#1860 - Lake Grill at Shore Lodge, McCall, ID - 8/22/2011

I don't know how old the "Lake Grill" name is, but this has been the bar area of the log cabin style Shore Lodge since 1949. The lodge itself opened in 1948, on the side of the Payette River once called "Lardo," and on the grounds of the old Shellworth campground, where campers once included Bannock Indians on their annual summer migration to White Bird to fish for salmon. Just eleven years later my parents spent their honeymoon at the lodge, so it was nice to return with them for an anniversary dinner, just a few days after this particular visit to meet an old high school friend who happened to be in the area.

The Shore Lodge is a sort of keystone of the Idaho recreational town of McCall.  It has been restored to its original name and reopened to locals and all visitors after two decades in the hands of a Montgomery Burns sort of ownership. Originally designed to be unpretentious, in 1989 it was acquired by a San Diego real-estate developer in a hostile take-over, and in 1999 was closed for two years for extensive remodeling.  When it was reopened, it was as a private club for high-end clientele, with rooms starting at $385 a night, and renamed "Whitetail Lodge."

Happily, a grandson of local grocery magnate Joe Albertson eventually got control of the lodge, and reverted it back from a plutocrat's private club to the sort of open, nice but affordable community destination that he remembered as a boy: "My grandparents and parents built a cabin in McCall in 1957, 58. Growing up, spending time in McCall with my family, are the best memories I have. Taking our boats to Shore Lodge for Saturday night BBQ on the patio, having the chef prepare a large Mackinaw trout that my grandfather caught in the lake ..." (justluxe)  They even restored the old sign.

The Lake Grill includes a patio looking out across the Payette Lake. It is not a great bar, in terms of either character or quality of cocktails, but it is quite a good destination for a nice dinner, particularly on a warm evening in central Idaho.

501 West Lake Street McCall, ID 83638 - (800) 657-6464
Est. July 3, 1948 (lodge), May 1, 1949 (current bar area),

Web site: shorelodge.com - facebook  
Reviews: link - tripadvisor - justluxe (nice lodge photos) - McCall's Historic Shore Lodge

#1859 - Si Bueno Southside Grill and Cantina, McCall, ID - 8/21/2011

Update: Si Bueno closed July 19, 2019

This is a pleasant place just across the street from the little McCall Airport (hence the tail of the airplane sticking out the top of the roof). They serve very average American Mexican food, steaks, margaritas and cocktails.  My favorite review comment comes from April R. on Foursquare:

"I am the only female in this place. The odds are good, but the goods are ODD."

339 Deinhard Lane McCall, ID 83638 - (208) 634-2128

Est. 1989 (bar section, 1978 as restaurant - Closed July 19, 2019 - Building constructed: 1978
Previous bars in this location: None
Web site: sibueno.com
Reviews: tripadvisor - yelp - urbanspoon

#1858 - The Donnelly Club, Donnelly, ID - 8/21/2011

AKA just "The Club."  A nice enough place, but a little tame and uneventful after the Valley Club.

Of course it's probably less so on a Saturday night; a myspace post from 2009 says "GIRLS BRING YOUR GO GO BOOTS will have a Go Go stage set up for the party girls.Must keep your clothes."

I wonder how many women in Donnelly, Idaho have gogo boots?

256 N Main St, Donnelly, ID 83615 - (208) 325-8770              
Reviews: foursquare - yelp - urbanspoon

#1857 - Valley Club, Cascade, ID - 8/21/2011

It's 2:00 on a Tuesday afternoon and the Valley Club in Cascade is rollicking. Folks at the bar are yelling insults at the guys playing pool and vice versa. Raucous laughter can be heard as soon as you approach the baby blue cinder block building from outside. And it's not just a momentary thing -- it is a fairly continuous stream of laughter and shouts from raspy-voiced women and ornery old men.

Inside there are pictures of eagles and John Wayne on the walls.  There's a trainee bartender learning the ropes -- not some doe-eyed 22-year old, but a sixty-ish lady with great big hair and abundant blue-green eye shadow.  If you like a lively dive, this is clearly the place to be in Valley County.

The small town of Cascade now subsists largely on tourism, despite the recent bankruptcy of the lavish Tamarack Resort just across the Cascade Reservoir (now renamed "Lake Cascade" to better comport with the nature theme of the area's attractions), and despite the much larger tourist town of McCall lying some 30 miles north.  Many ranchers remain in the area, but the last of the lumber companies left when the Boise Cascade sawmill shut down in 2001, for lack of further timber resources made available by the U.S. government.  But the Valley Club is no tourist magnet, and that's a key to its greatness.

115 N Main St, Cascade, ID 83611 - (208) 382-3416
Est. 1946
Reviews: dumpsdivesanddrunkards - urbanspoon

#1856 - Long Branch Saloon, Horseshoe Bend, ID - 8/21/2011

This is exactly the bar you would want in Horseshoe Bend.  Sure the Riverside Cafe down the street has the view -- sitting on the back patio along that bend in the Payette river that gives the town its name.  But the Long Branch is the one that feels like it is serious about being a bar -- with an old western saloon feel, vintage signs from the area, animal heads on the wall, and its own dusty back patio.  A nifty stop for  drink when you are passing through Horseshoe Bend.

473 Idaho 55 Horseshoe Bend, ID 83629 - (208) 793-2762
Reviews: tripadvisor - yelp

#1855 - Corner Cafe Bar and Grill, Horseshoe Bend, ID - 8/21/2011

The Corner Cafe Bar and Grill is a pretty average bar in an average restaurant in a large, barn-like building in the small town of Horseshoe Bend, Idaho.  They have nine bar taps, televisions playing sports, wifi and pool tables.

446 Idaho 55, Horseshoe Bend, ID 83629 - (208) 793-3374
Web site: cornercafeidaho.com - facebook
Reviews:  yelp

#1854 - Jim's Alibi, Boise, ID - 8/20/2011

Hanging in Bullshit Corner did not prevent me from getting the
BS Swatter treatment from Tristina, at Jim's Alibi, in Boise, ID

Jim's Alibi is a faithful dive bar.  It is open 365 days a year; there waiting for you on Christmas, Thanksgiving, whenever you feel like dropping in.  It's available in the morning and the middle of the day. It offers you all the activities you expect in a modern dive bar: karaoke, eight ball, bingo. And it is faithful in keeping your activities inside safe from the prying eyes of outsiders -- there are no windows. If you need an alibi, it's not because Jim's let you down.

2710 Broadway Avenue Boise, ID 83706 - (208) 342-9220
Est. 1983 (Jim's Alibi, the Alibi has been around longer)
Previous bars at this location:  Happy Hour Tavern
Web site: jimsalibi.com - facebook
Reviews: sneakysunday - boiseweekly - yelp