Casa Bonita

Casa Bonita was built in 1974 as part of a chain of Casa Bonitas that started in Oklahoma City. The Lakewood location was the last and most lavish built and thus is the last one standing. The entertainment restaurant was designated a historical landmark by the Lakewood Historical Society in 2015.

The building’s exterior was repainted in 2022 and required over 300 gallons of custom-blended pink paint. The gleaming pink tower of Casa Bonita juts 85 feet into the air, dwarfing the surrounding suburban Denver commercial properties. The gold-leafed dome atop the tower supports a statue of the last Aztec emperor.

The restaurant below can seat 1,000 people at a time and features a holographic monster at the bottom of a wishing well, themed sections meant to invoke the feeling of different areas in Mexico,mariachi bands, pirate queens, fortune tellers, puppets and music... If that sounds like a lot of incongruous information, just relax and enjoy the ride: you’re at Casa Bonita. First you'll be seated in one of several themed sections (“The Terrace,” “The Vista,” “The Palace,” and so on). When you are ready to order, you will raise your flag signaling to the waitress that you're ready. Enjoy your dinner while you watch cliff divers somersault from the top of a 30-foot indoor waterfall, but don’t get too full, as every meal comes with delicious, pillowy, homemade sopapillas that were created with a recipe specifically designed for the altitude of Colorado.

Also—everyone over the age of two is required to purchase a meal. Hey, you can’t enter El Dorado for free, amigos. After you’re done eating, explore Black Bart’s Haunted Cave—IF YOU DARE!—take some old-timey cowboy photos, and get your skee ball on. Watch some more cliff diving. Help the Sheriff bust Black Bart himself for pinching sopapillas. In June 2023, Casa Bonita reopened under new ownership, with a new menu. Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of South Park, purchased the restaurant in 2021 and spent nearly $40 million on a massive renovation of the property. during this time they also hired a Michelin star chef to revamp the menu and made dozens of improvements to the facility.