600,000 ‘South Park’ Fans Are Still Waiting to Eat at Casa Bonita

As some fans may already be aware, a number of iconic South Park locations were based on real-life places — from Stark’s Pond, to South Park Elementary, to the fantastical land of “Ca-na-da.” But perhaps most importantly, Cartman’s favorite novelty-filled Mexican eatery, Casa Bonita, is a real restaurant just outside of Denver.

We’ve mentioned before that South Park creators, and failed political prognosticators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone bought the flailing business in 2021, and spent roughly “infinity dollars” (or around $40 million) restoring Casa Bonita to its former glory. As the duo told The Today Show in 2023, the decision was 100 percent irony-free, and completely rooted in a genuine love of the establishment. 

At the time, Parker and Stone speculated that they would have to attract “about 6 million customers a night to break even.” So while they still may be taking a bath on this endeavor (presumably in chlorinated water beneath a plaster mountain) Casa Bonita has been raking in the customers, a not insubstantial number of which appear to be rabid South Park fans. 

In 2023, the restaurant first announced that they were reopening as part of a “beta-testing” phase, which would only include “limited dinner hours” and guests “pulled EXCLUSIVELY from our email list. No walk-ins.” Following the announcement, so many people tried to get on the waitlist that the Casa Bonita website crashed. 

Even though it’s been nearly a year since the restaurant reopened its ridiculous pink doors, there’s still a wait list. And it’s pretty damn long. According to a recent interview with Casa Bonita’s renowned head chef, Dana “Loca” Rodriguez, “400,000 to 600,000 people are on the waitlist.” The attraction is so popular that on an average day, they go through “200 pounds of dough” and make “roughly 2,500 sopapillas.” But now Casa Bonita is expanding to offer “lunch service as well as dinner service,” and they are open “more days during the week.” 

One YouTuber recently posted a video review after spending “nine months on the Casa Bonita waiting list,” claiming that it was still “worth” it!  And really, if a human life can be conceived and birthed in the exact same amount of time, that does seem like a pretty excessive wait. 

Other reviews were a tad less kind. A recent article in The Colorado Springs Gazette pointed out that “it’s probably easier to get a reservation at a Michelin star-rated restaurant than to Casa Bonita,” further bemoaning that “it took six months to receive the link to pick a date and time to dine at Denver’s restored, iconic Mexican-theme restaurant.”

At least the folks who have been lucky enough to score tickets to Casa Bonita have seemingly been enjoying themselves. And as an extra treat for South Park fans, there’s now a sculpture of Cartman to take photos with — of course, some might argue that a monument to the guy who murdered two people, ground up their flesh and turned the meat into a chili dinner for their son is kind of a weird choice for a Mexican restaurant.

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