Brennan AngelThe landmark 1917 building known as The Callaway House, This Ole’ House, AJ Spurs, and most recently Pinky Carmine’s, will reopen as The Clubhouse this Thursday.
This unique European-style clubhouse is located at 740 West Foothill Blvd. in San Luis Obispo, and will include an upscale dining element, as well as a separate bar menu for more casual lunch and dinner occasions. Every Thursday, Friday and Saturday after dark, The Clubhouse will feature the best in blues, jazz and reggae entertainment.
This historic landmark came into existence first as a family residence, then a birthing place, a dairy, and later as a string of restaurants.
Owner Andrew Adams has dreamed of opening The Clubhouse for many years, and for the past 18 months has been working vigorously to get it ready. The Clubhouse is heavily sports-oriented. Most of the marketing is going towards sports clubs, including Cal Poly’s lacrosse, rugby and water polo, as well as San Luis Obispo’s men’s and women’s rugby, youth rugby and more in the future.
“This is my mission, these clubs, and I want to try to grow their prestige and success,” Adams said.
In Europe, rugby teams have their own clubhouses and fields, but because no team around here can afford their own, The Clubhouse will serve the entire community. Adams has played rugby for 22 years and is the past president of San Luis Obispo’s rugby club.
“These kinds of club sports are different, not like high school sports,” Adams said. “They’re team sports; no one player needs to be the best.”
For the opening, the historic building has been renovated, leaving parts like the wood flooring that are still intact. All new electronics were added as well, including new speakers, wireless Internet and eventually large, flat screen TVs in several rooms.
There are two full service bars and a large menu that includes healthier foods with whole grains and fresh local vegetables. All meats are cooked on wood, creating a more savory taste.
“For my mission to be accomplished, I want to be in the top three of greatest places to eat around here,” Adams said.
Greg Holt, the head chef, has been cooking since 1975 and said that the kitchen in The Clubhouse is the nicest he’s ever seen.
“Everything is engineered to last forever, we didn’t just take the cheapest way out,” Holt said. “I run my restaurant by hiring cooks who are better than me.”
The building was a brothel during World War II, and became a cowboy bar where shooting contests took place and several people were killed. There are stories of active ghosts still in the building, and past managers have even quit because the ghosts allegedly showed themselves at night when no one else was around.
Adam’s workers have reported noises of heavy furniture and banging in the walls. One night, a few workmen were finishing late and there were some glasses of water on the back bar. A few minutes later, they heard a loud smash and saw the glasses broken 8 feet away from the bar.
One of the more unique services of The Clubhouse is a shuttle that circles the city, running near Cal Poly, through downtown, up Madonna and Los Osos Valley roads and ending on Foothill Boulevard. This will help eliminate drunk driving and will allow people to leave their cars at home, taking care of the limited parking situation.
“If you’re going to do something, you have to do it right,” Adams said.
The Clubhouse sits on five and a half acres, and over time, Adams hopes to clean up the field in the back for customers to play ball on, and possibly put in a path for joggers as well.
This isn’t a typical downtown experience, but a place for students and the community to share.
The Clubhouse will open Thursday at 4 p.m. with the motto, “Old world hospitality with a rockin’ old House of Blue’s style.”