Denver’s Casa Bonita has been around since 1973 and is legendary for its unique blend of food, theming, and theatrics. The mission style facade in a bubble gum pink hue is the first hint that this place is unusual, especially situated in the middle of a nondescript strip mall a few miles outside of Denver’s downtown. The interior is somewhere between Disney’s Tiki Room, a neighborhood family Mexican restaurant, an elaborate circus fun house, and a fever dream. Depending on what corner you’ve wandered into (or been seated in), you might be surrounded by dripping stalactites, a mariachi band, or even a 30 foot waterfall that serves as a stage for dancing cliff divers. There’s a puppet show, a spooky cave maze, face painting, an amazingly talented live Spanish guitarist, a jail, an arcade, a Root Beer Bar, a market…and more. Maybe even a lot more. I’m not confident that I saw everything during my visit.
Locals have been coming here dutifully for years despite a reputation for poor maintenance and terrible food. Maybe this contradiction was why the makers of South Park made several references to the restaurant in episodes of their cartoon. When Casa Bonita encountered financial hardship, the South Park creators stepped up and took over the restaurant with a pledge to make it better than ever. I never visited the old Casa Bonita, but the renovated and relaunched Casa Bonita is a spectacle, and one of the best dining experiences I’ve ever had.
When I visited in May 2024, you couldn’t just stop by for dinner. Reservations were secured through a lottery system where you sign up with your email and hoped to be selected for a reservation window. My name was called back in February and I purchased the “flex” option for a table for 6. My original plans for visiting in April didn’t work out, but I was able to reschedule for “Cliffside” seating in May. The Cliffside tables are the ones closest to the cliff divers’ performing area. We were able to watch them dive several times during our meal, but anyone can wander over to the pool area to see them jump throughout the night. It happens every 20 minutes. While the specific dives and dances changed throughout the night, the novelty never wore off. The lottery system is ends in September 2024 so you might be able to visit relying on persistence rather than luck moving forward.
There were no French fries on the menu, but they did have an assortment of non-alcoholic beverages. You can select from their mocktails (I didn’t), or their frozen drinks. I selected the Estelita Margarita (sans booze). For $9 this was an outstanding drink that packed a very tart punch. I nursed it throughout my meal and found it very complimentary to the family Mexican fare served to us. There were 7 menu options to select from for the meal, and I went with the Christmas enchiladas. That’s one red enchilada, and one green. These were vegetarian, and the sauces were rich, the cheese was gooey, and the beans had more heat than I expected. For all the stories of Casa Bonita’s food being horrible, I was pleasantly surprised by how well executed it was! They brought in some legitimate culinary talent to rework the menu, and they succeeded in finding a balance between quality flavors and speed of service. They need to keep the food moving quickly so that they can turn the tables (I’d guess they have capacity for 300 diners), but even so this was some of the best family Mexican food I’ve had in recent memory. There were chips and salsa complimentary at the table, but the food arrived promptly and was followed by a Mexican style of beignets called “sopaipillas” coated in honey, cinnamon, and sugar. The gift shop even sells Soap-aipilla soap and scented candles…this dessert is iconic.
While exploring the property I discovered that they have a Root Beer Bar located by the arcade. The three root beers on tap were quality offerings. Zuberfizz Root Beer from Durango, Rocky Mountain Root Beer from Denver, and Tommyknocker from Idaho Falls (CO). I went with the Tommyknocker because I hadn’t tried that one before. It looks like it’s possible to find bottles through various sellers. The root beer itself was great. A bit of wintergreen, some caramel notes, nice carbonation. The souvenir plastic mug was a nice touch, and they were professional enough to serve it without ice.
Overall, this was an incredible experience. I’m so glad I got to share it with a few coworkers. Some had been there in the past, some hadn’t, but everyone had an amazing time. I think I was grinning the whole 2 hours I spent in the restaurant and kept finding new details that added to the enchantment. If you go, don’t miss the puppet show. Go through the maze. Get another round of sopaipillas. Have a great time and whatever you do, don’t ruin the magic for others that are there to embrace it. I’m a Casa Bonita believer and I can’t wait to go back.
Sodafry 