All the Denver Food News You Missed That Isn’t About Casa Bonita

Monday mornings are tough, but this series isn’t. Social Sightings is a quick taste of recent food tidbits that goes down as easily as your first cup of coffee, and should whatever your appetite for the week ahead.

Covering the story of Casa Bonita, the iconic pink dining palace that’s still on the verge of reopening under its new owners, South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, has been a three-year marathon that suddenly turned into a mad dash.

As expected, and vague, the promise of a May opening drew closer, everyone was scrambling for information about the changes that had been made to the food and interior, and when the public would finally get to bask in that cavernous glory once again.. .

While we still don’t exactly know, we know a hell of a lot more than we did a month ago, when we published our cartoon on Casa Bonita’s history. On May 25, we had the chance to tour the place with new executive chef Dana Rodriguez and taste our way through the menu (yes, the food is good!). Now, it’s in super-slow opening mode, welcoming in groups of industry insiders as staffers are trained and kinks are ironed out.

Soon, Casa Bonita will start to randomly select fans from its email list to be among the first to dine inside. And eventually, it will announce ticket prices and details on how the masses can get in on the action. But while it seems everyone in town has been following this story closely, a lot of other fun stuff has been happening in the local food scene.

Here are some of our favorite recent stories:

🍽️ While Casa Bonita may not officially be open just yet, a whole lot of other places did debut. Over 25 in May alone, in fact. Catch up with our monthly round-ups.

🍄 We dove into the trending world of mushrooms that don’t make you trip, aka gourmet and functional mushrooms. And here’s a fun guide to mushrooms you might spot growing in the wild in Colorado this spring and summer.

🐟 Did you know there’s a decades-old store on East Colfax Avenue that sells some of the best, freshest salmon around — plus great plants for your garden? Get to know the salmon man at Town & Country Market.

🍖 We updated our list of the ten best barbecue joints in Denver, just in time for those summer smoky meat cravings. dig in.

🍎 Cider is more popular than ever. Get a glimpse of one of Colorado’s top producers in this Q&A with its director of innovation.

🚚 Have you been keeping up on #foodtruckfridays? We profile a different food truck every week, so now that mobile eaters are out in force for the season, catch up on the stories behind these local entrepreneurs.

🌿 This innovative opening coming to RiNo deserves as much hype as Casa Bonita — though it features an indoor farm instead of a cave.

🍕Get a taste of the latest regional pizza style that’s trending in the Mile High (hint: It’s not from Detroit).

Want to catch up on all our food coverage? Here’s the full list of the latest news.