South Park Creators Reach Joyous Milestone For Casa Bonita Restoration
Ever make a purchase without looking at all of the details or doing any kind of real research at all? Maybe the thing just seemed so cool that you were willing to overlook any number of different problems. We’ve all been there. But maybe not to the tune of $40 million dollars. That’s the case with South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker’s purchase of iconic Colorado establishment Casa Bonita, and the two have really paid the price.
Casa Bonita Back In Business
But after years of issues, renovations, and more than a few dollars spent, the South Park guys, along with the rest of the Casa Bonita crew, are officially open for reservations.
It’s been a long saga with more than a few twists and turns along the way. Fans can get pumped about this latest news.
Keeping The Restaurant Alive
The short story is that South Park’s Stone and Parker bought Casa Bonita in 2021 after the owners were having all kinds of financial issues keeping the restaurant alive.
No problem, right? These guys would swoop in, save the day, have a cool landmark on their portfolio, and keep the restaurant doors open.
The longer story is much longer. It turns out that Casa Bonita came with all sorts of issues that kept the restaurant from being quickly renovated or even fully open for business.
In fact, when it was all said and done, Parker and Stone had put in more than $40 million dollars on the deal. You read that number correctly. These dudes got well into the eight-figure range before everything was brought up to code.
Couldn’t Just Reopen
Apparently, Casa Bonita had all kinds of problems under the hood, something the South Park guys weren’t aware of because they did “zero due diligence.”
Among the things that needed updating (or more) were renovating the kitchen, patching leaky roofs, bringing the pool all the way up to code, adding many more bathrooms, making over the many dining area, and much more.
The restaurant spans 52,000 square feet in Lakewood, Colorado and that kind of area can come with all kinds of problems, especially if the previous owners were already tight on cash.
A Documentary And More
Back in 2023, Casa Bonita had a soft opening and would select diners from an email list of over 600K people. They were chosen lottery-style to come in and eat. Now, actual real reservations can be made to come in, sit down, and have a meal in the landmark establishment.
For those wanting to see everything that went into the South Park guys bringing Casa Bonita back to life, no worries.
There’s a documentary about the process. Casa Bonita, Mi Amor covers everything from the history of the establishment to the involvement of the South Park creators and the rise-from-the-ashes moments when it came back to life.
Was It Worth It?
Was it all “worth it” in the end? South Park’s Trey Parker and Matt Stone are the only ones who can really answer that.
But considering their deep love for Colorado, the attachment to the place (and overlap with South Park itself) and just the hijinks involved with getting it back going. I would think they feel the right thing got done here.
Source: Men’s Journal
