for a "long time" before the episode entered production. It was a Thursday—one week before the episode's airdate—when the show's writing team developed the concept that Cartman would be invited to a birthday party if Butters were unable to go. The titular restaurant in the episode is based on the real-life Casa Bonita, a Mexican-themed "eatertainment" restaurant in the Denver suburb of Lakewood, Colorado. Parker and co-creator Matt Stone had both gone to the restaurant as children. They received clearance from Casa Bonita to use their name and likeness, which Parker and co-creator Matt Stone thought was very unusual, making them "even cooler." The restaurant inquired as to whether it would be the subject of mockery, to which Parker responded, "How can we rip on Casa Bonita? That was your dream as a kid, to be able to go to Casa Bonita for your birthday." The design of the restaurant in South Park is modeled heavily on the actual place. The show's animation director, Eric Stough, had also gone to Casa Bonita as a child, and other individuals on the crew from Kansas and New Mexico were familiar with the restaurant. Reception Parker has called "Casa Bonita" among his top ten favorite episodes of South Park. In 2012, Mark Tornga, writing for The A.V. Club, wrote that "South Park delivered the best possible commercial for this restaurant/adventurescape with the surprisingly accurate and compelling 2003 "Casa Bonita" episode of the show. Of the hundred or so Google and Yelp reviews I've read about Casa Bonita, a solid half of them mentioned Cartman or South Park as their motivation for dining." The actual Casa Bonita has seen a boost in visitors since the episode's airing. The Denver Post ran an article about the restaurant in 2014, and its general manager noted that the South Park episode helped its business: "Our demographics have changed slightly because of the South Park episode. We are now cool with the 18-25- year-olds [sic]." In August 2021, the show's creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, announced that they had struck a deal to purchase Casa Bonita. Home release "Casa Bonita", along with the fourteen other episodes from South Parks seventh season, were released on a three-disc DVD set in the United States on March 26, 2006. The sets included brief audio commentaries by Parker and Stone for each episode. The episode is available for streaming on HBO