According to restaurant experts, South Park has the profound power to change people’s dietary habits — anyone in the mood for some chili?

Every South Park fan knows that, in 2021, series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone swooped in to save a certain failing Mexican restaurant and amusement megaplex that had provided so many priceless childhood memories to so many Denver-area children, such as their younger selves. But before Parker and Stone saved Casa Bonita with a $40 million investment that turned the towering pink entertainment institution into “the greatest restaurant in the world,” South Park itself helped keep Casa Bonita in the black on certain nights when reruns of the iconic 2003 episode, simply titled “Casa Bonita,” played on Comedy Central, motivating families across Colorado to make their reservations and driving up sales of sopapillas and refried beans.

Back in 2015, the Vice channel “Munchies” visited Casa Bonita to see how the real world of cliff divers,...