If it weren’t for Matt Parker and Trey Stone, it’s doubtful that anyone outside of Colorado would have ever even heard the name “Casa Bonita.” But their fateful South Park episode really put the kitschy Mexican restaurant on the map. Because of them, it became a nationally (even internationally) famous establishment, with near-legendary attractions like Black-Bart’s Cave, and serving mythologically terrible Mexican cuisine.
It’s been called a gleaming “bastion of cultural appropriation.” It’s often referred to as Colorado’s “Mexican Disney Land.” And it’s been going through some hard times lately — Casa Bonita closed their doors in 2020, almost as soon as lockdown began; employee paychecks started bouncing; the owners stopped paying rent and filed for bankruptcy. A few local Casa Bonita die-hards stepped up to try and help save the establishment — however, even with their support, things looked shaky.
Until today, when the very men who helped elevate this bizarre Mexican theme-restaurant to fame, came forward to announce that they wanted to buy Casa Bonita. That’s right, Matt Parker and Trey Stone announced today that they were extremely interested in buying, saving and turning this fine establishment all the way around.
“We are absolutely trying to buy it,” Parker said. “We are going to do everything we can. We want to make it right and make it amazing.”
From the sounds of it, Parker and Stone are working with the same group of local resteraunters who were recently trying to save Casa Bonita. They jumped in like a couple of cliff diving superheroes, to assist the small group of local fans in, not just saving this historic Colorado monument, but in renovating it as well.
And together, it sounds they’re coming up with some grand plans for their revamped Casa Bonita 2.0.
“We started talking about the changes we’re going to make — mostly with the food. 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,” Parker told Hollywood Reporter.
“It’s just sitting there. It sucks,” he continued. “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.”
The owners of Casa Bonita, Summit Family Restaurants, has yet to comment on the situation.
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