi/Vw area perhaps). I think Madonna Inn would be perfect (especially is they used the defunct gas station). Last week I was talking to a guy from PG&E that came out to inspect our new Solar array, I told him we had two EVs, and he commented to me there was a major charging station install going in at Madonna. He didn’t recall that it was Tesla but he hadn’t seen a Tesla install before either. He said the only other ones he had been a part of were the one behind the shopping center on Broad and the Target chargers. He seemed to think it was more like the Marigold center. Hopefully he is wrong.

 

[Graffi]

This thread about SLOtown and Madonna Inn brings back a lot of warm memories for me....

I can see small communities throughout North America competing for a SC location as the system and EV's continue to grow in popularity. Having a captive clientele for a period of time can inject an economic shot in the arm for a small community. I see this scenario as a win/win for all of us. This the beginning of a personal transportation revolution.

Maybe in almost all the rest of the world, but not in Fort Stockton, TX. It seems that they can not get approval to put a Supercharger anywhere in that town.

Now back to our regularly scheduled SLO thread.

 

[cpa]

How certain are you this of the location? The Supercharger map has it located up on Santa Rosa and Monterey intersection (the old Audi/Vw area perhaps). I think Madonna Inn would be perfect (especially is they used the defunct gas station). Last week I was talking to a guy from PG&E that came out to inspect our new Solar array, I told him we had two EVs, and he commented to me there was a major charging station install going in at Madonna. He didn’t recall that it was Tesla but he hadn’t seen a Tesla install before either. He said the only other ones he had been a part of were the one behind the shopping center on Broad and the Target chargers. He seemed to think it was more like the Marigold center. Hopefully he is wrong.

The consensus on this site is that the pin placement on Tesla's maps is merely a general location and not a specific location. Likely the Santa Rosa/Monterey intersection is considered the heart of San Luis. Similarly the "coming soon" for Fresno reflects a pin just off highway 41 in a real crappy part of town that has no redeeming places to plug in, let alone do something for 30-45 minutes.

Moreover, Tesla tries its best to locate Supercharger spots with fairly easy ingress and egress from the freeways. Madonna Inn fits that ideal perfectly. Santa Rosa and Monterey, not so much.

But we shall see!

 

[aesculus]

especially is they used the defunct gas station

The bathroom in the gas station was classic Maddona Inn IIRC. You walked into the men's restroom and found no urinals but were greeted by a great waterfall. After looking around and knowing you were in the Maddona Inn you just let it go, but at the same time you worried someone watching a security camera would come yelling in wanting to know what you think you were doing. I had to wait for the men's room to clear and brought my wife in to see it (c1980).

 

[SMAlset]

How certain are you this of the location? The Supercharger map has it located up on Santa Rosa and Monterey intersection (the old Audi/Vw area perhaps). I think Madonna Inn would be perfect (especially is they used the defunct gas station). Last week I was talking to a guy from PG&E that came out to inspect our new Solar array, I told him we had two EVs, and he commented to me there was a major charging station install going in at Madonna. He didn’t recall that it was Tesla but he hadn’t seen a Tesla install before either. He said the only other ones he had been a part of were the one behind the shopping center on Broad and the Target chargers. He seemed to think it was more like the Marigold center. Hopefully he is wrong.

Lloyd got it confirmed by management (see: San Luis Obispo CA Supercharger )

 

[Wshowell]

I was in SLO today and stopped by the site. Definitely looks like the markings for a full blown Supercharger. I estimated a dozen or so based on the footprint. Unfortunately while I was checking out the site a homeless guy on a bike pulled up and started telling me about the neurotransmitter he has in his eye and how he uses it to direct spy satellites to track the local police and to relay to him when its time to move on. After politely listening to him for a few minutes I headed back to my S and he yells out “nice Tesla!” Just another day in Ca circa 2017.

 

[Foxtrotter]

This is great news. We live in Santa Barbara and drive up to the Madonna Inn 2 or 3 times a month for the great dancing. We've been looking forward to using our Model 3 for this trip when we get it. Not that we'll have to have it with an
LR 3 but its nice to have options. The inn has dancing every night and the schedule is on their website under the bar. It is a unique and memorable place, not just for the restrooms. The motel rooms are each one-of-a-kind pieces of fantasy. For dancing I highly recommend Jeff Elliot on the first and third tuesday evenings from 7 till 10 or so.

 

[SMAlset]

The below thread was started in another charging forum and since it's been verified and work has begun, thought it should be moved here now.

Moderators, can you make this happen?

San Luis Obispo CA Supercharger

 

[Ko Olina]

This is a great location for travelers:

Restaurants nearby:
Madonna Inn dining room and coffee shop. (Steaks as good or better as Harris Ranch )
Denny's
Ihop
Starbucks
Panera
McDonalds
Buffalo Wild Wings
Golden Gong
Madonna Plaza food court

Hotels adjacent:
Madonna Inn
Best Western
Vagabond
Marriott courtyard (4 blocks)

A bike trail is adjacent for a quick ride to town, or Uber to town ~$5 for lots more choices and shops.

Lots of shopping in the Madonna Plaza. Directly adjacent to the freeway for a quick on and off.

This is a great choice.

Don't forget McClintocks for great steaks

 

[ecarfan]

The way you make that happen is to use the “Report” button in the first post in that thread and bring it to the attention of the moderators for that forum (I’m not one of them, and I have just made that request using the Report button). The moderators can’t possibly read every post on TMC looking for user request for them to do something.

I didn’t even know that thread existed. As you correctly note, it should be in this forum.

 

[Lloyd]

Don't forget McClintocks for great steaks

Not nearby though. Large restaurant is 10 miles south, downtown is 2.5 miles. You will have to cab or Uber to get there while you charge.

 

[MP3Mike]

How certain are you this of the location? The Supercharger map has it located up on Santa Rosa and Monterey intersection (the old Audi/Vw area perhaps).

Tesla's map generally shows the future Supercharger site pins as centered on the city name on the map, it gives you no idea where it will actually be located.

 

[wdolson]

There used to be a Union station at the Madonna Inn that was decorated just like the Inn. It was a must stop when we were traveling on 101 when I was a kid.

My SO and I stayed at the Madonna back in 2000 when we went down to visit my parents in Morro Bay. The place was looking kind of rode hard and put away wet. It still had a lot of character.

 

[Ulmo]

Saw this sign at the Atascadero Supercharger.

I love that sign idea; it prepares people for new sites so that they can plan around it in the future.

I'm especially happy with this location for the SLO SC. A good score for Tesla!

 

[Doug Martoccia]

Good location, sort of. I'd like to use this stop as an alternative to Atascadero, but the restaurant at the Madonna Inn kinda scares my wife. She gets the creepies.