Family Friendly?

So here I am in Denver visiting my good friend Allison and her daughter Deanna (age 3 and pictured here). We wanted to go to a kid-friendly place for dinner, so it seemed that Casa Bonita was just the place. In business since 1974, it boasts cliff divers, various shows, mariachis and an arcade PLUS an all-you-can-eat mexican plate meal. What more could we want?

The place clearly sees a lot of traffic and activity. Set up like a Vegas buffet, the wait to order, get food and be seated can queue for up to a good 30 minutes or so. A little cheesey, but hey, it's family entertainment. And then we got a view of the food.

I'll post the photos for shock/entertainment value when I am back home, but consider this scenario....plates of food passed through a tiny cut-out window, sitting under heat lamps. Fresh? Hmmm. Then we saw the fajita meat on the grill, crammed around a saute pan loaded with onions and peppers. Is that food safety certified? Not likely. Rather than run and head for the hills, we continued, blindly believing that all will be well.

I'll spare you my fine readers any further food visuals beyond the cheese enchiladas with nacho cheese sauce and know that the evening has ended with both Allison and I sipping ginger ale in hopes of quelling the stomach pains.

Let's get to the entertainment. First, there was a creepy giant gorilla (girl-illa as Deanna says it) that beat on his chest and snuck up on and scared people. Then there was the show with a sheriff and outlaw that ended with the outlaw being shot multiple times and then falling off the cliff into the water. My personal favorite of course was the damsel in distress being chased by some Tarzan-type until she was rescued by the sheriff who shot Tarzan, who then fell off the cliff and into the water.

What is this place and who dreamt up the entertainment? And how is this in any way related to a Mexican-themed restaurant??? I remain truly baffled and while Allison and I joked about the number of years of therapy required for any child who visits for dinner (we estimate 5), there is a sad truth that this place can't possibly contribute in a positive way to the youth of Denver.

The final straw - as if the overall experience wasn't enough - came in the arcade. There was some sort of 'Turkey Hunter' game right next to the little kiddie rides with exploding guts and frighteningly realistic graphics. That did it, we were out of there.

We are going to be taking the safe route...like the park...with Deanna tomorrow!

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