‘This one brings tears to my eyes’: Just short of 10 years, Boise bar and restaurant to close

When Bier:Thirty owner Chris Oates started his business in 2011, it was an exciting time — “the fun years” for craft beer enthusiasts.

“We were just getting everything going,” Oates remembers fondly, speaking by phone.

Since then, the world has evolved for the beer industry. And it’s changed dramatically for bars and restaurants — particularly during the coronavirus pandemic.

Bier:Thirty Bottle & Bistro, 3073 S. Bown Way, will close next week. The southeast Boise pub’s last day will be Jan. 13, Oates says. As of now, it’s a permanent shutdown. But Oates says he’s holding out hope for the future — in that space or another.

“We might be able to bring it back as Bier:Thirty. We might be able to bring it back as something else,” he says. “We really have no idea right now.”

He announced the closure in a heartfelt message on Facebook.

“We’re not going to lie; we were hoping to hit the 10-year mark, a mere five months away,” Oates explained to customers. “However, with all that is going on, it’s not going to happen; we’re losing too much each month, digging ourselves deeper and deeper into a hole that we know we will never be able to get out of.

“The fact of the matter is the only way Bier:Thirty works is when we’re maxed out; when the line goes out the door, and it gets so loud that you can’t hear the person across from you. Love it or hate it; those were the times that made us who we are. ...

“Let us be clear; we’re not blaming anyone. Even without mandatory reduced capacity, we know we would not be full, nor would we want to be; we’ve always wanted to be as responsible as we can during this worldwide pandemic. It will be years until we’d be able to host packed-house events, too far away for us to be able to make it work.”

Bier:Thirty’s capacity was 64 during normal times. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the maximum Oates has allowed inside is 24, he says.

“Not being able to have as many people sitting down was a big thing,” he explains by phone. “The whole thing with the pandemic — we wanted to be full right now. It’s nothing against the mayor or anything like that.”

Although Bier:Thirty served food from the start, the business model also relied heavily on a bottle shop component. Patrons were lured by a large selection of craft beers, which could be consumed on-site or taken home.

Over time, as craft beer invaded supermarkets and convenience stores, Bier:Thirty transitioned into “being more on-premise, being more of a bar-type place,” Oates says.

Reactionto Bier:Thirty’s goodbye message Tuesday was swift and emotional on Facebook — particularly from local craft-beer diehards.

Stacy Connelly, owner of online beer portal Boise Beer Buddies, posted that her business would not have existed without the kick-start it got from Bier:Thirty.

“So many local bars/restaurants are closing. This one,” she wrote, “brings tears to my eyes.”

This story was originally published January 6, 2021 at 10:32 AM.