Growing Pains in Colorado: South Park Guys’ Casa Bonita Facing Employee Backlash

It can't be too surprising to anyone who's started up a restaurant, that the new Casa Bonita has hit a couple of bumps along the way. A group of employees, backed by a national organization, is looking for change.

People across Denver, across Colorado, across the country, and even the world are excited to get into the "new" Casa Bonita after Matt Stone and Trey Parker have invested over $43 million to bring it back to life.

It takes a lot of employees to make it all happen, smoothly. What are the disgruntled employees wanting, exactly?

Fun. That is what people are looking for when they get to hit up Stone and Parker's renovated Casa Bonita. Fun seems to still be a ways off for the restaurant.

As of this writing, they still aren't allowing any walk-ups, you have to receive an email to be able to purchase tickets. That's not fun.

HOW MUCH ARE TICKETS TO COLORADO'S CASA BONITA, ANYWAY?

• Dinner, adults (entrée, chips & salsa, bottomless soft drink, unlimited sopapilla) - $39.00
• Dinner, kids (3-12) (entrée, chips & salsa, bottomless soft drink, unlimited sopapilla) - $24,99

RELATED: SOUTH PARK GUYS RUN GREAT 'RETRO' AD FOR CASA BONITA

According to the Denver Post, a group of 50 Casa Bonita employees (out of the nearly 260, in total) came to together to submit their list of grievances to the restaurant management, with the support of a national group that helps restaurant workers.

WHO IS THE NATIONAL ORGANIZATION BEHIND THE COLORADO CASA BONITA GROUP?

Restaurant Opportunities Centers United:

...the country’s oldest and largest restaurant workers-led organization that works to improve restaurant workers’ lives by building worker power and uniting workers of various backgrounds around shared goals and values.

WHAT ARE THE EMPLOYEES' BEEF WITH COLORADO'S CASA BONITA?

• Pay:  The group of employees, #WeAreTeamCasa, is stating that when bartenders and serving staff were hired, they were to be paid $14.27/hour, plus tips. Then, management changed that to a straight-up $30/hour, with no tipping from customers.   This group is looking for kitchen staff to get the $30/hour, and Casa Bonita to go back to what they promised for servers/bartenders.
• Hours/Benefits:  The group sees no "light at the end of the tunnel" when it comes to Casa Bonita being "open," with employees getting a regular set of hours; wherein, they might be eligible for benefits, as promised upon being hired.
• Transparency: The group is looking for better, two-way communication with Casa Bonita's upper management.

According to the Denver Post, Casa Bonita issued this statement on July 19, 2023:

Casa Bonita strives to create the best working environment for its employees. This includes implementing the best compensation structure for all employees—not just a few. To the extent some employees have concerns about our policies, we will continue to make ourselves available to discuss their concerns, individually or as a group.

Hopefully, this will all get worked out soon. Also hopefully soon, we'll be able to just walk up to Casa Bonita for some fun.