{"id":10895,"date":"2007-05-25T23:05:45","date_gmt":"2007-05-26T06:05:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/2007\/05\/25\/restaurant-review-casa-bonita.html"},"modified":"2007-05-25T23:05:45","modified_gmt":"2007-05-26T06:05:45","slug":"restaurant_review_casa_bo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/05\/25\/restaurant_review_casa_bo.html","title":{"rendered":"Restaurant Review: Casa Bonita"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n
Overall<\/strong><\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Food<\/td>\n <\/td>\n Service<\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ambience<\/td>\n <\/td>\n Prices<\/td>\n <\/em><\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Casa Bonita<\/a> is something of a Denver landmark, (in)famous<\/a> since 1974 for cheesy entertainment and mediocre Mexican food. <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

That reputation is deserved.<\/p>\n

Katherine had been to CB before, on some sort of field trip.  She was so enthusiastic about it, and so desirous of our going there some time, that we figured it would be a great location for her birthday.  And, despite some … serious flaws in the dining experience, it was, in fact, a great location for her birthday.<\/p>\n

Food<\/strong>:  Let’s get the down side of this out of the way first.  CB has a limited menu<\/a>; folks are encouraged to go for the “Deluxe” dinner — all you can eat from either a chicken plate (enchiladas and tacos) or beef plate.  Once you run out, you raise a little flag at table-side and someone scurries up to refill your plate.<\/p>\n

That’s the assumption, at least.  We never tested it.  Four adults, four deluxe plates, no requests for anything further.  To call the food bland is to imply too much flavor to it.  The “cheese” tasted and felt like it came from a jar and a microwave (though it was plentiful).  The “hard” taco shells were steamed soft.  The food was … wait, I already used the word “bland.”  And we were busy dribbling salsa for our chips onto it to give it any sort of flavor.  (The salsa did have a bit of a kick.)<\/p>\n

The sopapillas weren’t bad — but sopapillas aren’t all that tough to do, either.<\/p>\n

I had a margarita.  It was … about as interesting and authentic as the cheese.  I should have gone for the bottled beer.<\/p>\n

Service<\/strong>:  Folks were polite, but brisk.  Entry into the place was in long, snaking lines — I was riffing on a Disney ride — with someone along the way taking orders, then someone else keying them into a computer, then picking the food up from another station, then picking the drinks up from another station, then being walked in to a seating station, then being escorted somewhere to be seated.<\/p>\n

One of the things we ordered was never delivered, though it showed up on the bill.<\/p>\n

Ambience<\/strong>:  Ah.  Here’s where Casa Bonita shines.  Constant entertainment<\/a>, especially for the kids.  Cliff diving routines (yes, there are cliffs, and a diving pool), comedy routines of various sorts, pinata thwacking, video\/ticket arcades, mini-haunted houses,  puppet shows, mariachi players … There’s a ton of stuff to see and to do.<\/p>\n

We were seated (at random) at a fabulous table with great sight lines to the stage, the diving area, the mariachis. <\/p>\n

Katherine had an exhausting blast.  Margie and my folks showed the patiences of saints in hanging out while Katherine and I toured the place for an hour or more.  And Katherine is insistent that Margie should come back for her <\/em>birthday in October, so that we can see the place dressed up for Halloween.<\/p>\n

Price<\/strong>:  The food was pretty inexpensive ($11 for the “Deluxe” dinner).  The quality and potential quantity makes that a reasonable bargain — especially with the entertainment provided.<\/p>\n

Overall<\/strong>:  Casa Bonita is difficult to quantify.  Katherine thinks it’s the most faboo place in the world.  I would rather pitch a tent in Chuck E. Cheese than return there.  I have to say, though, that judging by their real target demographic, it deserves its rep both as entertaining (especially for a 7-year-old) and as a mediocre dining experience (especially for adults or for anyone looking for something that resembles Mexican food more than a Swanson’s Enchilada TV Dinner does).  It’s equally deserving of being a Denver landmark (and the subject of a South Park <\/em>episode<\/a>).<\/p>\n

If I never go back again, I won’t regret it.  But I am kinda glad I went at least once.<\/p>\n

Happy Birthday, Kitten.<\/p>\n

Casa Bonita<\/a>, 6715 W. Colfax  (at Pierce), Lakewood, Colorado<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Overall Food Service Ambience Prices Casa Bonita is something of a Denver landmark, (in)famous since 1974 for cheesy entertainment and mediocre Mexican food.  That reputation is deserved. Katherine had been to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-food-drink"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11053,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/04\/18\/restaurant_review_mcgrath.html","url_meta":{"origin":10895,"position":0},"title":"Restaurant review: McGrath’s Fish House","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 18-Apr-07 9:35am","format":false,"excerpt":"Overall Food Service Ambience Prices McGrath's Fish House is a small national chain that just opened (after a long delay) their first outlet here in the Denver area, at...","rel":"","context":"In "Food & Drink"","block_context":{"text":"Food & Drink","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/food-drink"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/stars3.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12569,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/03\/21\/restaurant_review_los_arc.html","url_meta":{"origin":10895,"position":1},"title":"Restaurant Review: Los Arcos Mexican Restaurant","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 21-Mar-08 11:40pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Overall Food Service Ambience Prices Los Arcos was \"established in 1978\" -- in Westminster, up to the north of Denver. But we just got one down south of Park...","rel":"","context":"In "Restaurants"","block_context":{"text":"Restaurants","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/food-drink\/food-drink-restaurants"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/stars4.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14676,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/05\/02\/restaurant-review-la-sandia.html","url_meta":{"origin":10895,"position":2},"title":"Restaurant Review: La Sand\u00eda","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 2-May-09 8:40pm","format":false,"excerpt":"La Sand\u00eda Mexican Kitchen\u00a0& Tequila Bar, Park Meadows, Lone Tree, Colorado \u00a0 Overall Food Service Ambience Prices La Sand\u00eda is a (limited) chain restaurant, part of the Richard Sandoval Restaurants (other La Sand\u00eda locations are at Stapleton, CO, and Tysons Corner, VA, with one opening up in Santa Monica, CA,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Restaurants"","block_context":{"text":"Restaurants","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/food-drink\/food-drink-restaurants"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/stars4.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":45708,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/10\/08\/tinkering-with-lack-of-greatness.html","url_meta":{"origin":10895,"position":3},"title":"Tinkering with Lack of Greatness","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 8-Oct-14 10:53pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Aw, but the surrounding failing shopping center is part and parcel of the Casa Bonita experience! Originally shared by +The Denver Post: \"We want to create something unique.\"STORY: http:\/\/dpo.st\/1y7XnP7 Changes underway for strip mall housing Lakewood's Casa Bonita The historic JCRS shopping center housing Casa Bonita in Lakewood has been\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12485,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/04\/18\/nyc_good_eats.html","url_meta":{"origin":10895,"position":4},"title":"NYC – Good Eats!","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 18-Apr-08 3:36pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Places we ate while down in the city ... \u00a0 Manhattan Diner Overall Food Service Ambience Prices Located across the street from the Hotel Belleclaire (for which it does room...","rel":"","context":"In "Restaurants"","block_context":{"text":"Restaurants","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/food-drink\/food-drink-restaurants"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/images\/stars4.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":19902,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2011\/01\/19\/unblogged-bits-wed-19-jan-11-1630.html","url_meta":{"origin":10895,"position":5},"title":"Unblogged Bits (Wed. 19-Jan-11 1630)","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 19-Jan-11 4:30pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries .... Episcopal Church: Christian? 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