#2680 - Applebees, Boise, ID - 12/27/2014

Yeah, well, it does have a bar and I was hungry.

On a subsequent visit to my old neighborhood in Boise, Facebook popped up with a message that it found three "highly rated restaurants" that it thought I would like. The three were Denny's, Applebees, and Copper Kitchen.

Perhaps there should be some solace in the fact that the social media goliath sitting on top of the world's richest trove of personal data -- including many hundreds of restaurants I have checked into and commented upon -- does not have the first clue what I like. But in any case, here I was in December 2014; and the food is just fine here, and as long as you stick to beer and the basics, so are the drinks. And though I can't rely on Mr. Zuckerberg and company for much help, we still manage to find a bar now and then that more profoundly catches our fancy.


2810 Elder Street, Boise, ID - (208) 344-5630
Web site: applebees.com - facebook 
Reviews: yelp - tripadvisor - boiseweekly 

#2679 - Juniper, Boise, ID - 12/26/2014

Juniper on 8th, Boise, ID

This is just a swell place all around -- nice setting, great food, very good cocktails, and funny and efficient server Bri (and I am totally unbiased by the fact that she responded to my Krampus Christmas sweater with "I think you might be awesome").


211 North 8th Street, Boise, ID 83702 -  (208) 342-1142                              
Est. June 28, 2014
Web site: juniperon8th.com - facebook
Reviews: idahopreferred - yelp - tripadvisor 

#2678 - The Mode Lounge, Boise, ID - 12/26/2014

The Mode Lounge, Boise, ID

Craft cocktails in a swanky, intimate setting with a historic neon sign restored? I'm in.

The Mode Lounge can seem a little poncy with its DJ and admixture of midcentury, prohibition era, and modern decor, but why not? The owners of this place also own Pie Hole Pizza in the same historic old department store space, below the old second flood Mode Tea Room where shoppers congregated over tea and cake well over a century ago. But the Pie Hole's skateboarder personality that could hardly be more different than this romantic ode to cocktailing and classic style. If you enjoy fine cocktails this is a must-stop in Boise.

800 West Idaho Street, Boise, ID 83702 - (208) 342-6633
Est. Jan 24, 2014 - Building constructed: 1895
Previous bars in this location: Grape Escape
Web site: themodelounge.com - facebook
Reviews: roadtrippers - boiseweekly - yelp - tripadvisor 

#2677 - Jumpin' Janet's, Boise, ID - 12/26/2014

Jumpin Janet's, Boise, ID

A neighborhood bar with a hodgepodge of themes, loosely tied together by the personality of its biker owner Janet Carter. In additional to pool tables and dive bar priced drinks, Janet's serves better than average American comfort foods included a much liked prime rib dinner on Wednesdays and Fridays.

574 South Vista Avenue, Boise, ID 83705 - (208) 342-7620                              
Est. October 12, 1999
Previous bars in this location: Brass Lamp Pizza
Web site: jumpinjanetsboise.com - facebook
Reviews: roadtrippers - yelp - tripadvisor - boiseweekly  

#2676 - Charlie Brown's, Boise, ID - 12/24/2014

Charlie Browns Lounge, Boise, ID

Charlie Brown's was one of those long-running neighborhood icons that I passed hundreds of times as a kid but never stepped foot inside until decades later. But the towering sign outside necessitated a visit, and it was clinched as a classic for me as soon as I saw the inner bar, with it's carpeting on the sides, slanted facades featuring old wildlife paintings, and a few old geezers hovering over their drinks.

I was informed that Charlie Browns had been here for "43 or 44 years," which would have put its opening around 1970. It's now a divey, neighborhood sports bar, with darts, pool tables, chili cookoffs, special dinners on holidays, and pot luck memorials for regulars who have passed away.

5783 West Overland Road, Boise, ID 83705 - (208) 375-6541
Est. circa 1970
Web site: facebook  
Reviews: boiseweekly - yelp

#2675 - Mai Thai, Boise, ID - 12/24/2014

Mai Thai, Boise, ID

The Mai Thai is a slightly upscale downtown Boise restaurant featuring Northern Thai cuisine, along with sushi, Bento Boxes, various Asian fusion plates, some nice cocktails with an emphasis on fresh juices, and a wine program featuring Idaho wines and which gathered an Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator. Mai Thai has been voted best Thai food in Boise 12 years in a a row and features something that I wish more Seattle Thai restaurants had -- a lunch buffet.

750 W Idaho St, Boise, ID 83702 - (208) 344-8424                              
Est. 2003
Web site: maithaigroup.com - facebook
Articles ranked: boisefoodieguild - theeatguide - boisefork - culturetrip - idahostatesman - yelp - tripadvisor 

#2674 #S1299 - Alicia, Seattle (Leschi) - 12/16/2014

Update: Alicia closed in September 2018.

Alicia features Vietnamese and Asian fusion dishes from the Kuang family that runs the locally popular Green Leaf restaurants. But it seems hard to make a go of this location, which is near the Leschi marina but with frustratingly little view of Lake Washington, and it closed 4 years later.

200 Lake Washington Blvd, Ste B, Seattle, WA 98122 - (206) 324-6388
Est. Sep 3, 2014 - Building constructed: 1927
Previous bars in this location: Ruby Asian Dining, Sabai
Web site: aliciafusion.com - facebook 
Reviews: seattlemet - seattlemet - thestranger - yelp