Casa Bonita

Billed as "The World's Most Exciting Restaurant", Casa Bonita has been one of the Denver Metro area's most iconic landmarks for forty nine years.

The bright pink exterior houses a space filled to the brim with kitschy Mexican decor.

The multilevel dining room is decorated with plastic trees, strings of light, different facades and theme rooms. 

The centerpiece is a thirty foot indoor waterfall, complete with cliff divers.

Casa Bonita  closed in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and its owner filed for bankruptcy a month later. Fortunately, it was acquired by South Park creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, later that year.

For the last couple years, the restaurant has been undergoing a significant renovation. The soft re-opening happened last week. Tickets were available by raffle to members of Casa Bonita's one hundred thousand person mailing list. My friend and fellow hobbyist, Heather Malone, entered the raffle and won! Last Thursday, Heather, her fiance, Josh, Angelo and I were among the first to visit the new and improved Casa Bonita.

A crowd was gathered outside by the famous fountain. Of course, I had to snap a selfie.

We made our way inside. The excitement was palpable. 

The food is still served cafeteria style. You order in one room...

and pick up your plate in another.

Then an employee ushers you into the dining area. We sat in the "Presidential Palace."

We ordered drinks.

Cheers, besties.

Then we dug into our food. These were not the absolute best tacos I have ever eaten, but it was a solid restaurant meal and so much better than before.

The sopapillas - which used to the be the only truly edible thing to come out of that kitchen - were just as good as ever. We ate two trays worth!

After we finished our meal, we spent some time exploring the space.

While everything looked - and smelled - newer, fresher and cleaner, it was still the same, old, wonderful Casa Bonita.

There's so much to see and do, I know we missed half of it.

We did not, however, miss the photo op with Cartman. Thank you, Matt and Trey for saving Casa Bonita!

And thank you, Heather, for including me in this adventure!

Casa Bonita is a Colorado landmark. I hope it will thrive for years to come!