Casa Bonita

Casa Bonita
The front facade of the Lakewood, Colorado Casa Bonita
Restaurant information
Established	1968-1993 (original restaurant) 1971-2011 (Tulsa location) 1974 (Colorado location)
Current owner(s)	Star Buffet, Inc.
Food type	Mexican
Street address	6715 West Colfax Avenue
City	Lakewood
State	Colorado
Postal/ZIP code	80214
Country	USA
Seating capacity	1,100
Website	Official website

Casa Bonita (Spanish; literally means "pretty house") is a former chain of Mexican-themed "eatertainment" restaurants which originated in Oklahoma City. As of 2015, only one location remained open, in the western Denver suburb of Lakewood, Colorado.

There was also a northern Arizona chain of Mexican restaurants using the Casa Bonita name founded in 2003. Locations included Flagstaff, Cottonwood, Lake Havasu, Prescott, Prescott Valley, Sedona, and Paradise Valley. They were not related to the eatertainment franchise, and in 2011 they changed their name to Plaza Bonita.

Another unrelated restaurant of the same name is located in Libertyville, Illinois.

Founder Bill Waugh opened the first Casa Bonita restaurant in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, in 1968. By the mid-1970s, the chain had expanded to locations in adjacent states and was known for its "all you can eat" beef or chicken plates and offering sopapillas—small squares of fried bread served with honey—with every meal.

In 1982, the company (including Taco Bueno fast food restaurants) was sold to Unigate (now Uniq plc). In 1992, Unigate sold the restaurants to CKE Restaurants, owners of Carl's Jr. In 1997, the two remaining Casa Bonita restaurants were spun off by CKE as part of Star Buffet. The Tulsa location closed in September 2005, then reopened for a 2-year run under the name Casa Viva, and went out of business in December 2007. Casa Bonita was reopened by Star Buffet under the original name in late July 2008. In March 2015, It was announced that the Lakewood Historical Society decided to make the restaurant a historic landmark of the city.

The Tulsa location opened in 1971 near the intersection of 21st and Sheridan. The interior was designed to create the outdoor nighttime atmosphere of a Mexican village. Its various themed dining areas, with seating for over 500, included a village square with fountain, a 2-level lantern-lit cave, a tropical garden with 20-ft waterfall and stream, and a room resembling an aristocratic dining hall with strolling mariachis. The Tulsa location also included a puppet and magic show theatre, a video arcade, a working carousel, and a gift shop.