Call it a Christmas miracle: Casa Bonita finally has an open date.
According to Thursday’s announcement, the popular Lakewood dining spot will reopen in May for the first time since 2020, when it closed at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Guys, I saw something on the news about him What Colorado residents want for ChristmasAlong with a new soccer team and new snow, they said they wanted an opening date for Casa Bonita, Trey Parker, South Park co-founder and co-owner of Casa Bonita, said in a video ad. “So guess what?!”
“We are opening in May!” said Parker, South Park co-owner Matt Stone and chef Dana Rodriguez in unison.
Thursday’s announcement is the first fans have heard of since November 2021, when Casa Bonita announced it had hired three-time James Beard nominee. Denver Chef Dana Rodriguez to lead the kitchen.
It’s been a long time, too. The place was closed in March 2020 due to COVID-19 and Bought by the creators of “South Park” in September 2021.
The original plan was to reopen by late 2022. But this summer, Stone and Parker said they couldn’t confirm an opening date because Unexpected challenges with building renovation. In June, for example, The famous fountain at Casa Bonita was destroyed Amidst fears of the collapse of its foundation. According to city permit documents and building plans, The renovation work is expected to cost about $12 million.
“Have you seen ‘Kitchen Nightmares’? It’s the worst you could ever imagine,” Parker told The Post in August. “What we thought would be, ‘Oh that’s going to be great. We can buy this and open it and it’ll come back again,'” It turned into “Oh, this is going to be what we have to put all our money into and hope it works out.”
