Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/06/17/the-greatest-restaurant-in-the-world-has-south-park-ownership-cliff-divers-and-a-600000-person-long-wait-list.html
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More of this, please.
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I grew up going to Casa Bonita so i have fond memories of the place, even went as an adult for my bday before covid happened (yes the food sucked but it was the place that i wanted to experience again). I was in CO early this year and was bummed to find out that you couldn’t just go to the restaurant, i put in my name on the waitlist and i’m still waiting. The plan is when i can buy tix i’ll plan a trip to Denver.
However it’s not really true that you can’t just go in, you can entirely circumvent the waitlist if you have a large party. Then they allow you to buy entries right away, even for the same day.
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It took us a year on the waitlist but we finally got in a couple of weeks ago. I have to give credit to Stone and Parker when they said their goal was to “improve everything, change nothing”.
That’s exactly what they did…it’s basically the same Casa Bonita I remember growing up all the way down to Black Bart’s Cave and the penny flattening machine. There are a few South Park references scattered around but it’s not obnoxious. The highlight was definitely Sorsoro’s Magic Show…magnificent! I left there with a huge grin on my face and felt like I was 7 years old again. The food was actually really good too!
I have no idea how or if these guys are going to make their money back and maybe they don’t care if they do.
There’s a documentary coming out that followed the renovation story. Looking forward to that.
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In a way i hope they earn their money back because i would like to believe that putting TLC into landmarks like Casa Bonita are worth it. I would have been devastated if the place had been torn down.
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I can’t see how anyone other than Trey and Matt could have pulled this off.
Spending $40 million on a 70’s throwback restaurant primarily for nostalgia’s sake could only be done by someone with deep pockets with no expectation of making a profit.
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I went there a long time ago, but knew about it from South Park. Early 2000s, sometime.
I remember it being kinda neat with all the spectacle. Yes I noticed it was a little run down in areas, but it also seemed pretty cool.
The food was very average, bordering on below average. More or less what you would find at the low end Mexican restaurant down the street.
I think it’s so great that they took something that brought them and others joy in the past, and worked to preserve it. It’s kind of nice when rich people spend money in a more creative way that others can enjoy too. I don’t know if they will make the initial investment back, but if they can operate with a profit, then they should be able to keep the doors open moving forward. And if not, eh, they got money, they might just keep their baby alive so they can relive their past visits.
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Contributed by Ruben Bolling
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Same… grew up eating there and now looking forward to a Denver weekend trip!
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At the ER that used to be on Colfax east of Casa Bonita, in the days before computer charting, we used “Casa Bonita” as a chief complaint on our white boards when pts came in vomiting. Or Casa Vomita.
Supposedly the food there now is a huge step up in quality - I’m talking late 1990s, early 2000s.
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I’ve now been back three times since the relaunch, a few times with friends who had worked there over the many years of its operation (including when all-you-can-eat was $2.50). The biggest reason that the food sucked before is that the kitchen wasn’t outfitted for fire protection for normal ovens and grills, so it only had steam ovens - that’s right, everything was steamed.
One reason that much of it has a Disney look is that I’ve been told that many of the original sculptors in the 70s were Disney Imagineers coming off a Disney project, and that some of the iconic areas like the caves, Mexican village, and mines were designed and built by these recently-disney crews. The work was very high quality, and after the touchups and repairs done recently, still looks great.
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Super easy to get in, then, especially if people line up thinking they can just walk in. Organize a large party of passers-by, and get seated!
We do this on a slightly smaller scale for a Tybee breakfast place who yells out the table size as they open up. We’ve had awesome meals with random hungry people waiting in line; once with a couple from Korea who were thrilled that my BF spoke Korean. The local waiter spoke Korean as well, so it all blew their mind.
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I hope that the “greatest restaurant in the world” does actually serve good meals. Because that is the primary purpose of a restaurant.
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Penny flattening? I’m in!!! Can you do the “back door into the gift shop” and get one or do I have to play the lotto?
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If you go to Casa Bonita the food is secondary. Of course i would want the food to be good, but that’s not why i’d be going.
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If they’re selling merch, which I’d be shocked to learn that they weren’t, the margins on food might be less important to keeping the place open.
I’m only half joking when I say that places like Eskimo Joe’s exists purely as a front for branded apparel.
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The gift shop is squarely off-limits to outsiders without a ticket and there’s a fairly serious security screening and metal detectors out front before entering. If you’re looking for details on the Penny Pincher machines though here’s a sampling of what’s available. I read that they sold off a few of the older machines a couple of years ago prior to the remodel
Oh they’re selling merch of course but it’s not that in-your-face about it and doesn’t distract from the overall experience. Nothing South Park themed and it’s all confined to a small gift shop inside away from the main area. Some pretty cool retro 70’s style t-shirts and hats.
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yeah, I worked at Hard Rock for a short while, the margins on merch are orders of magnitude above the food, and unlimited shelf life.
most places, the bar functions in a similar way. but with (at least) a t-shirt as an almost obligatory purchase for the visitors to HRC, it is to the bar what the bar is to the restaurant. even higher margins. like, they didn’t charge us for branded chef coats, or my hat. most places would either give you one free, or only charge you wholesale, but still. HRC moved so much apparel, their volume discount must have been so favorable; any time I needed another chef coat, not only was I not charged, I didn’t even have to go through a manager. I just went by myself up to the office and took one. extremely different from everywhere else.
I think my location is struggling post-covid, though. not sure what it’s like now.
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