Casa Bonita
The front facade of the Lakewood, Colorado Casa Bonita.
Restaurant Information
Established	1968 (original restaurant) 1974 (Colorado location)
Current owner(s)	Star Buffet, Inc.[1]
Street address	6715 West Colfax Avenue
City	Lakewood
State	Colorado
Postal code/ZIP	80214
Country	United States
Seating Capacity	1,100
Website	http://www.casabonitadenver.com/

Casa Bonita (Spanish; literally means "beautiful house") is the name of a Mexican-themed restaurant (formerly a chain of restaurants) which originated in Oklahoma City. As of 2008, only two locations remain open, in the western Denver suburb of Lakewood, Colorado, and in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

There is a Northern Arizona chain of mexican restaurants using the Casa Bonita name founded in 2003. Arizona locations include, Flagstaff, Cottonwood, Lake Havasu, Prescott, Prescott Valley, and Sedona. They are not related to the original franchise. http://www.casabonitaaz.com

[edit] History

Founder Bill Waugh opened the first Casa Bonita restaurant in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in 1968. By the mid-1970s, the chain had expanded to locations in adjacent states and was known for its "all you can eat" beef or chicken plates and offering sopapillas - small squares of fried bread served with honey - with every meal.

In 1982, the company (including Taco Bueno fast food restaurants) was sold to Unigate (now Uniq plc). In 1992, Unigate sold the restaurants to CKE Restaurants, owners of Carl's Jr.^[2] In 1997, the two remaining Casa Bonita restaurants were spun off by CKE as part of Star Buffet.^[3] The Tulsa location closed in September 2005^[4], then reopened for a 2-year run under the name Casa Viva, which went out of business in December 2007. Casa Bonita was reopened by Star Buffet under the original name in late July 2008.^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Locations

[edit] Tulsa, Oklahoma

The Tulsa location opened in 1971 near the intersection of 21st and Sheridan.^[5] The interior was designed to create an outdoor nighttime atmosphere with various themed dining areas, including a volcano room, complete with lighted eruptions, a cave room, and a room resembling an aristocratic dining hall with strolling mariachis. The Tulsa location also included a magic show, a video arcade, a working carousel, and a gift shop. It closed on September 30, 2005^[4], due to the end of their lease.

Chain founder Waugh reopened the location under his Casa Viva restaurant concept in May 2006^[6]; the restaurant closed in December 2007.

Casa Bonita opened their doors again under the original name and by the original owner in late July 2008.

[edit] Lakewood, Colorado

The Lakewood location opened in early 1974 on Colfax Avenue west of Denver.^[7] Similar in architecture to the Tulsa location (both were previously large retail store locations), the Lakewood restaurant features strolling mariachis, flame jugglers, and a 30-foot (9.1 m) waterfall with cliff divers. It also has a small puppet theater, a "haunted tunnel" called Black Bart's Cave, an arcade with a large skee-ball room, and a magic theater. This location featured prominently on an episode of the animated TV series South Park.

[edit] Former locations

• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (1968-1993)^[8]
• Hulen Mall, Fort Worth, Texas^[9] (?-c. 1986)
• Little Rock, Arkansas (1969-1993)^[8]

[edit] Similar restaurants

• Casa Bonita founder Bill Waugh founded a similar restaurant concept, Casa Viva. Unrelated to the Florida fast-food chain of the same name, it operated in the former Casa Bonita locations in Little Rock^[10] (1995-2005) and Tulsa (2006-2007).
• Larry H. Miller, owner of the Utah Jazz, opened a restaurant called The Mayan in Sandy, Utah in 2000. Casa Bonita sued Miller for copyright infringement^[11] due to similarities with their restaurant, which Miller visited several times.^[12]
• Restaurante Arroyo, in Tlalpan, Mexico, the grandaddy of all "super-size" Mexican restaurants, which seats 2,200 people and is likely the world's largest Mexican restaurant. Like Casa Bonita, Arroyo has an array of customer diversions including its own bullring.

[edit] In Popular Culture

• An episode of South park of the same name features Casa Bonita as a prominent feature.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Casa Bonita in Colorado
• Casa Bonita episode for South Park
• Casa Bonita, A Tulsa Staple

Coordinates: 39°44′31″N 105°04′15″W / 39.741927°N 105.070828°W / 39.741927; -105.070828