#1495 - Pete's Tavern, Nampa, ID - 7/2/2011

At Pete's Tavern, Nampa, ID - July 2011

We were in Nampa for a celebration of the 100th anniversary of my cousins' ranch house in the area, and looking to kill a bit of time.  I had no particular reason to think Pete's Tavern would hold much of interest for other than the fact that it has my name.  What a splendid surprise to find that this place in the old part of Nampa is full of character and pregnant with history.

The current owner, Linda, informed me that it's been a bar since 1945 and is in a building constructed in the 19th century (I thought she said 1869, but Nampa wasn't around until the 1880s, and most buildings in this area were destroyed in the great 1909 Nampa fire).  Before it was Pete's, it was the Owyhee Lounge, and before that it was a butcher shop, a Chinese laundry, and a speakeasy.  

The walls collect various local history, including a Playboy centerfold which we were informed was the daughter of a local doctor, thus causing a local scandal. The bar cat lounges at the end of the bar, in front of a neon sign with some strange letters that can lighten your wallet a bit if they get you too curious. Things got even more interesting when Linda took us in back, to a portion called "The Cave."  This has indeed been made to look like a cave inside, and contains vestiges of its illicit past in the massively thick door and sliding peephole.  

Back for another visit in June 2021,
with friends Mike and Janet Thompson

Finding this place was a great bit of bar history serendipity, but I was later to find out there is even more to it. In the north Idaho town of Pierce I was chatting to a bartender who came from Nampa and she told that there was also a set of underground tunnels, which still had some old game equipment. She suggested I ask the owner Gary (Barr -- Linda's husband) if he would let us have a peek down there.

On a return visit in 2021 we failed to track down Gary and get down there, but one of the locals shared some pics (unfortunately the gaming equipment is no longer there), and added his personal experience to the stories of the space being haunted, telling us that the closer he got to one corner, the colder and heavier his body felt.

11 12th Avenue South, Nampa, ID - (208) 466-9280
Est. 1945

Web site: petestavern.net - facebook 

Articles: hauntedhouses.com - ktvb.com - idahoparanormal.com - hauntedjourneys.com - yelp - tripadvisor 

#1494 - Liquid Lounge, Boise, ID - 7/1/2011

405 South 8th St #110, Boise, ID 83702-7147 - (208) 287-5379
liquidboise.com - yelp

#1493 - The Ranch Club, Garden City, ID - 7/1/2011

Update: The Ranch Club closed and re-opened at least three times between 2017 and 2020. However, the last time it reopened, Dec 29, 2020, it was under the name of the "Somewhere Bar."

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Garden City is a small town inside of Boise, which has long catered to "the kinds of activities the leaders of Boise didn't want connected with their city, but still wanted close enough to enjoy." (Boise Weekly)  It has been home to small casinos, porn shops, pawn shops and seedy motels, stretched out along one large street (Seattlelites can picture Aurora Avenue).   It was named for gardens raised by Chinese immigrants who once lived in the area. (The name of the main street, Chinden Boulevard, is a portmanteau of "China" and "garden.")

An iconic feature of the area for the last 60+ years has been the rearing horse of the Ranch Club, a bar inside an old log cabin, with a shady history that pre-dates even its location in Garden City.  The sign and parking lot were used in the Clint Eastwood movie "Bronco Billy."  The building hosted prostitution and gambling, and in later years was simply a dive bar frequented by local oldtimers.  Garden City has been cleaning up a bit in recent years, and the Ranch Club has been revitalized by Al, the amiable, new owner, who caters to a younger crowd.  He's added live music, big seats from an old airliner, smoked prime rib, and various events.  There's a patio under the stallion, with horseshoe pits around the side.

Al told us that the building was originally constructed in Payette in 1908, and physically moved to Garden City in 1948, when gambling was legal.  (I'd love to find some documented background from the pre-Garden City history of the place.)  We chatted for a long time about bars of the Boise/Nampa area, and eventually asked Al for a recommendation on where to watch Fourth of July fireworks.  "Oh there will be shit blowing up everywhere," Al told us, "Because let's face it, we're redneck kinda people."

3544 W. Chinden Blvd, Garden City, ID 83714 - 208-343-7447

Est. 1950 - Closed 2019 or 2020 - Building constructed: 1908

Previous bars in this location: None known

Subsequent bars in this location: Somewhere Bar

Web site: ranchclubgc.com 

Articles: idahostatesman - boisedev - 1035kissfmboise -  yelp - cityseekr - myspace

#1492 - Neurolux, Boise, ID - 7/1/2011

A funky, diverse, dive bar in downtown Boise.  While we were Jeffrey, who works as a puppet maker, sang Trista a song as he played on his ukulele.  It sounded like a traditional love song, but Jeffrey's twist was that all of the lyrics were taken from pedophiles on "To Catch a Predator."

113 North 11th St, Boise, ID 83702-5603 - (208) 343-0886
neurolux.com - facebook - boiseweekly - yelp

#1491 - Suds Tavern, Boise, ID - 7/1/2011

Crooked Bar sign at Suds Tavern, Boise, Idaho 2011

The bar is called Suds, but it's located under a splendid old sign for the Crooked Bar, the original bar at the location, which opened in 1956.  In between that and Suds, it is said to have been a grocery store for a portion.  Now it is a class student dive, with prices to match.  Our two well drinks cost a total of $3.50.  It is close by the famous blue turf of Bronco Stadium and can get a little wild on game days, which may account for the missing portion of the pirate statue's face?

Updated Suds Tavern sign, 2019

1024 S Broadway Ave, Boise, ID 83706 - (208) 345-9656
sudstavern.com - facebook - uncleboise - yelp - yahoo - boiseweekly

#1490 - Fatty's, Boise, ID - 6/30/2011

A yelper observes, "They've managed to bring a Texas frat house basement to a second story location in Boise."

That seems to pretty much nail it.

800 W. Idaho St., Ste. 200, Boise, ID 83702 - 208-514-2531
drinkfattys.com - facebook - yelp

#1489 - The Balcony Club, Boise, ID - 6/30/2011

Boise's most celebratory and flamboyant gay bar, the second floor Balcony Club is also straight-friendly, winning votes as Boise's best dance club some 10 years running.  It has a fairly large dance floor, a wrap-around patio to watch the Boise downtown area below, and hosts various other subcultures such as goth nights.

150 N 8th St Suite 226, Boise, ID 83702 - 208 336-1313
thebalconyclub.com - facebook - uncleboise - boiseweekly -  yelp