50 restaurants in 5 years is Boise chain’s goal. Nampa opens now. Soon Caldwell. Then ...

While other restaurant owners struggle to stay afloat during the pandemic, Dan Landucci just keeps paddling.

After the coronavirus arrived in the spring, he tweaked the focus of the original Paddles Up Poke in downtown Boise to takeout and delivery. Business jumped 40 percent.

And now, even as the coronavirus threatens the American economy, Landucci is preparing to open a new Paddles Up store Monday, July 27, in downtown Nampa. The rafting-themed restaurant, located at 1217 1st St. South, will be the Boise-based chain’s fourth location.

Nampa’s grand opening is from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The STIL will serve free ice cream. 2C Brewing will supply free beer. The first 50 customers get a free Paddles Up T-shirt.

Like other locations, Paddles Up will offer dine-in, takeout and delivery.

Serving customizable rice bowls filled with chunks of marinated, raw fish, Paddles Up cranks out fast, health-oriented meals. The Paddles Up Poke (pronounced “POH-kay”) menu, which includes salads and burritos, has driven Landucci’s success since 2017. It allowed him to expand to downtown Ketchum and to Boise State.

It also helped him dream big.

“Fifty stores in five years in my goal,” he says.

Renovations begin soon on a new downtown Caldwell restaurant, which should open by the end of 2020. Landucci also is considering the potential of Eagle, maybe Twin Falls, Idaho Falls, Coeur d’Alene and Moscow. Any Idaho downtown is possible Paddles Up territory, he says. “Other than that, I’d probably look into Utah or Montana. Wyoming. Those states that have similar lifestyles to Idaho with the outdoors. But we’ll see.”

Rather than franchising, Landucci prefers to own stores. In 2018, Paddles Up licensed a location in Meridian, but it closed. Landucci is hunting for a new Meridian spot to open his own Paddles Up restaurant, he says.

In the meantime, he’s laser-focused on keeping business running smoothly during COVID-19. That requires a blend of safety precautions and service with a smile — not always an easy task behind a facial covering.

“I’m trying to coach my employees that with your mask on, you’ve got to double down on that customer service,” Landucci says. “Make sure it doesn’t put that barrier in between. Because that’s a big part of Paddles Up — making all different types of people welcome and coming together to grab some good food.”

Landucci sounds stoked to welcome Canyon County to the Paddles Up family. Free beer, ice cream and live music from Red Light Challenge definitely should help make new friends Monday.

“We always go big,” Landucci says. “We go big from the start and we don’t stop.”

This story was originally published July 22, 2020 at 12:00 PM.