‘South Park’ Creators Eye Buying Up Famous Casa Bonita Restaurant Featured on Show
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The iconic Mexican-themed restaurant Casa Bonita, located in Denver, Colorado, in the suburb of Lakewood, was famously featured in an episode of the cartoon show “South Park.” Like many businesses, it has been closed since 2020 and has struggled financially as a result of the lockdowns brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the creators of adult American animated series “South Park,” are dipping their toes into the commercial real estate world and are interested in buying the famed Casa Bonita establishment, it was revealed on Wednesday.
“We want to buy Casa Bonita and treat it right. I feel like it was neglected even before the pandemic,” Parker said in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter. “We are absolutely trying to buy it, we are going to do everything we can.”
“We want to make it right and make it amazing,” he added. Parker did admit that a possible sale is only pending due to ongoing court proceedings.
Casa Bonita is currently owned by the Utah-based Summit Family Restaurants firm. As previously reported by Sputnik, the company filed for Chapter 11 protection in Arizona on April 6.
— South Park (@SouthPark) July 28, 2021
The enormous restaurant opened in 1974, and is known for inspiring spectacle like indoor cave divers, puppet shows, magic shows, childrens’ play areas, and other experiences that have made customers come back for decades.
Should the sale occur, Parker says he, Stone and several other unidentified Colorado-based restaurateurs are ambitious about their next steps for the landmark.
“We started talking about the changes we’re going to make - mostly with the food,” Parker said. “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,” he added, referring to a pirate-themed attraction at the location.
“It’s just sitting there. It sucks,” Parker admitted. “For a moment when it was like, ‘Casa Bonita is going to close down,’ we said, ‘We’re going to go buy it.’ And I felt like it was the crowning achievement of my life.”
— Fandom (@getFANDOM) July 29, 2021
Parker had previously told the Hollywood Reporter in 2016 that he and Stone had considered buying Casa Bonita in the past. "Four years ago, it came up for sale and we had 10 minutes of like, ‘We should buy it,’ because they do have a few things up there now where they're like, this is the ‘South Park’ Casa Bonita. There are people who go to Casa Bonita because of ‘South Park,’" he said at the time.
In the “South Park'' episode that features the Mexican-themed eatery, the character of Eric Cartman tricks his friend Butters Stotch into believing the apocalypse has occurred in order to get a coveted spot to attend another friend’s birthday party at the beloved venue. It was later featured as part of the downloadable content for the 2017 hit video game “South Park: The Fractured but Whole.”
According to a recent local report, Casa Bonita “is a few repairs and a couple inspections away from providing menu services,” and may be in a position to reopen within a matter of weeks.
