A part of Boise’s ‘fabric,’ this restaurant and bar just sold. It’s reopening, refined

When Will Berry heard whispers that Boise pizza-and-beer institution Lucky 13 might be for sale, his ears perked up.

An Idahoan since 1995, Berry had downed more than a few pints on Lucky 13’s patio when it was in Hyde Park. He remained a fan — and became a business associate — after the restaurant relocated to Harris Ranch in 2007. That’s the year he met owner Liza Goul.

“I was her Sierra Nevada beer rep,” Berry explains. “I’ve known her for a long, long time.”

So when the chance to buy Lucky 13 presented itself, he “jumped at the opportunity.”

“For me, hearing that she was going to be selling — I really want to keep Boise things Boise. I didn’t want to drive by one day and see, like, Tony’s Pizza. I feel like Lucky 13 is kind of a fabric of Boise, since the Hyde Park days and whatnot. There’s a lot of history there.”

Fully open again

Reopening fully on Thursday, Lucky 13 will remain faithful to that tradition, Berry says. But customers also should expect a few tweaks in the future. Immediately? Longer hours. After closing for a “sabbatical” this summer, Lucky 13, 3662 S. Eckert Road, had reopened in September for lunch only. It was shuttered again two weeks ago.

Lucky 13’s new hours are 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday.

Other refinements are coming.

Lucky 13 will keep offering many of the menu items — pizzas, sandwiches and salads — that customers love. (Do not get rid of the Mexicana Grande pizza, please! Or the Jalapeno Bleu.) “But we’re going to add a few of our own,” Berry added.

A counter-order restaurant, Lucky 13’s uber-casual vibe won’t vanish — as in paper plates and plastic forks. But it will evolve.

“We might do paper plates initially as we get going,” Berry said, “but the change we’re going to make at dinner time — we’re actually going to do table service. A lot of the feedback we got from customers is they didn’t want to go back in line if they wanted to get a beer.”

‘Neighborhood sports bar’

Lucky 13 has a liquor license, and Berry plans to exploit it. He hopes to build a wall dividing the bar and restaurant areas. “I definitely want to enhance the bar side of it,” he said.

Additional TVs will be hung in the dining and bar areas, too, showing everything from Boise State football to NFL action. “We kind of want to have that neighborhood sports bar appeal for people that … just want to come watch the game, get out of the house,” he said.

And when spring rolls around? Expect that patio to be rockin’ again.

The patio is what drove Lucky 13’s business when it opened in Boise’s North End in 1989. And it’s kept that outdoor spirit alive at Harris Ranch.

“So many people have memories of 13,” Berry said. “Me included … .”

This story was originally published December 1, 2022 at 4:00 AM.