New Restaurants in Downtown Boise: What's Opening Next

Hardly any of downtown Boise's food and drink openings planned between now and early 2027 need a new building. They're going into addresses Boise already knows: the old Bonefish Grill on Broad Street, the P.F. Chang's space on 8th, the basement where Spacebar Arcade used to be, and a Main Street storefront that held a blueprint company for more than a century. If you walk these blocks regularly, much of next year's downtown map is already visible in the dark windows you pass.

Several of the new tenants share a second thread. More than one owner has said outright that they want to keep people downtown later in the evening. Taken together, the refills read less like a list of openings and more like a fix for a specific gap.

The addresses, before and after

Every date after the first three rows is a target, not a promise. Owners gave these windows to local reporters, and restaurant buildouts tend to run long.

BoDo's 8th Street corner gets its anchors back

The biggest change is happening within a block or two of 8th and Broad. When Bonefish Grill closed at the start of 2024, it went dark after 16 years at 855 W. Broad St., and the Idaho Statesman described the empty space as a void in the district.

Tante Emma is moving in. The German restaurant opened in Garden Valley months after Bonefish closed. It's owned by Stefanie and Lars Johannson, and their son Max will own the Boise location. The menu includes dishes like jägerschnitzel and spätzle, and the plans include a beer bar that still has to be designed. The Johannsons haven't set a launch date. They hope to open by the Christmas season. They've promised regular behind-the-scenes updates on Instagram, so anyone tracking progress can watch the renovation as it happens.

Around the corner, Spud Daddy has been open since June 19 at 404 S. 8th St. That spot was most recently Kichii Sushi & Spirits and before that Bodovino. Owner Thomas Watson worked the counter on opening day. The menu centers on large baked potatoes with sauces and toppings, and it carries Westside Drive In's ice-cream potato. A potato-themed gift shop, managed by Jessi Watson, shares the space. When the restaurant was announced in February, BoiseDev reported that everything on the menu, desserts included, would be gluten-free.

Then there's the longtime P.F. Chang's at 391 S. 8th St. Cactus, a restaurant and bar chain based in Seattle, is tentatively on track to open there in late December or early January. In May, BoiseDev reported a 6,575-square-foot remodel. Hendricks Commercial Properties owns the building.

If the targets hold, the stretch of 8th Street between Broad and Myrtle could go from two empty restaurant shells to three operating restaurants within about six months.

Main and Idaho are aiming at the late evening

A few blocks north, the two bars in the pipeline are explicit about when they want to be busy.

Darling Don't Feed the Wolf is planned for the lower level of the former Louie's building at 620 W. Idaho St. Spacebar Arcade ran a bar there until it closed in 2024. Thick as Thieves and Bar Please now fill the ground floor. Nampa owners Jason and Stacey Fagundes have permit plans for a $1.2 million remodel of the 3,697-square-foot basement. The plans show a 20-seat bar along the east wall, a communal dining area, a front dining room, and a small private room. Jason Fagundes said the concept is "based off of a basement high-level Chinese food experience in New York City." He added that the idea came partly from noticing that "a lot of things close down pretty early in Downtown Boise."

"Who hasn't gotten hungry in a bar at 11:30 or 12 o'clock at night."

That's Fagundes describing the late-night diner he wants to serve. The menu submitted to the City of Boise includes appetizers, noodle dishes, sandwiches and desserts. He told BoiseDev that early December is possible if permits go smoothly, and that it could slip into early 2027.

On Main Street, June's is planned for the historic Empire Theatre building at 619 W. Main St., between 6th Street and Capitol Boulevard. The space has been empty since Idaho Blueprint & Supply Co. closed in December 2022 after 113 years. A 2023 proposal for a bar called The Stag never moved forward. Owner Lydia Sakolsky-Basquill chose the name June's. She describes it as "Old Hollywood meets your swanky New York grandmother's living room," with classic cocktails, Werther's Originals beside an Old Fashioned, and sugar cubes next to a hot toddy. The target is early next year.

Sakolsky-Basquill describes the kind of gathering she has in mind as one "where everyone ends up staying longer than they planned." She and the Fagundes couple are both pitching downtown as a place to linger.

The daytime fill-ins are already open

The late-night projects are months away. Three of the daytime refills have opened since June.

Loving Lefse opened in July at 110 N. 11th St., across from Neurolux and the Royal Plaza apartments. It took over a former taco shop and grew out of a food trailer. Siblings Angeline and John Riley, 25 and 22 at opening, serve Norwegian-style lefse for breakfast, coffee and lunch, including a Nutella and strawberry version for $10.95.

The Blue and Orange Store soft-opened in early September at 180 N. 8th St. Rediscovered Books spent about 14 years in that storefront before moving to 1576 W. Grove St. in 2025. The store fills a gap. Boise State closed its Bronco Shop on Main Street last winter, which left downtown without a Boise State merchandise store. The new shop runs 4,000 square feet with entrances on both 8th and Idaho streets, and co-owner Brandon Miner said the owners signed a three-year lease. It carries Boise State gear, including a blue-and-orange Nike Vomero running shoe and collections marking 40 years of the blue turf and 20 years since the first Fiesta Bowl win, along with professional-team and Steelheads merchandise. Miner owns the store with Travis Hawkes and Klay Forgner. It's their third Blue and Orange location, after Boise Towne Square and the shop in the Allen Noble Hall of Fame next to the stadium.

Two coffee shops are next in line. Mindful Coffee owner Brooke Ochojski expects to open a second location, after the original in Meridian, in the Saratoga building at 1202 W. Front St. in late fall, with the same menu. The Cup & Co., from spouses Mohammed Nouman and Thabya Abbass, is planned next to WinCo at 112 E. Myrtle St. and is targeting November.

Two more spaces with tenants but no dates

A pair of quieter refills round out the list. Konala Protein Bowls and Salads, founded by Trace and Jammie Miller, announced plans in July for 777 W. Main St., Suite 120. Tropical Smoothie Cafe operated in that unit until it closed in September 2025. At the edge of downtown, Starbucks is in design review for the former Carl's Jr. at 226 S. Broadway Ave. That building has also housed Skippers and Kenny Rogers Roasters. Neither project has an opening date.

Downtown this weekend

None of the winter openings will be ready for the first weekend of October, but the blocks around them will be busy:

• First Thursday, October 1, 5 to 9 p.m. Downtown Boise's monthly evening.
• Museum After Dark: Whiskey & Wagons, October 2, 6:30 to 9 p.m. Whiskey tastings, pioneer activities and live music at the Idaho State Museum.
• Idaho Cider Fest, October 3, noon to 6 p.m. Free and all ages on Bannock Street, with Northwest cideries, food and vendors.
• See Spot Walk, October 3, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. A one-mile Greenbelt dog walk from Julia Davis Park.

A First Thursday loop that starts at Spud Daddy and heads north on 8th passes the old P.F. Chang's space, the Blue and Orange Store's 8th Street entrance, and, a short walk east, the Empire Theatre building where June's is taking shape.

If you own a home near downtown and want to know how these changes might show up in your home's value, Chuck and Laura Costa can walk you through what nearby sales show. Start with a free home valuation, and we'll talk through the numbers with you, without pressure.