Popular Boise Italian restaurant will open a second, smaller location this fall

Luciano’s Italian Restaurant, 11 N. Orchard St., Boise, is set to open a second location later this year. Luciano Caffe is under construction along the Garden City side of the Greenbelt where it meets the footbridge from Esther Simplot Park.

The location is a stone’s throw from the developing Waterhouse Row townhouse project and the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Whitewater Park, and just a short walk from the Riverside Hotel.

The cafe will serve a few of Luciano’s most popular items, but the menu will focus on lighter fare for its riverside patio setting, says manager Christy Tennes.

“We’ll have espresso drinks, beer, wine, appetizers and salads,” she says.

They originally hoped to be open in July, but a few construction delays mean it’s looking more like mid-September. The cafe will be open year-round, with a patio scene in fair weather and as an event space during the colder months.

The family-owned Luciano’s opened in 2012 at 11 N. Orchard St. in Boise. Since then it has become a popular eatery serving rich, old-school Italian pastas, and chicken and seafood dishes. Waits for a table on a weeknight can be an hour or more, and they are often longer on a Friday or Saturday, Tennes says.

Idaho Statesman readers named Luciano’s Best Italian Restaurant in the 2017 Best of Treasure Valley.

This story was originally published August 11, 2017 at 4:42 PM with the headline "Popular Boise Italian restaurant will open a second, smaller location this fall."