Casa Bonita, a Mexican restaurant made famous by the television show ‘South Park,’ will not be sold to the show’s creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker.
via NYP:
The restaurant’s parent company Summit Family Restaurant Inc., tells TMZ they have no plans to sell despite filing for bankruptcy in April. The restaurant — which can seat more than 1,000 people — has been closed since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
Originally begun as a chain, Casa Bonita maintains one remaining location in Lakewood, Colorado — which the city designated as a historic landmark in 2015.
Parker and Stone have said in the past they would be keen to purchase the place if it ever became available and Summit told the website they would be at the top of the buyer’s list should plans change.
“We want to buy Casa Bonita and treat it right. I feel like it was neglected even before the pandemic,” Parker told The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday. “We are going to do everything we can. We want to make it right and make it amazing.”
News of the potential purchase was mostly met with enthusiasm from Coloradans. The animators, once ostracized from mainstream culture for the show’s raunchy, anti-establishment humor, now found themselves fully embraced.
“Well this would be some fun Jefferson County news,” said the official Twitter account for the county in response to the idea.
“Best. News. Ever,” said Colorado State Sen. Jeff Bridges.
The restaurant has achieved cult-like status among die-hard “South Park” fans for its frequent references in the show.
A 2003 episode called “Casa Bonita” exclusively focused on the eatery and a scheme by show antagonist Eric Cartman to secure an invite to a dinner there by tricking a different attendee into thinking the world had ended. The episode is regularly listed among the show’s top fan favorites.
Casa Bonita also made an appearance in 2017 “South Park”-inspired video game “The Fractured but Whole.”
“South Park” has featured more than 300 episodes and is now in its 23rd season, making it one of the most successful television shows in US history. The show regularly tackles divisive US social and political issues and won Peabody Award for social commentary in 2005.
That’s too bad. It would’ve given the shuttered restaurant a new life.
