A new college bar? Wow, just what downtown Boise needs. ‘Here’s my rebuttal, though’

Todd Asin chuckles good-naturedly when I tease him about a potential headline idea for this article.

A rather cynical one.

Something like: Another #@$%in’ bar to open near 6th and Main streets? Perfect. Just what downtown Boise needs!

“Here’s my rebuttal, though,” explains Asin, who plans to open The Stag Bar in the former Idaho Blueprint and Supply building. “What else do you put there? It’s a giant building with a mezzanine. It’s surrounded by college bars. ... It’s basically the last building on that strip that is not a restaurant and bar.”

Consequently, here comes The Stag Bar — intended to attract a college-age, 21-and-older crowd.

“It just makes sense to do it,” Asin reasons. “It’s, like, let’s take the numbers and peel out the demographic, which one’s the largest one down there, kind of a deal.”

Idaho Blueprint was one of Boise’s oldest businesses when it shuttered last December after 113 years. Local developer Jay Story bought the 7,724-square-foot building at 619 W. Main St., according to previous Statesman reporting, and made it available for lease. It’s tucked between Humpin’ Hannah’s bar and Coa de Jima restaurant.

Calling it “a great location,” Asin will transform it. An experienced bar owner, he also operates the small, charming Atlas Bar a few blocks west in downtown Boise, plus the Royal Cocktail Co. in Hyde Park (with a partner) and the new Alpine Bar in Meridian.

Over the years, downtown Boise has become less retail-driven and more powered by restaurants and bars. Still, based on that location, Asin doesn’t think the former Idaho Blueprint building’s situation is as optimal for a restaurant as it is for a bar.

“It’s, like, nobody wants to walk out of a fancy meal or something and be surrounded by college kids,” he says. (And we mean that in the fondest way possible, students.) Also, Asin is a bar owner, not a restaurateur. “... I definitely don’t want to do food. It’s a whole different beast.”

So — college bar it will be. A two-level destination, The Stag will have a main bar on the first floor serving liquor, beer, wine and other beverages. A DJ will spin tunes “for ambiance,” he says.

Meanwhile, the mezzanine upstairs will be outfitted with pool tables. Drinks will be served from a second bar up there.

The Stag won’t be anything “crazy,” he says. “I’m not trying to go for a nightclub or anything like that. Just a fun environment to go hang out.”

The goal? To open by the end of the year.

And why name it The Stag Bar? Don’t overthink that. Like opening as a college bar in the first place, it just made sense.

“I need you to be able to say it, remember it and spell it,” Asin says.