LAKEWOOD, Colo. — Are you trying to snag a reservation at Casa Bonita? Good luck. Tens of thousands of people waited in a virtual queue during a pair of reservation windows Monday.
The iconic Colorado restaurant announced earlier this month that it would ditch the lottery system and begin accepting reservations on its website from the general public beginning Monday at 3 p.m.
Priority reservations were made available to so-called Founders Club members – anyone who subscribed to the restaurant's newsletter in the last year – at 9 a.m. Monday. Some in the Denver7 newsroom were among the nearly 40,000 people waiting in the online queue and were eventually denied after an hours-long wait as those reservations sold out by noon.
Some of our staffers tried again during the 3 p.m. slot and were put in a line with more than 29,000 others.
Up until today, those wanting to dine at the restaurant had to rely on that lottery system to receive an email invite for reservations. This system was in place from the beginning of the restaurant's highly anticipated soft reopening in June 2023.
The reopening was not without criticism—especially from some restaurant employees, who said that “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone's handling of the soft reopening was a "masterclass in how not to open a restaurant."
The duo purchased Casa Bonita from its previous owner in September 2021, as it was in danger of permanently closing due to the coronavirus pandemic.
To secure your place in line, head to casabonitadenver.com beginning at 3 p.m. The earliest available to book is Oct. 1, and slots are open through November.
Reservations are free, but a cancellation fee may apply if you cancel within 24 hours of the dining date.
Good luck!
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