Because every restaurant is more than just what’s on the plate.

Type: Entertainment dining / Mexican | Price: $$$ | Location: 6715 W. Colfax Ave., Lakewood, CO

After my first visit here over 25 years ago, I never thought I’d come back. But I did. And I’m glad.

A Little History

Casa Bonita sits in Lakewood, just outside Denver, inside what used to be a Joslin’s department store. From the outside it’s a big pink building with a tower. Nothing about the exterior prepares you for what’s inside.

Bill Waugh opened it on March 25, 1974, and from day one, the local food critics were underwhelmed by the food and absolutely floored by everything else. One reviewer basically used his entire write-up to describe the waterfall and then mentioned, almost as an afterthought, that fried chicken was available if you didn’t care for Mexican. That review set the tone for the next 50 years.

Then COVID closed it in 2020. The corporate owner filed for bankruptcy in 2021, and it looked like that was it. But South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, both Colorado kids who grew up on this place, stepped in and spent close to $40 million bringing it back. They also brought in James Beard-nominated chef Dana Rodriguez to finally do something about the food.

Settling In

We sat in the cave dining room, dim and rocky-walled with bats hanging from the ceiling. Casa Bonita gives you about 60 minutes to eat, and then you’re free to walk the whole place. So the cave worked fine. You’re not meant to stay in your seat anyway.

The service is shockingly fast. Plates showed up before we’d barely settled in. We ordered the chicken enchilada with red and green sauce and Betty’s burrito with shredded brisket. Both were genuinely good, and the food has turned a corner. The price is set at $40 per person no matter what you order. That gets you the entree, a soft drink, chips and salsa, and the famous sopapillas. Cocktails and a few extras are add-ons, but the base is fixed. I barely thought about the enchilada once we started walking around.

The Walk

The $40 million renovation shows. It’s kitsch in all the best ways, polished without losing any of the original weirdness. The 30-foot waterfall is still there. The cliff divers are still diving. The puppet show, the live music, the cave passages you wander through without totally knowing where you’ll end up. It’s all there, and it’s all better than I remembered.

If you watched the 2024 documentary about the renovation, there’s a moment where Parker walks the floor during one of the first public test nights. People are pointing at the waterfall, at the mines, and then at him. Wanting photos. He said it was a genuinely sad moment, realizing he couldn’t just be there anymore. He’d spent $40 million to get his favorite childhood place back and discovered he was now the attraction. The room he saved can no longer welcome him.

What got me was the small stuff. Down in the caves, there’s a sign that says “ManBearPig is Real.” If you know South Park, you couldn’t help but smile. It’s tucked in there like a private joke between the owners and anyone who grew up watching the show. They didn’t reimagine the place or plaster their names all over it. They just fixed it and left a few fingerprints behind for the people paying attention.

Victoria’s Taste

“I’m glad we came back, and I mean that. But I’ll be honest: if your kids are grown or you don’t have any, it’s hard to picture making a second trip. It’s a spectacular room, and the food surprised me. I just think some places are built for that first experience, and this might be one of them.”

Final Bite

Here’s my honest take on Casa Bonita. This may be the only article I ever write where the room completely outshines the food, and that’s even with the food being good now. You don’t come here and leave thinking about the enchilada. You leave thinking about the waterfall, or the actors, or the ManBearPig sign, or the way the whole place hums with this strange, wonderful energy that you genuinely can’t find anywhere else.

For Casa Bonita, it’s always been about the room.

Taste the Room pays for every meal we review. We don’t accept comped food, and restaurants aren’t notified of our visit in advance. It’s how we keep our reviews honest and independent.