After ‘beers, tears,’ locally owned Boise bar will close, vows to move: ‘WE’RE NOT DONE’

After the Eastside Tavern bids farewell at 610 E. Boise Ave. this weekend, plenty of folks will miss the place.

Regulars. Trivia players. Karaoke enthusiasts.

And, yes, local musicians.

“We loved playing there,” says Patrick Crow, guitarist for Play Like Randy.

The rock band will have one last opportunity to crank the volume on Eastside’s stage Saturday. Along with Free Love Fight Club, Play Like Randy will perform during a double-bill show that goes from 8 to 11:30 p.m. (no cover charge). After that bittersweet goodbye, the neighborhood bar plans to close — never to return in that space.

“These amazing musicians are a part of our family, and we wouldn’t go out any other way!” the Eastside Tavern wrote on its Facebook page. “Cheers with beers, tears and memories Eastsiders! Till the next chapter … .”

This weekend won’t be the end, the bar insists. The Eastside plans to move and be reborn. Where? That’s anybody’s guess.

“We will be open again, very, very soon!” the bar wrote on Facebook this week. “Stay tuned, Eastsiders. … WE’RE NOT DONE!!”

Tucked into a corner of Eastgate Shopping Center, the Eastside Tavern has poured drinks in Southeast Boise for nearly three decades. But in early March, the Eastside posted that its lease wasn’t being renewed: “After over 27 years as a locally owned, neighborhood bar, the Eastside Tavern will be no more as of the end of April.”

A quintessential but spacious dive, the Eastside attracts familiar faces — many who work nearby — with affordable drink prices, pool tables, darts and other games. Over the years, it has served as a performance venue for lots of musicians, not to mention buzzed karaoke crooners.

If the Eastside does reopen, but the new location isn’t in Southeast Boise, will the name be changed?

Like the bar says: Stay tuned.

This story was originally published April 21, 2022 at 8:48 AM.