Casa Bonita

The grand reopening of a Colorado landmark.

Casa Bonita is a right of passage for most Coloradans. It’s a Mexican restaurant in Denver that serves mediocre [at best] food and endless sopapillas; but it’s less about the food, and more about the experience. Let’s start with the exterior. It’s a bright pink building with an 85-foot tower hovering over an otherwise ordinary strip mall. Inside is basically a mini amusement park with extravagant decor of palm trees and cabanas, an interactive pirate cave, and their renowned cliff divers. That’s right, in the center of the restaurant is a small pool where cliff divers entertain guests by plunging 15 feet into the water. It’s quite a spectacle to see, made even better if you don’t feel sick from the food the next day.

After shutting down during the pandemic, Casa Bonita filed for bankruptcy in 2021 with the looming threat of closing forever. Not wanting to see this beloved Colorado landmark go, the creators of South Park purchased the restaurant and endured a lengthy $40 million dollar renovation before reopening its doors this past September. Dave and I had already experienced Casa Bonita years ago, and in most [if not all] cases once is enough; but my sister recently moved to Colorado, and somehow - out of nearly 40,000 people on the waiting list - she scored early reservations.