UPDATE: The South Park guys just spent some of their big pile of money to buy Casa Bonita
The Colorado-based "eatertainment" restaurant was featured in a 2003 episode of the series
TV News Casa Bonita
Update: And now—in the wake of a massive, $935 million deal to keep the show on the air at Comedy Central for another 6 seasons—Matt Stone and Trey Parker have officially bought their beloved childhood restaurant Casa Bonita. Per THR, the pair announced the purchase, as one does, while being interviewed by Colorado Governor Jared Polis, stating that they closed the deal for the Mexican restaurant/cliff diving venue this morning. “It just feels natural,” Parker later told THR.
Original article, 7/28/21; If you’re at all like us, you were first introduced to the concept of Casa Bonita—a small chain of Mexican “eatertainment” restaurants in the Western parts of the United States—through an episode of South Park that aired during the show’s 7th season. (Which ran 18 years ago, in 2003, so pardon us while we briefly turn to dust.) At which point, if you continue to be like us, you assumed that the restaurants were made up for the show, because how could such a paradise exist? Sopapillas? Black Bart’s Cave? Cliff divers? Surely, this fantastic wonderland of Colorado-based Mexican food and novelty photo ops must have sprung, like Athena, fully formed from the heads of South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
But no: Casa Bonita is real—or was. The COVID-19 shutdowns have been understandably hard on the eatertainment industry (and, honestly, the chain was down to only one location already when the pandemic rolled around), which is now apparently in some serious financial peril. (The parent company reportedly filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April.) But there’s a potentially happy ending to this tale of woe, because while Parker and Stone may not have invented Casa Bonita, they are definitely fans, and are apparently thinking about buying the last remaining restaurant for themselves.
“We want to buy Casa Bonita and treat it right. I feel like it was neglected even before the pandemic,” Parker told THR earlier today. Located in Lakewood, Colorado, the restaurant is the last vestiges of a chain that was apparently a big deal to both creators as kids. And to be clear, this doesn’t seem to be a joke: Parker and Stone seem to genuinely want to spend their ridiculous piles of 24-years-of-South–Park money on one of those classic “What I’d do if I was mega-rich” dreams, i.e., recreating the classic restaurant experience of their youth. “We started talking about the changes we’re going to make—mostly with the food,” Parker told THR. “We’re going to make really awesome food. I was already thinking about how I was going to make Black Bart’s Cave a little bigger.”
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Big missed opportunity if they don’t include a functioning Baseketball court.
And a 21+ area with a working Orgazmo gun.
Needs a sign that says “No Journey psychouts!”
I don’t care what happens in the gift shop, just keep the rest of that tacky paradise Cartman-free
I just drove by Casa Bonita an hour ago. It was dark and it was sad. I was sad.
I haven’t kept up with SP like I used to (still remember watching the premiere with a bunch of friends…holy crap 24 years ago), but as a professional chef I am fully behind this. The food business is a bitch, and I work for a major corporation these days, and it’s still a headache. I wish them well.
Same. I remember calling people to my dorm room to watch it because I had seen the Spirit of Christmas short. Dear God, that shows been on over half my life. Of course, The Simpson’s was already almost a decade old at that point.
I hope they do buy it. Took my kids there in the late ‘70’s.
Absolute top tier SP episode. Up there with Stanley’s Cup, Imaginationland and the season that skewers gentrification.
owning a chain of mexican restaurants is the only way you can be punk rock when you’re in your fifties.
Someday Remer, I’m gonna own a big sports bar!
currently dying that BASEketball is not available on any streaming services in canada
I DON’T HAVE YOUR FUCKING BALL!!
I will make a pilgrimage, should this happen.
Agreed. I will do the same.
The absolute worst Mexican “food”. The whole place smells of chlorine. It’s makes you feel claustrophobic it gets so crowded sometimes. I can’t-fucking-wait to go back. Run that little fucking flag up so we get more sopapillas.
Same
They had the second-best microwaved enchiladas in that strip mall.
Slightly better atmosphere than Conquistadors though!
Now yer gettin’ in the spirit!
“Casa Don’t Eat It” was our nickname.
And refills on the Margaritas
WestFax brewing is right there to wash the taste of the microwaved to death nacho sauce out of your mouth.
Sure you’re excited by the proposed changes now, but wait until you find out you have to kidnap a gullible classmate just to get in.
I’ve never been to Casa Bonita, but I’ve heard from multiple people who have that the only thing worth eating there are the sopapillas, and all of the other food is trash. Sounds like Trey and Matt are well aware of that too.
Even the governor said that everyone is in agreement “the food could be better”
There has to be a kid in a Cartman outfit that runs through once a week jumping off the cliff and stealing sopapillas off the tables.
And he better be a fat little fuck
“DIVE, ASSHOLE!”
A lot of similar “entertainment” eateries get featured in movies and TV making people assume they are fictional. I knew somebody who was surprised that Medieval Times (the restaurant where knights on horseback joust while you eat) was a real thing.
I figured Medieval Times or some equivalent had to be real simply because I saw it referenced so many times. Casa Bonita though? I never would have known it really existed if not for reading this article. Then again, real life is batshit crazy enough that I never would have believed a fatal biker gang fight involving over 200 people happened in the parking lot of a Hooter’s knockoff if it hadn’t been all over the news.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Waco_shootout
“There were no utensils IN medieval times, therefore there are no utensils AT Medieval Times. Would you like a refill on that Pepsi?”
They have Pepsi instead of Coke. Jesus Christ! That place really is in the Dark Ages.
I went last weekend to Medieval Times and thanks to the plague, they hand out utensils on request.
I still didn’t use any. And my baby dragon was kinda dry.
And would you like a commemorative pewter tankard along with your purchase of the roast chicken and tomato soup which will be served to you in a bread bowl without a spoon?
SP has done this so much, I didn’t know that Shakeys, Casa Bonita and Bennigans are/were all real.
But Shakey’s and Bennigan’s at least were everywhere (well, in the US) in the 1980s — they were major chains with hundreds of locations that just had bad luck in the 1990s-2000s. They both still technically exist, but are down to a few dozen locations each. So maybe it’s an age thing?
True, I think part of the joke was that they were fading away. Bennigans was sparse in the Northeast and Shakeys I think once was there but now is only in California/Washington and surprisingly popular in the Philippines according to Wikipedia
I went to a Shakey’s once in LA due to Comedy Bang Bang referencing mojo potatoes a bunch. It was edible.
Oh damn, I went to Bennigans as a kid but I am not sure if they still exist.
Our class went to Medieval Times for high school graduation. It was a very poor school district…but sweet memories.
Also, Medieval Times is AWESOME and it’s been way too long since I’ve been
For those of us who grew up in Denver, this episode was a hysterical love letter to our childhoods. I hope this deal goes through. The food is terrible, but that’s kind of part of the charm?
That’s a real place? Very memorable episode, one of the best.
yeah and it’s actually cheesier than the episode makes it appear!
And the episode is a little not a mockery, but a loving homage. When making the episode, they as Casa Bonita for permission and go it. When given permission, they were asked if they were going to mock it and were basically like “no way! We love Casa Bonita way too much to make fun of it.”
Trey Parker didn’t light enough money on fire with a second divorce?
Lighting up money ahead of time so it wont be there for the potential third?
It’s convenient that he finalized the divorce in May, before signing the latest deal for new episodes of the show and movies. Also, read he had a prenup which perhaps caps the alimony although he’s still got child support. Back in the 2000’s they negotiated to get 50 percent of all digital revenue which means when the streaming rights for the show come up for renewal again in 2025 they will get another massive payday. HBO Max paid $550 million for the exclusive streaming rights back in 2019. Matt and Trey got half of that. Presumably Paramount+ will pay up to get the back catalog in 2025.
Posting this again as I remembered it way too late on the original article about this announcement.“I wish I’d remembered this when the article first posted as nowhere near as many people are going to see this.When South Park first showed in Australia, it was actually on one of our government funded stations called SBS (the Special Broadcasting Service) which did a lot of foreign cinema, TV shows and news broadcasts in numerous different languages from other countries. Basically it covered a lot of news and entertainment for people from non-English speaking backgrounds.If I remember all of this correctly, SBS got South Park and some of their if not their highest ratings ever. That’s when the commercial channels started sniffing around but apparently Parker and Stone let SBS keep the show for quite some afterwards despite higher offers because they gave it a chance on Australian TV than no-one else would when it first launched.”
Gotta respect it.If I were as rich as these guys, I’d definitely invest in a couple of miniature golf courses because of my childhood memories.
Yeah, one of my “I win the lottery” dreams would be to open one of those family entertainment restaurant places. Pizza, mini gold, arcade, lazer tag and go carts. I am happy to see that in my area of Chicagoland both Enchanted Castle and Haunted Trails seem to be surviving the pandemic.
I know you meant mini golf, but now I want to see an entertainment restaurant place with mini gold as the tickets or tokens or something.
That’s really what I thought he meant
My formative mini golf memories were made at Cool Crest outside Kansas City, MO. Had family that lived in KC, we went to visit them about once a year. Always hit up Cool Crest. Four courses. Moving obstacles. Those holes that when you put your ball in the hole it came out a different hole.
Fucking rocks.
Cool Crest was my first mini golf spot too, and thought it fell into disrepair over the years, I was glad to see it looking better than it had in quite a while the last time I visited. That was pre-pandemic, so I don’t know the current status, but I had a lot of great times there with my family and my friends. I tend to play the Kings or Queens courses as they are the most nostalgic for me.
Many a teenage day and night was spent at Cool Crest.
In my college town there was a good one called Pizza Putt that closed around 2018. I’d definitely reopen that one
Speaking of that, my local entertainment zone like what you described just permanently closed due to covid and it’s been a staple of my life for well, my entire life. I’m sad about it.
I used to think that if I got mega rich I’d reopen the Ed Debevic’s in Milwaukee because that place was awesome.Then I realized that would require me to return to Milwaukee and, well, let’s just say no and leave it at that.
Agreed, I damn near grew up at Haunted Trails and want it to last for forever
I’d definitely bring back the arcade and Roller Kingdom in my hometown. Or at least open a bar/restaurant with menu items giving tribute to them and other bygone places
Oh, hell yeah. I need a roller rink with a badass mini-arcade lining one long wall and a sketchy snack bar run by stoned teens lining the opposite wall.Damn. I am old.
My dream has always been to reopen the Punch & Judy Theater in Grosse Pointe and make it a rep and arthouse theater like it was when I was in high school. The building was turned into an office building, but if I was rich enough I could turn it back. Then I’d show films that don’t need to make a profit.
In the mountains of British Columbia, just off the highway that connects Vancouver and Calgary, used to be the world’s coolest mini-golf course when I was a kid. It was all black-light decorations with elves and dwarves and gnomes and faeries and whatnot poking out from under toadstool houses in the shade of towering pine trees. Many fond childhood memories
If I were rich and could pour money into a business venture for pure joy/nostalgia, I’d have an old school driven in theater, with a giant screen, and a projection system capable of running 35mm, 70mm, Imax film or digital, and for a concession stand I’d have a 50s burger stand and soda fountain with carhops.
That’s perfect!
That would be awesome too. We had one in the area up until 2019. The leases the land and the landowner had been trying to get them out for years because they saw the land as more valuable. Of course two years and one global pandemic later and the land sits empty and unused.
I would absolutely buy Fiesta Village in socal and run through it with only my friends (sort of) like Cartman did when he bought that amusement park!
I live down the street from Casa Bonita, and I definitely smile everytime I drive by it.
Gah I just went down memory lane. My dad used to take me to an indoor mini-golf course in Connecticut or Massachusetts during the summer. I can’t remember exactly (we lived in Mass and he worked in Conn). The indoor thing was choice because the little slice of summer we got in New England was humid AF and all the mosquitos…all of them.
I vividly remember one of the holes had a loopity-loop you had to conquer. It was sweet. AND it had few arcade games up front. Spyhunter took my money every time!
Yep, Casa Bonita and Bennigans are both real restaurants out West.
I was there once, by myself, only because of seeing it on South Park. Problem was, I was on a work conference call the whole time, and accidentaly dined and dashed. I really thought that the little slip of paper I had at my table was my receipt from when I ordered/paid. The two kind gentlemen that chased me down while I was walking around outside (still on the conference call) explained that that was not the case.
Very embarrassing. Would visit again.
The food is(was) horrific, other than the sopapillas which are hard to mess up. But damn if it is not an experience that makes eating sub-frozen dinner quality enchiladas worth it. I’d love to see them give the place a bit of love and re-open.
Maybe co-locate with a Chipotle ghost-kitchen?
A friend of mine is in charge of IT stuff on the show, and he gave me and my roommate a tour of the office a few years back. They actually have a sign (complete with SP-ified Mexican waitress) on the door calling the office “Casa Bonita.” Similarly, there is a City Wok in Studio City, right near Universal, though I’m guessing that’s more of a coincidence than anything else.
I want to do the same thing, but with Saltair Pavilion.
My next door neighbor is part of a group that’s been trying to keep Casa Bonita alive throughout the pandemic. I’ve been dissapointed to not see them mentioned in any of the article about this.I know at the very least they purchased some of their debt.https://savecasabonita.org/
I went to Casa Bonita in Tulsa as a kid several times. I went for the last time at maybe 13 or so. I miss it. I loved the sopapillas. I wish we still had ours here.
The key to eating at Casa Bonita is this: don’t. Order the cheapest thing on the menu (I believe the nacho salad, still like $10), take it to the table and push it to the side (it’s hard to fuck up nachos, but they manage), and start in on the sopapillas. Put up the flag and as soon as they drop off more and walk away, put it back up. Fried dough and honey all night long.
I lived in Colorado as a kid in the late 70s/early 80s and this place was the place of dreams. I don’t recall which location we visited (I wasn’t even aware it was a chain) but damn if this wasn’t the most fun a 7-10 year old kid could ask for. Don’t remember the food, except for (i) the cafeteria-style entrance; and (ii) the sopapillas (and the flag). My memory tells me the place was HUGE, like a tropical island, with divers plunging from the cliffs into the waters below. Black Bart’s Cave was long and terrifying, but you got a cool treasure at the end. So in 2003 when this episode aired I jumped out of my chair, called my little sister, and yelled “CASA BONITA IS ON SOUTH PARK!”
I went there in the 80s when I was about 10, and can confirm, it was definitely the stuff of dreams. The size of it was my main impression, as well, along with a kind of “How does this place exist??” astonishment. Never forgot it.
This is exactly what I’d do with my money if I had it, buy and preserve any mediocre thing from my childhood
i would 100% bulldoze some shitty condos that went up in place of a shitty waterslide park, and rebuild the waterslide park.also, arcades.
I still have tokens from my childhood one, supposedly there’s another still functioning in a mall about an hour away, not sure if its just the same name or not
Okay, gonna need clarification. Do you mean like the cheesy mall arcades or the hole in the wall style that had one wall of games, four pool tales, reeked of cigarettes and smuggled in beer arcades?I grew up in the latter…
Dude. Totally the latter. In my small downtown our arcade was two pool tables and a snooker table, a wall of old games, old miners playing and smoking; it was dingy and run down and we’re all fairly certain the owner sold smokes to kids (I never tried). And they had a sit-down tabletop Ms. Pac-Man.I played the SHIT out of Gyruss and Ms. Pac-Man, often taking “extended” lunch breaks from school to go there.
Sold smokes to kids? Shiiiit, our arcade had an unmonitored (and undoubtedly unlicensed) pull-knob cigarette machine. The guy who sat in the office was literally there to doll out quarters, smoke, and call the cops. That’s it. Where’s that job when I need it? So yes, I wholeheartedly endorse your arcade.
100%, or at least fortify them financially. My hometown putt-putt course may have fraying carpet, but dammit, it’s an institution and local landmark (it’s along the 101 freeway that crosses into our town, so it makes for a fun sight, especially when putting along said freeway).And it has go-karts, bumper boats, (what was once an) awesome arcade (before too many redemption games came in) and laser tag, plus their own pizza, it’s the perfect kid spot to this day!
Man, fuck ticket factories.
(Which ran 18 years ago, in 2003, so pardon us while we briefly turn to dust.) I’m a pile at this point because I swear that episode came out in like 2009.
Matt and Trey be like
As someone who grew up in suburban Denver and have felt the after-effects of Casa Bonita burritos, I’m beyond happy to hear they’re focusing on the food first.
I hope it comes with a nice cask of Amontillado in the sub-basement.
I like how the guys (as cynical as they may display) clearly have a fixation with being able to buy their childhood playgrounds and restaurants. They even made a whole episode about Cartmen doing the same thing.
I respect this, and they keep a great place from dying out. Cool.
RIP to my beloved Bennigans…your chicken fingers were incredible, never repeated :’(
We went in December 2017 (was in Denver for the Broncos/Chiefs game and a My Morning Jacket concert) due to the SouthPark episode (was also close to a dispensary). Should have gotten the full experience but the food appeared to be awful (per reviews) so we went in the exit and wandered around. Got our picture taken in the old timey jail, watched the cliff diver, explored the gift shop, but never partook in the enchilada’s and sopapillas’s. It was an odd experience but glad to have done it. Would recommend, 10/10, will go again and try the food.
I wonder if they’ll plan on purchasing Super Fun Time and South Park’s Pioneer Village next.
But, but… what is Laserface’s take on all this???