The Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant Experience, Lakewood, Colorado
Courtesy Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and "The Lakewood Historian", Spring 2008.
Edited by David Barth 6 March 2014. Photos by David Barth.
Casa Bonita (Spanish; literally means "pretty house") was a chain of Mexican-themed "eatertainment" restaurants which originated in Oklahoma City. As of 2011,
only one location remained open, in the western Denver suburb of Lakewood, Colorado.
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.
The Lakewood location opened in early 1974 at Pierce Street and Colfax Avenue west of Denver in a 3-story, former Josin's Department Store location that was
thoroughly renovated to make it into a Mexican restaurant with winding paths. The interior was made to look like the plaza of a small Mexican village at
night. The restaurant features strolling mariachis, flame jugglers, and a 30-foot (9.1 m) waterfall. In addition to the lagoon fed by the waterfall, there are
smaller pools and grottos with streams.
The exterior of the building has an 85 foot high pink tower topped with a 22-carat gold leaf dome and a statue of Cuhuatemoc, the last emperor of the Aztec
civilization, on top. The fountain in front of the building is 20 feet wide and 20 feet high. It was shipped in sections from Guadalajara, Mexico.
The JCRS Shopping Center, Lakewood's first mall, where Casa Bonita is located, is on land once owned by the Jewish Consumptive's Relief Society (JCRS). It was sold for
shopping center development in the 1950s, and the entrance to the sanatorium, on West Colfax before the shopping center was built, was changed to Pierce Street.
Bill Waugh, a college art major, took over the Joslin's building in 1972 and spent a couple of million dollars ($11 million in 2014 dollars) and two years
renovating it.
Bill converted the 3-story department store into 52,000 square foot restaurant capable of seating 1,100 guests on 3 levels that would make it one of the largest
restaurants in North America. The waterfall empties into a 14 foot deep lagoon. There is the sense of being in a jungle with exotic tropical flowers, mysterious
caverns, and a deserted gold mine. The restaurant has Aztec sculptures, mirrored ceilings, stages for puppet shows and musical revues, a Mexican plaza, and antique
Mexican furniture, paintings, and pottery. Money tossed into the wishing well in the Plaza goes to charity. There is a Mexican governor's room, a grand vista at the
highest point in the restaurant, vineyards with vines of artificial grapes on them, a matador room, a cliffside eating area, and caves with replica bats. A theater
seats 150 customers for dining, and it has a stage for magic and music revue shows.
There are 300 employees during the summer and 200 in the winter. Many tour busses stop at Casa Bonita.
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.
The Lakewood Casa Bonita is the last remaining restaurant in the chain. Former Casa Bonita locations:
- Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (1968-1993)
- Hulen Mall, Fort Worth, Texas (- c. 1986)
- Little Rock, Arkansas (1969-1993)
The JCRS Shopping Center was purchased by Dr. James Yang, a retired Los Angeles surgeon, for $4.9 million.
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
At the left is the steeple of the restaurant as seen from the Jewish Consumptive Relief Society (JCRS) campus to the north near 1600
Pierce Street in Lakewood, Colorado. At the time of this writing, the JCRS campus was owned by the Rocky Mountain College of Art +
Design (RMCAD), and the sculpture at the right was made by one a college student.
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
This and following views are from the restaurant's parking lot in the JCRS Shopping Center at Colfax Avenue and Pierce Street in
Lakewood, Colorado.
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
When this picture was taken, in March 2014, the fountain in front of the restaurant was dry.
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
This is the main entrance to the restaurant that caters to family dining.
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
"Casa Bonita of Denver designed by Phil H. Phillips 1974".
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
The restaurant is designed to accommodate many customers, and this is a seating area in an alcove for people to wait.
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
This is another view of the seating area.
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
This shows ample portions for a chicken fried steak meal. For additional service, the flag at the left can be lifted to the top of the
pole to flag down a server. Sopapillas are included with the dinner, and the plastic squeeze bottle at the right contains honey, a
favorite topping for putting on or inside sopapillas.
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
Sopapillas with honey for dessert.
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
This is the place where sopapillas are made.
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
Warm sopapillas ready to be served.
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
The pool is about 14 feet deep. Divers leap from the 3-story high cliff or platform about each half hour.
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Caricaturist at Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
Waterfalls and ponds are a common sight, giving the restaurant an outdoor flavor.
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
There is a large arcade for kids (big and little) to enjoy.
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
The diver is on the wall to the right of the waterfall, about to dive into the pool.
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
Cliff diver about to dive into the pool.
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
 |
| JCRS Shopping Center. |
This is the walkway outside of Casa Bonita.
 |
| Casa Bonita Mexican Restaurant. |
This photo shows the bell in the Casa Bonita tower.