Casa Bonita Taking Reservations Again Today...Good Luck!

Remember the horror stories when Casa Bonita first opened its reservation system — on September 16, 2024, Mexican Independence Day? Every single slot at the pink entertainment palace for the next two months was gone within hours, leaving tens of thousands of people still waiting...even if they'd joined the founders' club, which allowed them to register early for a chance at snagging tickets.

While it's not quite as tough to get a reservation these days, it's still worth paying attention to release dates. Today at 9 a.m., Casa Bonita will be serving up reservations from September 9 through January 11, 2026, a period that covers all those big holiday dates.

In the meantime, Casa Bonita is taking reservations through Labor Day, and there are some dates available.

For those who need a refresher course: When Casa Bonita opened at 6715 West Colfax Avenue in Lakewood in March 1974, over fifty years ago, it was a link in a short chain that Bill Waugh had started in Oklahoma City in 1968. People drove from all over to visit the Colorado location, which had a capacity of over 1,000 and entertainment that ranged from cliff divers to a gorilla.

In 1982, Waugh sold all of his eateries to British food manufacturer Unigate, which passed the remaining establishments to CKE Restaurants in 1992. CKE spun off the last two survivors as part of Star Buffet, which morphed into Summit Family Restaurants under Robert Wheaton. That was the group that closed Casa Bonita at the start of the pandemic in March 2020, and never reopened the place. Instead, it filed for bankruptcy in April 2021.

Casa Bonita was bought out of bankruptcy that fall for just over $3 million by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the Colorado natives who'd visited as kids and went on to create South Park; they poured a reported $40 million into getting the massive pink elephant up and running with a soft opening at the end of May 2024, and then a full(ish) opening that September.

And even with all that, this might not be the most challenging project on their plate. Because of business shenanigans beyond their control, South Park's 27th season premiere was delayed two weeks, to July 23. In response, Parker and Stone said this on X: "This merger is a shitshow and it's fucking up South Park. We are at the studio working on new episodes and we hope the fans get to see them somehow."

It's enough to drive you to drink...maybe a couple of Casa Bonita margaritas.