The Casa Bonita Menu Gets an Unofficial Power Ranking with a Surprise Top Dish
Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s massively renovated and revitalized Casa Bonita is still in its soft opening phase, but Colorado’s food critics are already prepared to crown a top entrée to be ravenously devoured while the Lakewood police close in.
Back in March, the international South Park fandom learned that the waitlist to get a table at Casa Bonita during the pre-grand-opening stage of Parker and Stone’s eight-figure relaunch counted 600,000 potential patrons waiting eagerly for their turn to tour the towering pink temple of tacos and entertainment. Over the last five months, that number has certainly grown faster than Casa Bonita can seat its patient guests, so those of us who are champing at the bit to plan our pilgrimage to Lakewood, Colorado to experience a more luxurious, less felonious version of Eric Cartman’s dinner-and-a-show speed run in the iconic 2003 South Park episode “Casa Bonita” probably shouldn’t plan on taking time off to visit the Denver suburbs before the end of the year — or before the end of 2025, for that matter.
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In the meantime, The Denver Post has been kind enough to survey those lucky locals and Denver-area writers who have already been able to land a table at Casa Bonita in order to educate future diners on the food options. Through the poll, The Denver Post determined that the best bang-for-your-buck option available to those with $39.99 and a spot atop the Casa Bonita waitlist is the beef suadero — so Cartman blew it when he waited for sopapillas instead of snatching some brisket.
To be fair to Cartman, the beef suadero plate is a recent addition made by Casa Bonita head chef and James Beard-nominee Dana Rodriguez, one of many such changes made to the restaurant’s fare during the ongoing “beta testing” phase. The braised beef brisket slathered in green chile impressed both Denver Post writers and average Casa Bonito diners the most out of the seven current entrée offerings, with the ceviche coming in dead last among the palates polled. Though, really, who the hell wants to eat Colorado-fresh raw fish while watching a cliff-diving show?
The famous Casa Bonita enchiladas favored by the entertainment megaplex's ownership duo came in third in The Denver Post's dinner ranking, and the local publication made a point to note that the rice and beans were disappointingly bland. As the Colorado critics pointed out, Casa Bonita caters to kids, and those who expect a respectable spice level from their Mexican food will find the food positively mild.
