There was no liquor. Or ‘good’ food. Then State & Lemp’s old owner bought this Boise bar.

When Jay Henry bought Hooligan’s Pub last year, his hope was to keep regulars from revolting.

But change was coming to the blue-collar beer bar at 10704 W. Overland Road.

As the former co-owner of State & Lemp — an upscale Boise restaurant where patrons normally spent over $100 per meal — Henry brought a fine-dining pedigree to a Bud Light saloon. During his 25-year career, Henry has managed or opened 14 bars and restaurants. So he built a full-service kitchen. A Hooligan’s menu recently debuted with what Henry describes as elevated bar food, replacing the “heat-and-eat,” microwave-style options.

Opened in 1983, Southwest Boise’s oldest bar had never served spirits. Henry applied for a liquor license more than a decade ago — and finally acquired one in 2018. Whiskey, tequila and vodka bottles suddenly appeared at Hooligan’s.

Shaken by the improvements, a handful of regulars have vanished.

“They were probably the 10 guys that needed to go anyway,” Henry says with a chuckle.

But the majority — the ones who did stay?

“What’s been interesting is we still get ’em all,” Henry says, “but now we’re getting their wives. Before, the wives never came — because it was just a beer bar, and there was never any food to speak of.”

Hooligan’s has not been “State & Lemp-ed.” This is not a gastropub. A 3,000-square-foot space, it still has four pool tables. Darts. Shuffleboard. Eleven TVs.

But the staff has more than doubled in size. And the opportunity for enjoyable food and drink has grown exponentially.

It was “a pub that really needed a hug,” Henry says, “that needed to be reinvented a little. It’s a neighborhood bar. But let’s make it fun and clean and cool, and make the service really good. And make the drinks well.”

Before there was a kitchen, Hooligan’s was unable to serve “good food,” Henry says. So he’s proud of the new 11-item menu. Using relationships developed at State & Lemp, he’s mixing local ingredients into entrees such as the Hooligan’s Burger ($11 with fries). It’s made with grass-fed beef from Malheur River Meats of Vale, Oregon. And the brioche bun comes from Acme Bakeshop in Garden City. Also on an Acme roll, the Salmon Sammie ($12 with fries) features wild-caught Sockeye salmon. “We’re buying that from C&G Salmon,” Henry says. “You find them at the farmers market — Cynthia and George.”

A customer favorite is the French Dip ($12 with fries). After taste-testing prime rib — smoked and non-smoked — with customers, Henry settled on the straightforward, slow-roasted version. It comes with Swiss cheese, horseradish sour cream and au jus.

Hooligan’s also is doing daily specials such as taco Tuesdays and fish-fry Fridays.

You won’t find any craft cocktails — or their accompanying sobering prices — at Hooligan’s. “But we’re making high-quality cocktails,” Henry says. “We’re fresh-squeezing all of our citrus. We’re making drinks to a recipe so everything is consistent. We’re trying to put some thought into it.”

Grab a bloody mary made from Henry’s secret mix. For $6, it arrives with a beer back of your choice. Grab a Voodoo Priestess ($7, Malibu Rum, Midori, orange juice and pineapple juice). Or try the Best Drink Ever ($9, a Grand Teton 208 beer, a cold glass and a shot of Jameson).

Want something fancier? The spendiest house cocktail is a Gimme a Ditch ($12, WhistlePig Rye whiskey, water, ice).

Oops, wait. There’s also a single, highfalutin bottle of Glenfiddich Grand Cru Scotch Whiskey hiding behind the bar. It’s $70 a pop. “I’ve sold seven pours of that Scotch now,” Henry says, chuckling in amazement. “I sold one to a guy today!”

After one of those? Maybe check out $3.50 well drinks during happy hour, which is 4-7 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays.

“I haven’t even started telling you that we’re going to have a wine list,” adds Henry, who is a sommelier, “just because I like wine!” For now, customers have to settle for eight wines available by the glass.

Bottom line: Hooligan’s is still Hooligan’s. It’s just a modern version of an old, friendly model.

“We know who we are. We know what we are,” Henry says. “The feedback we get from the people who are still coming in there is, ‘Thank God you’re here. We’re so glad the changes are comfortable.’ ”

This story was originally published February 11, 2020 at 12:31 PM.