#2220 - China Blue, Boise, ID - 7/6/2013

People have been drinking in this space since it was built in 1906, constructed by the Boise Turnverein and Harmony Society to provide a social center for German immigrants, singing "Die Wacht am Rhine" (Stand Guard at the Rhine) as they lay the cornerstone. And there the society, established in Boise in 1870, hosted theatrical and musical events, as well as gymnastics including "turning" (twirling dumbells) for a couple decades, until people of German descent began to be ostracized during World War I, and they decided to close the center, sandblasting the name off the front entrance.

Idaho State Historical Society photo

In the intervening years it is said to have hosted a print shop, a 7th Day Adventist church, a strip club, a WWII Air Force office, and a number of bars and restaurants. In 1969 Rod Davidson and Chas Allan purchased it, filled it with antiques and memorabilia including brass lights from the Idaho state house and a grand Brunswick oak bar, and helped revitalize this old portion of Boise, and it's now flourishing nightlife scene.

Nowadays it is an oontz-oontz techno and hiphop bar, complete with VIP section and several bars, including one inside the women's room. It is owned and run by Ted Challenger, who also owns Dirty Little Roddy's down below and the Main Street Bistro.

100 S 6th St, Boise, ID 83702 - (208) 338-6604
Est. 2003 - Building constructed: 1906
Previous bars in this location: Old Boise Saloon (1969-1973), Joe's All American Grill
Web site: facebook - oldboise
Reviews: boiseweekly - djcoregon - boiseghost - yelp

#2219 - Dirty Little Roddy's, Boise, ID - 7/6/2013

After trying to explain some of the types of bars I like most to my ex-cop cousin, he immediately pops out his cell phone, calls a friend still on the force, and asks him what bar in town is the most likely one to get into trouble. His friend answers probably Dirty Little Roddy's or China Blue, so later in the evening I drop by. Given the frat party atmosphere, I can see how these places would lead to the sort of scuffles and various sorts of illegitimate business that would draw an inordinate amount of police attention, but it would not be accurate to call it a rough crowd. I need to work on my descriptions a bit.

Roddy's is in the basement of the historic, old Boise Turnverein building, and with its sister bar China Blue upstairs it sells more liquor than any bar in Idaho (or at least it did this for much of its existence). It's western themed, but like a 1970s western theme, with peanuts on the floor, a mechanical bull, a DJ, drunk college girls, and lots of guys with backwards baseball caps. To class it up a bit, they have bikini bull ride events, pantsless St. Pattys Day, and door prizes for best breast augmentation surgery.

It's a fun place, if you're in the mood for that sort of thing (and if you are, make sure and take a cab home).

100 S 6th St (basement), Boise, ID 83702 - (208) 338-6604
Building constructed: 1906
Previous bars in this location: Joe's Down Under
Web site: facebook - oldboise
Reviews: link - boiseweekly - yelp - boisebarguide - urbandrinks

#2218 - Cricket's Bar and Grill, Boise, ID - 7/6/2013

A bare bones biker and college kid bar.

1228 S Oakland Ave, Boise, ID 83706 - (208) 344-6235
Est. March 12, 1990 - Building constructed: 1957
Web site: facebook
Reviews: boiseweekly - yelp

#2217 - Overland Bar, Boise, ID - 7/6/2013

Overland Bar, Boise, ID

Immediately upon entrance the Overland Bar convinces you that it is one serious dive, as you step out of the bright sunlight needing a good amount of time for your eyes to adjust the very dark, windowless interior. They have karaoke seven nights a week, but for the classic dive experience you need to come early enough to avoid that. I'm not sure how old the bar is but it clearly dates back to the late 50s or early 60s. The building was constructed in 1954 and the bar is listed in the 1962 Polk Directory.

Overland Bar, Boise, ID

Eyes slowly adjusting, you take in the classic black vinyl, velvet paintings, wood paneling, and eventually even the carved wooden sign reading "Schmuck's Cornner." Who is the topless lady in the painting? Who are the schmucks? And why does their corner have two n's in it? I consider asking, but somehow the answers seem better left in the darkness.

3907 W Overland Rd, Boise, ID 83705 - (208) 336-4707              
Building constructed: 1954
Web site: facebook
Reviews: boiseweekly - jrhask

#2216 - Piper Pub and Grill, Boise, ID - 7/5/2013

Though I don't believe they brew here, the Piper Pub and Grill feels like a modern brewpub sort of place, with a large menu of modern pub food, 16 good beers on tap, live music Thursdays through Saturdays and featuring summery cocktails like huckleberry mojitos. They also have a sort of scotch club, where you can work your way through 40 varieties of Scotch whiskies.

150 N 8th St, Boise, ID 83702 - (208) 343-2444
Est. 1989
Web site: thepiperpub.com - facebook
Reviews: boiseweekly - boisebarguide - yelp - urbanspoon

#2215 - Bud Jackson's, La Grande, OR - 7/3/2013

Bud Jackson's Sportsman's Bar and Grill is a fairly typical mid-sized sports bar with standard pub food options, pool tables, and sports on televisions.

2209 Adams Ave (at Willow St), La Grande, OR 97850 - (541) 962-7858
Est. April 2004
Previous bars in this location: The Eastside, Bogey's
Web site: facebook
Reviews: lagrandeobserver - yelp - urbanspoon

#2214 - The Spur, Harrah, WA - 7/3/2013

Sitting across the street from a large building with a plaque saying it was once the largest potato warehouse in the northwest, the Spur Tavern has definitely been around for a while as well. The bartender informed me that the owner told her that it's been around since the 1890s. I haven't been able to find any historical evidence of this, however, and from the generous help of the folks at the Yakima Valley Museum, it appears that at least the name "Spur" probably originated some time after prohibition (which commenced Jan 1, 1916 across Washington state) and that the current building may have been constructed in the 1920s.

"The Northern Pacific Railroad does not extend service to the Harrah area until about 1916-1917; after which much mention is made of the line being a spur off the main line running through Wapato (a town to the east)—and the line soon ventures further west to pick up lumber and farm products in White Swan.  And talk is made of “spurs” (or probably dead end sidings)  used to load iced or refrigerated boxcars off the main spur.  So the Spur Tavern probably was named for that as it is just north of the tracks." (John Baule, personal correspondence, June 22, 2014)

"The building now known as The Spur Tavern was originally occupied by the Pastime Pool Hall opened in either 1925 or 1928 by Luther Rathburn, who subsequently sold out to Jim Meikle and Sam Russell.  The reason I say 1925 or 1928 is because the source mentions the opening was after a disastrous fire that nearly destroyed the town—there were two such fires, one in 1925 and one in 1928.  It does not confirm the building was built then, just that the business opened so it could have been a new building or it could have been just a new business."  (Ibid)

Baule also notes that there was no town in this location in the 1890s, though of course this does not categorically rule out the possibility of a saloon here.

Nowadays, at least, the Spur Tavern is a homey, western-themed dive bar, with horse shoe drawer handles, tattered taxidermy, and pictures of various cowboys, horses, and Budweiser girls on the wood paneled walls. It's a brick structure, with a small crenulated facade along the top (the history of virtually every old town across Washington state includes one or more disastrous fires destroying the downtown core between the 1880s and 1920s, with brick buildings replacing wooden ones after the fire).

Harrah was originally established as "Saluskin" in 1913, named for a local Indian chief who was none too pleased when it was renamed after a local rancher a few years later (and is said to have subsequently refer to it as "Thief Town"). I arrived there on a hot Saturday afternoon, and chatted with the small number of patrons in the cool respite at the Spur bar. Just before I headed out for the road, a very drunk native American fellow named Jeff walked up to me, punched me pretty good in the arm, gave me an approving nod, and walked out.

4 Martin Rd, Harrah, WA 98933 - (509) 848-2855               
Reviews: urbanspoon