Casa Bonita Denver Colorado A Must See & Our Family Tradition
by jro26 - Written: Mar 16 '06 (Updated Mar 17 '06)
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Pros: So much to see and do, great for young and old
Cons: The food isn't great but you'll forget about that before you leave!
The Bottom Line: As long as you beat the crowds and don't mind the food the entertainment is great and well worth your day!
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| jro26's Full Review: Casa Bonita |
Casa Bonita has been around for 30 years, they opened in 1974, and it is located in Denver, Colorado. I have been going to Casa Bonita just about every year for the pastc.well since I was a baby. My parents remember going here the year that it opened! We have made it a tradition to go the day after Thanksgiving. Now that I have kids it has become even more of a blast. There is tons of stuff to do for young and old and itfs great to watch the kids have so much fun. Casa Bonita has over 52,000 square feet and seating for 1,100 guests, this is not a small place!
The food...well I would love to just skip over this part because even though it is a restaurant we definitely do not go there for the food. And if you could just get in by paying an admission instead of buying a meal I think we'd do so. There food isn't terrible but it isn't great Mexican by any means. They have your standard fast food type combo meals as well as a beef or chicken all you can eat, which is usually what we all get. Because if you just like the taco you can get more tacos when your waiter makes his way around, or if you just like the enchiladas by all means just get more of those. There's no point in eating anything that you don't like on your plate. One thing that is usually great is their drinks and sopapillas (the sopapillas are free with meals). While you are weaving around waiting to get to the register to give your order you'll be entertained with all of the decor. At one point you can also watch them make tortillas, although they don't seem to be making them every time we come.
You don't really get to pick where you are seated but you can request good spots from the waiter. I don't like being seated in the cave areas or in the smaller rooms where you'll feel cramped. Definitely being close to the waterfall so that you can watch the diving show is best. They will also help you carry your food to your table if you have kids or are unable to carry it yourself. It can be difficult to get much attention from your waiter as they always seem to be busy so if you see him don't wait until later to order more drinks! If it's someone's birthday you can embarrass them by having them go up to the mariachi band and have Happy Birthday played for them. People will come around with light up toys and those glow sticks and try to sell them to you. There are also traveling mariachis. You can get seated in an area where they do magic tricks and comedy. Or, the best seats have views of the diving show.
The diving show always includes the damsel in distress, Chiquita the angry Gorilla and the hero that rescues, or at least tries to rescue the girl. It's usually a bit hard to hear but is funny, the kids love it and if you are in the right spot you can get a nice splash when they dive off of the cliff into the pool of water. The 30 foot waterfall is definitely one of the best features of Casa Bonita.
They have two different arcades. One arcade is for the older crowd and another for the younger crowd. The younger kids will enjoy playing to win tickets and in turn getting prizes for their tickets. They have skeet ball, basketball and skill games to keep parents amused as well as games that even my 2 year old was able to win tickets at.
There is a gift shop, Gran Vista Casa El Mercado, that doesn't have a ton of stuff to offer but you'll definitely find your shot glass, thimble, spoon, t-shirt or stuffed animal with Casa Bonita on it. Right outside of the gift shop is an area where every hour they drop down a pinata; and allow the birthday boy or girl (or anyone from the crowd if it isnft someones birthday) to take a swing at the pinata;. Everyone else stands around to grab candy when it breaks. When I was younger they used to give me the pinata; if I got chosen to break it but it seems they don't do that anymore. In that same area is a caricature artist who will give you a great souvenir to take home. If you just do black and white it is very affordable but the color definitely looks better and worth the money if you have it. Right across from that is a Puppet Theatre for the young ones. I believe they do one of these every hour as well. Next to that is something that you wont want to take the really, really young ones into unless they are really brave! It is a cave that has some scary noises and things that pop out at you. You'll hear lots of shrieks coming from this area of Casa Bonita. And the reason why you don't want to risk taking a young one in there is you can not really turn around and go back out, there's usually a line of kids shuffling through.
You can also get an Old Time photo taken but being from South Dakota we've done a million of these in Deadwood and Medora so I do not remember ever doing one here.
There are also tons of little things to discover around Casa Bonita. I guarantee you will have a great time even if you don't like the cheap-not-so good Mexican food. There is a place called the Mayan here in Salt Lake that tried to mimic some of Casa Bonitas qualities but it definitely failed! I don't recommend going there. Casa Bonita takes the cake for themed restaurants.
Exact location:
9715 W Colfax
Lakewood Colorado
Hours:
Sun-Thursday 11-9:30pm
Friday-Sat 11-10
Price: Approx $8-$15
Recommended:
Yes
Kid Friendliness: Yes
Vegetarian Friendly: Yes
Notes, Tips or Menu Recommendations I always go for the all you can eat and order more of what I like. Which is usually the cheese & chicken enchiladas. Make sure to take the time to look at everything. This place has tons of hidden things to do. You can spend an hour or 5 hours here.
Best Suited For: Kids and Families
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