Casa Bonita - Denver

I'm not sure I liked Casa Bonita.  It seemed a bit cheesy, which is never my favorite motif.  But Eryn loved it and had a great time, and that's what counts.  I can handle a bit of cheesy if it keeps the kid happy.  Casa Bonita is this restaurant in a somewhat rundown part of Denver that has a big tower out front, serves food reminiscent of Don Pablo's, and features entertainment, the highlight of which is local divers from the college who dive off faux cliffs into a deep pool.  There are also western gun fights, a game room, a haunted tunnel (which Eryn refused to traverse after noticing there was a strobe light.  She hates strobe lights), and dancing monkeys, which were actually a dancing ape if you want to be precise in your nomenclature.

Grandma and great grandma walking up to the restaurant.  What you're not seeing is the run down strip mall with almost no one in the cracked parking lot or the couple fighting about lost keys before going to work. But they do a good job of maintaining the tower and fountain area - they looked nice.


The entry area fountain.  Eryn getting a happy picture taken.


Me doing what I do at fountains.  Can't go to lunch half full.


Inside the restaurant watching the divers.  Obviously enjoying herself.


We didn't notice this until later, but there was a very nice area behind the falls in the restaurant (at the back side of the pool) where there were fake rock walls and some booths.  It looked like a good place to have dinner, except I can't imagine Casa Bonita being the place for a romantic evening (lots of kids, and Don Pablo's food factored in).


They had a gift shop, although you could also buy toys on the floor and a waitress was wandering around with toys from table to table. Eryn wanted a "flasher" (her words and Casa Bonita's words, not mine), and got my usual "are you sure?" when confronted with cheap toys. But Grandma was easier to convince and got her this nice laser gun. I include a video so you can appreciate exactly how annoying it was whenever she got it in her head to shoot it for 5 or 10 minutes in the van during the drive.


We took this picture for Eryn's cousin who loves My Little Pony.  I don't think LissyJo would like Casa Bonita, so I'm doing my part to ensure she ends up there.


If there's already a driver, why are you also driving?  Who wins?  The painted guy who's been practicing forever or the kid in the sunroof?  The hole in the wall is fake derelict so you can imagine you're driving through a slum.


A fun time, despite my snarky comments.