After 18 years of serving seafood, the kitschy, tourist-friendly Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. across from the Colorado Convention Center is now closed and being sued for back rent.
The restaurant at 1437 California St. called it quits last week, according to its landlord.
“Unfortunately, we have permanently closed,” says a sign on the front door, which features its smiling shrimp mascot. “Thank you for allowing us to serve the Denver community.”
The restaurant chain came to Denver in 2006 and planned to stay awhile: It signed a lease for 20 years and eight months, through January 2027. After a build-out, it opened in 2007.
The restaurant’s first struggles came in 2016, when construction of two hotels nearby resulted in fewer customers, according to Kent Cherne, whose father purchased 1437 California St. around 1960. Cherne, whose investment firm owns it now, says he lowered rent as a result.
Cherne also helped the seafood restaurant when the pandemic struck in 2020, when revenue fell in 2024, and when his tenant was struggling again in early 2025, according to a lawsuit that Cherne Investment Co. filed against Bubba Gump and its parent companies Nov. 10.
“From April through November, Bubba Gump was late each month in paying the amounts it owed, and the payments due on Oct. 1 and Nov. 1 have not been received,” according to the lawsuit, which estimates that Cherne reduced rent by $335,000 over 10 years.
Cherne’s firm is suing for October and November rents, along with late fees, taxes, interest and unpaid wastewater fees, according to this week’s lawsuit. It does not list dollar figures.
Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. gets its name from the 1994 film “Forrest Gump,” in which Tom Hanks’ titular character befriends the shrimp-obsessed Benjamin Buford “Bubba” Blue. After Blue dies in combat in Vietnam, Gump eventually opens Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. in his memory.
In 2010, the real-life Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. was purchased by the Landry’s restaurant group out of Texas. Landry’s owner Tilman Fertitta is currently the U.S. ambassador to Italy.
“This location was licensed to the Kelly Group, who ultimately closed the location,” Landry’s Chief Operating Officer Scott Marshall said. “There are no plans to reopen that location.”
The Kelly Group, of California, did not respond to requests for comment. There are now 20 Bubba Gump locations in the United States and 10 more outside the U.S.
Meanwhile, 1437 California St., which is known for its western-facing murals of Teddy Roosevelt and boxing great Jack Dempsey, is up for sale after 65 years with one family.
“If my dad was still alive, he would probably still be pretty attached to it, but that’s not the case with me,” Kent Cherne said. “I recognize the challenges in trying to manage it myself and I think it’s just time to let it go to somebody else and move on, try to find another use for it.”
At 6,250 square feet across two floors and a basement, it is one large restaurant space.
“Quite frankly, with the times that we are in now, I don’t see anybody rushing to put a restaurant in downtown, so I’m not holding out a lot of hope.” Cherne said.
More likely, it will be converted into something else or torn down, its owner added. Denver’s Landmark Preservation Commission determined last month that it is demolition-eligible, city records show, and Cherne said a teardown “would not bother me.”
“It has served its usefulness to my family. My dad bought it back in about 1960, it was a parking garage, and there have been some other businesses in there since,” its owner recalls.
“Eighteen years,” he said of Bubba Gump. “It was a good run, but every dog has its day, I guess. There are not a whole lot of businesses that are solid and just keep going forever.”
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