A 52,000-square-foot Mexican theme restaurant on Colfax Avenue, Casa Bonita immortalizes the 1970s roadside spectacle with cliff divers plunging from a 30-foot waterfall, mariachi bands, Black Bart's Cave, and a roaming gorilla. Opened in 1974 as the most lavish location in a now-defunct Oklahoma chain, this Lakewood landmark earned historic designation in 2015 and was rescued from bankruptcy in 2021 by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who invested $40 million to restore the pink tower, upgrade the kitchen with chef Dana Rodriguez, and ensure divers no longer navigate high-voltage panels. The sopapillas, arcade games, and puppet shows remain—plus a waitlist 600,000 people deep.
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