Another Bubba Chinos opens on 39th and Wadsworth

Leonard Cordova's Bubba Chinos empire has been on an expansion tear this year, with locations opening in Boulder, on East Colfax and at 88th and York (though Cordova says that Bubbachinos franchise is no longer associated with his company). Yesterday, he added another one: the thirteenth Bubba Chinos in Colorado...

By Laura Shunk

November 15, 2011

Audio By Carbonatix

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Leonard Cordova's Bubba Chinos empire has been on an expansion tear this year, with locations opening in Boulder, on East Colfax and at 88th and York (though Cordova says that Bubbachinos franchise is no longer associated with his company).

Yesterday, he added another one: the thirteenth Bubba Chinos in Colorado opened at 39th and Wadsworth.

An employee tells us the new restaurant serves the same menu of breakfast burritos, burritos and green chile as the other Bubba Chinos locations, including the first at 160 Federal Boulevard. That green chile recipe comes from Stella Cordova, Leonard's grandmother, deceased owner of the original Chubby's on 38th and Lipan and matriarch of a family who has been embroiled in feuds over her legacy -- and the most authentic version of her recipe.

Last year, Leonard insisted that he has the original green chile and that Chubby's has since changed the formula. He's now using that lip-stinging sauce, coupled with his urban decor theme, to proliferate Bubba Chinos and, in his words, "Chicano food" across the state and country.

While he has yet to cross state lines -- he says he has California in his crosshairs -- don't look for his expansion in the Mile High City to slow: Bubba Chinos also took over the old Taco House location on 56th and Federal a few months ago, and that one, he says, will have a 24-hour drive-thru.

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Laura Shunk was Westword's restaurant critic from 2010 to 2012; she's also been food editor at the Village Voice and a dining columnist in Beijing. Her toughest assignment had her drinking ten martinis and eating ten Caesar salads over the course of 48 hours. She still drinks martinis, but remains lukewarm on Caesar salads.

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