Molly Martin
Audio By Carbonatix
Last week, local seafood chain Jax Fish House announced that it is closing its Glendale location on November 15. But another seafood chain, this one national, has already shuttered its only Colorado outpost.
In 1994, Forrest Gump hit movie theaters across the country, inspiring countless fans to yell, “Run, Forrest, run!” for years to come. Now, the restaurant inspired by the film has run out of Colorado.
The doors at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. at 1437 California Street are locked; a sign posted there reads: “Unfortunately, we have permanently closed. Thank you for allowing us to serve the Denver community.”
Bubba Gump was founded in Monterey, California, in 1996 and expanded to Denver in 2007. Three years later, the brand was purchased by the Texas-based Landry’s restaurant group. The Denver outpost was licensed by the Kelly Group, which is based in California. The closure leaves twenty remaining Bubba Gump locations in the U.S., plus ten outside of the country.
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Molly Martin
The downtown location was situated near a light-rail stop and the Colorado Convention Center, factors that helped it last so long in downtown Denver. Convention-goers appreciated the kitschy atmosphere and crowd-pleasing eats like fish and chips and, of course, platters of shrimp served in a variety of preparations (as Benjamin Buford “Bubba” Blue would say, “You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it…”).
But even Bubba Gump’s couldn’t weather the slowdown that hit downtown during the pandemic. While the area is poised for a comeback with the recent grand reopening of 16th Street (formerly known as the 16th Street Mall), the business appears to have been under financial strain. According to BusinessDen, the restaurant is being sued by its landlord, Cherne Investment Co., for back rent.
That leaves a huge (6,250 square fee,t to be exact) restaurant space vacant in the heart of downtown. Though the building may not stand much longer: Kent Cherne, whose late father purchased the property in 1960, told BusinessDen that a teardown “would not bother me.”
The is the latest chain closure in the 16th Street area, following the loss of two spots on the ground floor of the Tabor Center: Mellow Mushroom, which shut down in March, and Smashburger, which closed its doors at the beginning of the month.
