New Boise restaurant hoped to open soon with fresh seafood. This might make you crabby.
If you love fresh seafood, here’s a bit of news that might make you a tiny bit crabby.
Anthony’s Restaurants, which had planned to open its first Boise location this spring, has put the project on hold.
Last month, Anthony’s representatives were hopeful for a mid-May opening on the ground floor of the J.R. Simplot Company headquarters on West Front Street, next to Jack’s Urban Meeting Place (JUMP).
But the coronavirus pandemic delayed the plan. Nationwide, restaurants have either shuttered or pivoted to takeout food. In Idaho, Gov. Brad Little and Boise Mayor Lauren McLean have issued temporary orders barring dine-in operations at restaurants.
Anthony’s decided to pause its Boise expansion because “there is so much uncertainty with everything that has been going on,” spokesperson Annie Sullivan said via email.
The Kirkland, Washington-based chain still expects to move forward with the restaurant here at some point, she added. “We are all VERY excited to get to the other side of this and be able to open up for the Boise community once this is all over.”
A family-owned chain founded in 1969, Anthony’s has more than two dozen restaurants, including one in Coeur d’Alene. To cope with COVID-19, that location launched a new to-go menu with curbside pickup in late March.
Whenever it opens, the 7,500-square-foot Boise restaurant will serve fresh seafood from the Pacific Northwest. It will come from Seattle-based Anthony’s Seafood Company, a wholesale division founded in 1984. The Boise restaurant will include an espresso bar, plus an outdoor, covered, 1,200-square-foot seating area overlooking the courtyard and park at Simplot headquarters.
The menu at an Anthony’s restaurant varies daily based on fresh fish selection. A sample menu at the Coeur d’Alene location includes choices such as Anthony’s Award-Winning Clam Chowder ($5/$8), Alaska True Cod ‘n Chips ($16), Wild Walleye ($25) and Prawns Tempura ($20). That menu also features steak options ranging from Steak & Prawns ($31) to a 14-ounce Double R Signature Rib Eye ($42).
Anthony’s Restaurants part-owner JJ Gould, son of founder Budd Gould, has lived in Idaho since 1994 and moved to Boise in 2000.
Online: anthonys.com.
This story was originally published April 8, 2020 at 1:45 PM.