The Tulsa branch of Casa Bonita, which has been in business longer than I have been alive, is closing its doors on Friday, as its lease is up at the end of September. Most of the other Casa Bonita branches, including the original one in Oklahoma City, closed sometime in the 1990’s, leaving only the Tulsa branch and the infamous Denver branch in operation. The outfit seemed to have suffered under Carl’s Jr. ownership, with their stated marketing strategy of people come to Casa Bonita for the atmosphere, not the food. Casa Bonita’s fast food division, Taco Bueno, suffered under Carl’s Jr. ownership (as has Hardee’s), but has since been sold off, and has seen a marked improvement in quality.
I’m not the hugest Casa Bonita fan, but I reckon I shall miss the blend of restaurant, arcade, and theme park at least a little bit.
You know, I really like good mariachi music. But I have
always lived in terror of having them come to my table
for some reason. I just find it so embarrassing.
Everyone is looking at you. And you can’t just ignore
the musicians, but it seems so uncomfortable to smile for
such a long time. I’m not sure I could eat there.
The Casa Bonita in Denver used to be one of my favorite places to go
as a kid, I took my kids there a few years ago and everything seemed
the same as 30 years ago…except for the food quality. It’s not terrible
but you get about the same quality at Taco Bell.
I’ve eaten at the Tulsa one a few times in recent years, and the quality ranged from Taco Bell to pretty good… quite a bit of variance from time to time. If we go up to the state fair, tomorrow, we’ll probably eat there, being a last chance and all.
One of the television stations did an interview with a man who had grown up in Tulsa and enjoyed Casa Bonita as a child. He lives in Louisiana now, but just happened to be in town fleeing from the hurricanes, so he got to go to the Tulsa Casa Bonita one last time.
Old taboos, so to speak. In American society dogs, cats, and rats have not traditionally been something that was societally condoned for killing for meat, whereas cattle and hogs have been.
The secret is to participate by requesting songs. I always ask for “Historia de un Amor”. It’s not exactly Mexican trad, but it was recorded by Trio Los Panchos, which is good enough for me. They’ll probably know stuff like “Ay Jalisco No Te Rajes”, “Cucurucucu Paloma”, and “Malagueña Salerosa”.
That’s not an ethical reason. It’s a “splitting-hairs-because-I-want-at-least-a-half-of-an-answer-because-I-fear-Cranberry-has-a-point-that-eating-a-cat-is-no-real-stretch-from-eating-a-cow” response.
likes got nothing to with it, Bessie tastes sooooooo… well… meaty. Like I have read in somebody’s signature… “I we weren’t supposed to eat animals, then why are they made out of meat?”
I wonder how it is that I have never come across a Casa Bonita’s in my many travels.
