. for the south park episode see casa bonita south park . casa bonita the front facade of the lakewood colorado casa bonita restaurant information established 1968 1993 original restaurant 1971 2011 tulsa location 1974 colorado location current owner s star buffet inc. 1 food type mexican street address 6715 west colfax avenue city lakewood state colorado postal code zip 80214 country usa seating capacity 1 100 website official website casa bonita spanish ; literally means pretty house is a former chain of mexican themed eatertainment restaurants which originated in oklahoma city . as of 2015 only one location remained open in the western denver suburb of lakewood colorado . there was also a northern arizona chain of mexican restaurants using the casa bonita name founded in 2003 . locations included flagstaff cottonwood lake havasu prescott prescott valley sedona and paradise valley . they were not related to the eatertainment franchise and in 2011 they changed their name to plaza bonita . another unrelated restaurant of the same name is located in libertyville illinois . contents 1 history 2 locations 2.1 tulsa oklahoma 2.2 lakewood colorado 2.3 former locations 3 similar restaurants 4 in popular culture 5 references 6 external links history edit 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 . in 1982 the company including taco bueno fast food restaurants was sold to unigate now uniq plc . in 1992 unigate sold the restaurants to cke restaurants owners of carl s jr. 2 in 1997 the two remaining casa bonita restaurants were spun off by cke as part of star buffet . 3 the tulsa location closed in september 2005 4 then reopened for a 2 year run under the name casa viva and went out of business in december 2007 . casa bonita was reopened by star buffet under the original name in late july 2008 . 5 in march 2015 it was announced that the lakewood historical society decided to make the restaurant a historic landmark of the city . locations edit tulsa oklahoma edit the tulsa location opened in 1971 near the intersection of 21st and sheridan . 6 the interior was designed to create the outdoor nighttime atmosphere of a mexican village . its various themed dining areas with seating for over 500 included a village square with fountain a 2 level lantern lit cave a tropical garden with 20 ft waterfall and stream and a room resembling an aristocratic dining hall with strolling mariachis . the tulsa location also included a puppet and magic show theatre a video arcade a working carousel and a gift shop . it closed on september 30 2005 4 due to a reported inability to reach suitable lease terms with the property owner . it was reopened as casa viva in may 2006 7 and then closed again in december 2007 . in late july 2008 the restaurant having been sold back to its previous owner group reopened under the original casa bonita name . 5 in february 2011 the restaurant failed to reopen after lengthy snowstorms hit tulsa and a sign on the door said it was closed for business . 8 lakewood colorado edit casa bonita interiors lakewood the lakewood location opened in early 1974 on colfax avenue west of denver . 9 similar in architecture to the tulsa location both were previously large retail store locations the lakewood restaurant seats over 1000 people at a time and features strolling mariachis flame jugglers and a 30 foot 9.1 m waterfall with cliff divers . 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 . it was designated a historic landmark of the city in march 2015 . former locations edit oklahoma city oklahoma 1968 1993 10 hulen mall fort worth texas 11 c. 1986 little rock arkansas 1969 1993 1995 2005 10 similar restaurants edit casa bonita founder bill waugh founded a similar restaurant concept casa viva . unrelated to the florida fast food chain of the same name it operated in the former casa bonita locations in little rock 12 1995 2005 and tulsa 2006 2007 . 5 13 larry h. miller owner of the utah jazz opened a restaurant called the mayan adventure usually just shortened to the mayan in sandy utah in 2000 . casa bonita sued miller for trademark infringement ; 14 miller was found to have visited casa bonita several times . 15 the mayan adventure eventually closed in late 2011 . 16 restaurante arroyo in tlalpan mexico a super size mexican restaurant . in popular culture edit the south park episode casa bonita prominently features the colorado branch of the restaurant . other episodes that mention it briefly are quest for ratings where a clock is labeled as showing the time at casa bonita you have 0 friends 201 where the restaurant is reportedly destroyed and let go let gov . additionally the building that houses south park studios was named after the restaurant . 17 in eureka a reference to casa bonita is made where an artificial intelligent love struck andy who is the deputy of the town sheriff in the new alternate timeline regards the sheriff s artificial intelligent house s.a.r.a.h. as his case bonita when stuck on titan saturn s moon by an accidental journey using the series fictional faster than light technology . references edit star buffet inks deal with 4b s restaurants . phoenix business journal . 2007 07 31 . scottsdale based star buffet nasdaq strz operates 14 home town buffets ... and one casa bonita mexican theme restaurant . zimmerman martin 1996 08 29 . unigate sells taco bueno chain to carl s jr. parent . the dallas morning news . newsbank id 0ed3d6ca43269ef9 . johnson greg 1997 07 29 . cke plans to serve up buffet style chain . los angeles times . p. 12d . cke parent company of carl s jr. and hardee s burger chains said that star buffet inc. will be composed of cke s 16 hometown buffets and two casa bonita ... a b blossom debbie 2005 09 29 . casa bonita says adios to tulsa . tulsa world . a b c postelwait jeff 2008 07 19 . fun filled casa bonita to reopen the original owners of the restaurant have returned . . tulsa world . retrieved 2011 02 17 . maloney lee . casa bonita a family favorite . fabuloustravel.com . cherry scott 2006 06 23 . dining out back in the house . tulsa world . arnold kyle 2011 02 17 . casa bonita restaurant says adios to tulsa its owner star buffet inc. is apparently in financial straits . . tulsa world . retrieved 2011 02 17 . meitus marty 1994 03 15 . casa bonita at 20 ... denver s favorite dive in restaurant . rocky mountain news . newsbank id 0eb4de0edfffee6d . a b pemberton tricia 2005 10 02 . after 34 years casa bonita says farewell ; landmark restaurant in tulsa closes . the daily oklahoman . casa bonita restaurants in oklahoma city and little rock ark . closed in 1993 with then owner black eyed pea management corp. cited declining revenues . wild is the word for wild west outfitters hulen mall unit . daily news record . 1994 01 05 . wild west outfitters new store at the hulen mall in fort worth tx ... occupies more than 20 000 sq ft 1 900 m2 of what was once a casa bonita restaurant ... blossom debbie 2005 10 01 . casa viva restaurant on menu . tulsa world . blossom debbie 2006 05 27 . brand new casa . tulsa world . retrieved 2011 02 17 . jazz owner miller sued over restaurant . associated press . 2000 07 05 . colden anne 2000 07 04 . casa bonita sues copycat . denver post . p. c1 . newsbank id 0eaf457dba96d654 . http www.ksl.com sid 17899486 casa bonita episode for south park external links edit official website coordinates 39 44 31 n 105 04 15 w 39.741927 n 105.070828 w 39.741927 ; 105.070828 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title casa bonita & oldid 742157046 categories restaurants established in 1968mexican restaurantstheme restaurantsrestaurants in coloradorestaurants in oklahomavisitor attractions in jefferson county coloradoeconomy of lakewood coloradodefunct restaurant chains in the united states1968 establishments in oklahomahidden categories official website different in wikidata and wikipediacoordinates on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 2 october 2016 at 01 17 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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