I did it, y’all, I finally went to the iconic Casa Bonita restaurant in Lakewood. After months of seeing content go viral related to the reopening of the destination – really, it truly is a ‘destination’ – a friend was able to get some reservations for our group of six.

I’ll be upfront about it – I never went to Casa Bonita prior to Trey Parker and Matt Stone of South Park fame purchasing the restaurant for $3.1 million in 2021 and then dumping $40 million into renovations, so I can’t compare my experience to the Casa Bonita experience of the past. That said, here’s what I thought:

After a lengthy traffic-ridden drive up from Colorado Springs, our group navigated Colfax Avenue to find the giant bright pink Casa Bonita building in the corner of a strip mall alongside Ross Dress for Less, Dollar Tree, WestFax Brewing Company, and an Arc Thrift Store. It was impossible to miss, with its main tower stretching dozens of feet above the rest of the building.

Getting in went smoothly – we were a little nervous about arriving five minutes late for our dining experience, but within moments, we were through the metal detectors at the door and weaving our way through the jungle-themed environment to our seats.

We were led to a shockingly detailed cave-themed dining area – one of many dining areas at the establishment and complete with stalactites, glowing tables, and fog drifting through the air.

Our server promptly arrived to explain the process – we’d get an hour at our table to eat, starting with chips and salsa, then drinks, followed by the main course and ending with the spot’s famous sopapillas. There was a small flag on the edge of the table that we could raise for service, and without further ado, we were left with our menus.

Snacking on chips and a very good salsa, we perused our dining options – while an initial menu released upon the reopening of the restaurant seemed to feature more specialized dishes (if I remember correctly), the food menu is now quite simple – tacos, enchiladas, nachos, a burrito, and a taco salad. No matter what you get, it’s $39.99 on the weekends, and every meal comes with a fountain drink and sopapillas. I went with the chicken enchiladas and a house margarita (for an up-charge).

At this point, it’s important to mention that no one in our party of six was at Casa Bonita ‘for the food’ – like many others who plan a trip to the restaurant, we were there for the experience, which is ultimately worked into the higher price to dine. Pricey? Yes, but when the full experience was complete, in no way did we feel ripped off.

Shortly after placing our orders, our drinks arrived, soon followed by the food.

My plate consisted of two cheese enchiladas topped with chicken and sauce – one covered in red sauce and the other in green, with sides of rice, beans, and a cabbage salad. Digging in, I was pleasantly surprised to enjoy the meal – prior to the recent change in ownership, opinions on the quality of food varied quite a bit… to say the least. Oh, and my marg was tasty, too.

Moods were high as the group chowed down – opinions of the food varied from ‘alright to pretty good’ – but once again, eating wasn’t our group’s top priority – it was more-so about the full Casa Bonita experience.

Upon finishing the main course, the honey-covered sopapillas arrived – delicious as expected, but we were ready to leave the table behind to explore the rest of the building – you’re able to explore until the restaurant closes if you’d like.

After snapping a few funny pictures in the cave-themed dining area, we popped over to watch the spot’s cliff divers. Perhaps the attraction that gets the most attention, the divers leap from a rocky facade beside an artificial waterfall into a pool of blue water that’s about 15 to 20 feet below. As ‘cheesy’ as this might sound, it’s safe to say our group thoroughly enjoyed getting soaked in the ‘splash zone’ shortly after one diver yelled ‘cannonball’ and plunged into the water. Is the ‘cave diving’ show some sort of world-class display of skill and talent? Not quite – the divers take a few leaps and then disappear to prep for their next show about 20 minutes later. That said, we were all-smiles after this part of the experience.

Next, we went to a comedic magic show, held in an impressive room with a mirrored ceiling and plenty of seating. This experience followed suit – was it a world-class magic performance on par with David Blaine? No, but it’s not designed to be, it’s designed to be cheesy and fun – and that’s what it was.

Following about 10 to 15 minutes of laughs, we tracked down one of the four bars in the facility to re-up on our drinks – if you go for the margarita with your meal, getting a second drink while exploring makes for a good chance to try to the spot’s ‘Casa Lager,’ brewed for Casa Bonita by the highly-rated Ratio Beerworks.

Drinks in hand, we headed to Black Bart’s Cave – another well-known feature of the restaurant, made famous by South Park’s 2003 Casa Bonita episode. This experience was like the others – a dark and narrow hallway with a couple cheesy jump scares and noise effects. It takes about two minutes to walk through, but again, this was perfect in every way – probably best appreciated by those who are fans of South Park.

With three of the big attractions out of the way, we took a glance at the puppet show and then tracked down the Cartman statue (it’s a South Park character) for pictures, pleasantly surprised by a groovy jam band that was playing live music in the upstairs area where the statue is found.

And then it was straight to the gift shop, filled with dozens and dozens of Casa Bonita branded items from car flags to chip clips to candles to apparel. We made our purchases so that the world would know we had indeed been to Casa Bonita, and then headed out the exit with grins spread wide.

Here’s my one-line review – Go to Casa Bonita for the experience first, and know that you’ll probably enjoy the food, too.

Casa Bonita was that perfect level of cheesy and I think all six members of our group would agree that it lived up to the hype. As one friend pointed out, Casa Bonita might seem like a ‘family’ experience given that most of the ‘attractions’ found around the property would seem like they appeal to children on paper, but there were just as many groups of Millennials there, too. And all of those groups of Millennials seemed to be even more excited about their visit than the kids.

I’ll admit, while I was hopeful that’d I’d love the Casa Bonita experience, I was a bit skeptical, too. Consider me a skeptic no more – Trey Parker and Matt Stone did a great job of bringing this restaurant back to life following a pandemic-related closure under prior ownership. If I’m lucky enough to get some reservations again, I’d happily go back.

Whether it’s a family or a group of friends heading to Casa Bonita, it’s sure to be a fun and memorable experience. Start planning your trip here.