Tag: casa bonita

So, after more than a year being on the wait list, we finally got our tickets to Casa Bonita! We, being my 18 year old son and me. I showed my son every episode of “South Park” (when he was old enough), and one of our favorite episodes was, “Casa Bonita”. So, when the announcement was made that Parker and Stone (creators of “South Park” amongst other amazing things) had purchased the closed restaurant and reopened it; I signed up for the wait list. The restaurant has returned to enormous interest and success, which makes me very happy.

You see, my history with Casa Bonita goes way, way, back. To when I was nine years old and living in Little Rock, Arkansas. Wait, Casa Bonita is in Denver, right? Yes, but we had a smaller version in Little Rock. No cliff divers, unfortunately, but we had a cave, live music and a treasure room! It was my absolute favorite thing to do when I was a kid. I had no idea that there was another Casa in Denver that had cliff divers, a puppet show and more! Not until the premiere of the “Casa Bonita” episode. Right then and there, I vowed to myself to go to that location one day.

Now, I know you’re asking, “Lord have mercy, Kim, it’s just a Mexican place and themed to be entertaining to kids, what is your deal?” For that answer, we have to go back to when I was a kid.

My upbringing was very typical for a Gen X kid. Latchkey, got myself up in the morning for school, made sure my younger brother also got up for school, made sure we got to the bus stop on time, then made sure we both got on the bus home, made snacks for us (I taught myself to be creative with ingredients early), got my homework done, and so on. There was also an embargo on showing your feelings, particularly crying, and definitely not any kind of mental health assistance. That was for crazy people. So, for a sensitive, empath kid like me, life sucked. I also had bullies. A lot of bullies. Bullies one and two were at the bus stop, bullies three and four got on the bus two stops after mine, bullies five to 10ish were in my class, but the biggest one of all was my teacher. She was a truly cruel woman that probably shouldn’t have ever been around kids. When you watch “Matilda” and think that the characters who are cruel to Matilda are over-the-top caricatures, think again. I thought that movie was a documentary at first. OK, not really, but I did relate to it more than should be possible.

So, why am I telling you all this? Well, to let you know that I was a pretty miserable kid that had no support really, save my Grandmother Doris. I could tell her anything, and she would lend a sympathetic ear. She didn’t even get mad if I cried! The bar was in Hell is what I’m trying to say.

Which takes me right back to good ‘ol Casa Bonita. There were no bullies there. It was magical to me. It looked like we were in a little village far, far away from home. Fluffy clouds and a blue sky painted on the ceiling. My favorite kind of food, Mexican food (cause, I mean, tacos, amirite?). Servers in pretty dresses. I wanted one of those dresses. Mariachi playing and speaking of costumes…they were the most glittery beautiful costumes I had ever seen! They had a lady playing violin in the group. I had just started playing violin at school, and thought, “That could be me someday. I could wear a pretty costume and be here EVERY DAY!” I got to raise the little flag for more sopapillas (OMG, so delicious!). I got to go to the treasure room and trade my ticket for a prize! I was happy and actually forgot about all the other miserable crap going on. I had traveled to a magical place. I loved it.

Now, cut to last week and my son and I entering Denver’s Casa. It looked the same (although bigger and fancier, but overall it looked the same), smelled the same, the mariachi were playing, I was transported. My son was mesmerized. He said, “I know it’s just a themed restaurant, but there is magic here!” 100% agreed! Parker and Stone maintained the magic that a place like Casa Bonita gives to kids and adults alike. Don’t care one bit if you think that’s silly or corny.

Now, back to the past for a sec… as I got older, I found therapy and really began to heal. Part of my healing journey (and to be perfectly honest, being Gen X helped me be tough enough to do this) is to just go do fun things. I don’t care if they are weird. I don’t care if you think it is stupid for a grown woman to enjoy going to the zoo. I don’t care if you think it is stupid for a grown woman to enjoy theme parks, cosplay, dressing nerdy, going to animated movies. I do these things for me, but also nine year old me, who deserves a nice day out. She deserves a nice day without judgment or bullying. But in Casa Bonita, my grown ass was having a moment, and my inner child said, “I’ll take the wheel. You just enjoy the rare happy childhood memory this gives you.”

And I did. The food was dope too, btw.