Casa Bonita is finally offering reservations to the general public following a multimillion-dollar renovation. Instead of applying to a lottery for seating at the pink nostalgia dream of a restaurant, you can book a reservation online, starting today.
But landing that coveted table doesn’t seem any easier yet — as of Monday morning, more than 50,000 people were in the queue for a chance to eat dinner in the presence of cliff-divers and gorilla-costumed performers.
Casa Bonita reopened in May of 2023 after two years and $40 million of improvements under the ownership of Matt Stone and Trey Parker, also known as the creators of South Park. Since then, the iconic pink restaurant has been easing into its new-and-improved era with a soft opening.
Over the past fifteen months, fans from across the state, the country and the world have flocked to see nostalgia revived. But until today, reservations have only been accessible via a random lottery coordinated through the Casa Bonita newsletter. This exclusive and suspenseful system piqued fans’ interest. But it also infuriated many who wanted to get in on the hype.
Social media users heckled Stone and Parker for implementing a “you can’t come” technique, a business model Stone and Parker mocked in an episode of the show.
As it turns out, Casa Bonita’s new reservation system, currently offering tables for October and November, may not solve the “you can’t come” problem just yet. Shortly after booking opened, over 50,000 fans filled the online queue.
Though some were able to secure a date — like Denver Redditor u/hookedonwinter, who "did what any self-respecting developer would do and wrote some code" to help them score a table — many others came up empty-handed.
At 11:31 a.m., Casa Bonita sent an email declaring, “We have the best fans in the world. In fact, there are so many of you that you’ve already booked all our priority reservations for October and November. If you didn’t get one, please try again at www.casabonitadenver.com when general public availability opens at 3pm MT.”
For those who do make it through the afternoon gauntlet, have a plan ready and credit card information handy – you only get 12 minutes to book a table.
Good luck out there, Casa champions. We hope you get your share of food and fun in a festive atmosphere.
