LAKEWOOD, Colo. — A group of 50 employees at Casa Bonita said this week it gave the management team a list of demands they said would improve working conditions at the iconic Lakewood restaurant.
In a news release, the group calling itself "#WeAreTeamCasa" said it delivered the following outline on July 12:
- To clarify hours of operation: There's been a series of “soft openings" with no clear pathway to being open seven days a week.
- Access to health benefits.
- The creation of a voice in the workplace, as well as transparency and two-way communication with ownership.
- The ability to consider employment documents for a reasonable timeframe before signing.
- To reinstate former employees lost through Casa Bonita’s contract-related disputes.
#WeAreTeamCasa said it gave management a week to respond had not received one as of Wednesday.
> The video above is from June 22.
"As a collective, #WeAreTeamCasa, asked ownership to adopt these policies that lead to fulfilling the promises originally made," the release says.
Casa Bonita management released the following statement: “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.”
A look inside Casa Bonita
The release from #WeAreTeamCasa included quotes from two employees and someone identified as a fired employee.
“There was a promise of lucrative business which would bring an incredible opportunity monetarily," said employee Gayle Durr. "We have yet to see any of this lucrative business – despite people nationwide waiting patiently to finally see the inside of this Colorado landmark. We want to see Casa Bonita thrive, and if ownership/management cannot bring that about, then we will."
"Park County (Casa Bonita’s ownership entity) needs to remember we (the hourly employees) are the ones who love this place and will take care of it with joyful enthusiasm," said employee Michelle Mendenhal. "In return we ask them to see our humanity and let us earn a competitive wage with benefits.”
“This is a bait-and-switch – we were excited about the possibility of reviving a Denver institution, but what began as a really fun adventure has turned into a real-life financial nightmare,”, said Russ Lee, who was identified as a recently fired bartender.
#WeAreTeamCasa said the letter was drafted with help from nonprofit organization Restaurant Opportunities Centers United.
On Friday, Casa Bonita management released a memo that was shared with the full staff:
- One-of-a-kind establishment: Casa Bonita has always been a place for families to enjoy both dining and entertainment in a unique environment. We have worked hard to maintain what has made Casa Bonita special while at the same time improving the experience for both customers and staff.
- Opening well, not fast: We have been intentional about opening gradually in order to refine the many complex aspects of the Casa Bonita experience – entertainment, food prep, security, dive and puppet shows, live music, bar service, cleaning, technology, animatronics, etc. While we understand this may be frustrating for some fans and staff, we have been transparent about the intention and reasons behind the pacing. We do not want to make promises to customers or staff that we cannot fulfill.
- Key accomplishments: Just since the beginning of June, with our limited schedule, we have doubled our service from 1,148 customers a week to over 2,300 last week, and we are expecting to expand to over 2,600 next week. While this is still a long way from the around 20,000 customers a week we hope to serve, it is a major achievement, as all of our staff have now been given the opportunity to work sufficient hours to have full-time benefits. Similarly, we have hired over 130 employees since May, well on our way to the over 350 staff we expect to need to serve that many guests.
- Non-traditional customer experience: One of the more significant updates to Casa Bonita is to allow guests to pre-pay for their experiences, order at a ticketing window, and carry their entrees to their tables. This has been instrumental in providing high quality food and eliminating the long wait times customers faced when coming to Casa Bonita in the past. As such, while our servers manage serving drinks, chips and salsa, and sopaipillas that are included in the ticketed price, only specialty desserts, alcohol, and additional a la carte food purchases are added to the bill customers receive at the restaurant.
- Guests weren’t tipping: As a result of our unique customer experience, we found during our soft openings that guests were leaving tips that were much lower than we expected, resulting in much lower total compensation for our staff. Accordingly, in an effort to ensure fair compensation for our staff, we increased the hourly wage for all of our service staff. As we continue to develop the Casa Bonita experience, we remain focused on providing our staff with a fair compensation and benefits package.
- Pooled tips: To be clear, Casa Bonita initially developed a policy for a tip pool in which all non-managerial service staff working on a given shift participated in tips received in that pool. With the unanticipated shortfalls in customer tipping during the soft openings, all staff were experiencing lower income than expected. That is why we moved to substantially enhanced hourly rates.
- Open-door policy: From the start we established open meetings and dialogue options with employees. Staff members are encouraged to share concerns directly with management and have multiple venues to express opinions, both individually and collectively.
- Continuing evolution: We intend to continue to experiment with changes, alterations, and improvements as dictated by our evolving business and the lessons we learn. One thing that’s certain is that Casa Bonita will keep evolving to continue providing a great place to work and the best guest experience for generations to come.
The Lakewood restaurant famous for its cliff divers and sopapillas began operating on limited hours last month after closing when the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020.
The restaurant has undergone more than $12 million in extensive renovations since "South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone bought it for $3.1 million in September 2021.
An internal Lakewood Police Department email from May detailed how the restaurant would open in stages.
The first step was multiple “soft opening” dates where those selected in a lottery will have a chance to attend dinner at Casa Bonita with family members. Once the soft openings were done, the restaurant opened to a limited number of people on limited days through a ticketing system.
As of this week, the restaurant was sending invitations to people who signed up through the website to purchase tickets. The invitation says a limited number of dates are available on a rolling basis.
They will then open for dinner from Monday through Saturday, according to the email. A short time later, they will transition to being open for dinner seven days a week.
The next step will be to open all day on the weekends, according to the email. Finally, six to eight weeks into opening, they will be open during lunch and dinner hours seven days a week, the email says.
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