Casa Bonita may be missing some of its signature sauce: the performers.
A planned labor strike starting Thursday will include 57 performers who dive from the restaurant's iconic waterfall, roam its caves and plazas in costumes, and perform in its venues.
"The entire unit is striking, which is 57 workers. They will not be working," wrote David Levy, a spokesperson for Actors' Equity Association, which represents the restaurant's unionized performers, in an email to Denverite.
They are set to strike all day beginning Oct. 30, with plans to picket outside the restaurant. The restaurant plans to remain open and will offer a free drink or arcade ticket to affected guests, The Denver Post reported.
The union has been asking for higher wages, and performers also were angered by "Casa BOOnita," a special event that was expected to dramatically cut hours for roaming performers this month, as performer Joshua Emerson explained in a City Cast Denver interview.
“We know they can pay the wages we're asking for because they already pay basically the same wages to the servers and bartenders. Their insistence on paying dollars an hour less to the performers reflects a choice and a philosophy to devalue performers," said lead negotiator Andrea Hoeschen, assistant executive director and general counsel for Actors’ Equity Association, in a press release.
Casa Bonita provided a short statement on the looming strike: "At Casa Bonita, we value all of our team members and their well-being. As a policy we do not comment on ongoing labor negotiations."
A spokesperson did not address how restaurant operations would be affected, but The Denver Post reported that guests had received an email assuring them their reservations were still valid.
It's not clear how many of the striking workers were scheduled to work this week, since the restaurant is still running its Casa BOOnita event.
The union also has filed a labor complaint, saying that the restaurant had illegally cut shifts for iconic characters and asking it "to restore Black Bart, Captain Isabella, Amazon Ani and the Sheriff while also bargaining in good faith with the union as required by law.”
Casa Bonita staunchly denied that it was eliminating the characters, saying the performances were only paused for the monthlong Halloween event, though the union still said management had violated labor law in doing so.
The restaurant is a well-known piece of Colorado kitsch and nostalgia, offering a surreal dining experience in what is basically a theme park, minus the rides.
It opened in Lakewood in 1974, part of a chain at the time. South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker bought it in 2021 after it shut down during the pandemic. They spent tens of millions renovating and restoring it.
