Casa Bonita
The food at Casa Bonita is terrible. This statement isn't groundbreaking, but what's noteworthy about this well-known Colorado eatery is that it continues to thrive despite its awful and popular reputation for offering up unappealing food. If you look at Casa Bonita's Yelp reviews, you'll find a slew of complaints about bad cuisine being sold for a ridiculous price. But here's the thing: if Casa Bonita went bankrupt, I and many other Colorado residents would be devastated. It's still exactly the same area it was 30 years ago when my parents took me there to celebrate my fifth birthday.
The cliff divers gracefully jumping over a 30-foot constructed waterfall into a turquoise pool in the center of the restaurant, the guy in the cheap gorilla suit rushing around and spreading havoc, the horrible plays put on by sincere teenaged actors Food has always taken a back seat to the actual reason people keep coming back to Casa Bonita after 40 years: pure, shameless spectacle.
Casa Bonita has been in Lakewood, Colorado, since 1974, and is marked by a massive pink tower soaring above an unremarkable strip mall. Many Coloradans think of Casa Bonita as a Colorado institution, yet its founder, Bill Waugh, founded the first location in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, of all places. At the first Casa Bonita, Waugh pioneered the "all you can eat" beef and chicken platters, which have disappointed countless patrons at the Lakewood site over the years.
Other variations of the restaurant have come and gone over the years, but the Lakewood location has thrived, and the Lakewood Historical Society even designated it as an official historical landmark in 2015. After being featured in one of the show's episodes in 2003, the eatery became internationally famous. Casa Bonita, on the other hand, shrugged off the attention and went back to doing what it had been doing for decades––delighting, infuriating, and perplexing people.
Address: 6501-6791 W Colfax Ave, Lakewood, CO 80214, USA
Phone: +61 3 9016 3168
Website: http://casabonitadenver.com/
