Lakewood, Colorado: Casa Bonita
Eat Mexican food to the appetite-stimulating splash of indoor cliff divers.
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Casa Bonita Seating is very interesting. Tons of little balconies overlook the cliff divers.
[Katharine Chestnut, 07/10/2010]
Casa Bonita Just visited here, must say it is worth going to experience it all. Gorilla show, gun fight, cliff divers and much more. Food is overpriced and awful quality, but a place that has all this is worth it!
[Shellye, 04/28/2010]Food is cafeteria style, sub par. Sopapillas for dessert were above par when paired with honey. Attractions were a must-see. Cliff divers, gunfighters, Black Bart's cave, etc. very entertaining.
[Rockin p, 02/08/2010]
Casa Bonita Casa Bonita is still there and doing very well. It was quite busy on a weeknight. It's a fun restaurant, but the food is quite bad -- basically Taco Bell quality at three times the price. The entertainment is really fun, though.
If you are passing through the area, need a hotel, and are thinking of staying, drive out of this area first. Apparently, Colfax is a terrible neighborhood.
[Brian, 05/27/2006]Casa Bonita is still in business, although I have never been inside. The restaurant is located in the "JCRS Shopping Center." It is rare for people in this area to know what "JCRS" stands for, much less the out-of-town visitors who are taken to the Mexican themed restaurant. The non-abbreviated name would actually be the "Jewish Consumptives' Relief Society Shopping Center"!
North, up the hill behind the shopping center, are the buildings of the former tuberculosis sanatorium ("consumption" was another term for tuberculosis). JCRS (the tuberculosis treatment center, NOT the shopping center) was established 100 years ago in 1904. At the time, many "consumptives" were traveling from the crowded East coast cities to areas like Denver for the only known treatment: fresh dry air. Patients would be housed in tents and later in rooms with open air balconies. Being out in the fresh air was encouraged even during the winter.
In the 1960s, with medicine eradicating tuberculosis the sanatorium was converted to cancer research. In 2003/4 the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design purchased the buildings for its campus. Historical buildings, including concrete "tents" for the patients, are being preserved.
[Joe C., 04/23/2004]Ah, the long sought after tuberculosis - taco connection.... April 2007: Douglas Boyle confirms that "The JCRS Shopping Center was developed in 1957 on the former grounds of the Jewish Consumptive Relief Society."
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Casa Bonita
- Address:
- 6715 W. Colfax Ave., Lakewood, CO
- Directions:
- I-25 to Denver, take exit 210A (Colfax) west to the 6700 block, watching for the Bell Tower Shopping Center on the right side. On the north side of US Hwy 40/W. Colfax Ave. just east of Pierce St.
- Hours:
- Su-Th 11 am - 9 pm; F-Sa to 10 pm. (Call to verify)
- Phone:
- 303-232-5115
- RA Rates:
- Major Fun
Nearby Offbeat Places
- Bugs Bunny Motel, Lakewood, CO - < 1 mi.
- Davies Chuck Wagon Diner, Lakewood, CO - 2 mi.
- Downtown Aquarium: Mermaids, Denver, CO - 3 mi.
- Big Chair with Horse, Denver, CO - 4 mi.
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After thirty years of chaotic eatertainment, this surreal Mexican theme restaurant still attracts indiscriminately hungry tourists! Like us.