Despite ‘grand plans,’ chain exits Idaho. Boise, Eagle restaurants closed
A franchise chain with two Treasure Valley locations has pulled up stakes in Idaho.
Taziki’s Mediterranean Cafe, formerly at 1592 E. Riverside Lane, suite 120, in Eagle, and at 505 W. Idaho St. in Boise, permanently closed earlier this year. In what was intended to be temporary, the downtown Boise store had been dark since late 2020.
Local franchise owners Shawn and Hallie Tierney, who owned the Taziki’s rights in Idaho, permanently shuttered both locations in February. They had opened the Eagle restaurant in 2018, then followed with the Boise store days before the pandemic hit in 2020. That restaurant was closed, reopened in June, then closed again at the end of November 2020 — and it never returned.
Shawn Tierney said “it was everything” that caused them to pull the plug.
“We had grand plans for Taziki’s,” he explained in a phone interview. “And I think once you get kicked in the shins by something like COVID — and then the residual effects that continue to compound the problems in hospitality — you have to make a business decision. You have to say this isn’t exactly what we had projected.
“Instead of having four stores as projected, we had one closed (in downtown Boise), and we were struggling to find people who wanted to work in Eagle.”
Rising food costs, supply-chain challenges and the nationwide labor shortage made it increasingly difficult for Taziki’s business model to function correctly, he said.
“There’s only so much you can pass on to the guest before it doesn’t fit with your concept,” Tierney said. “Our concept was all about fresh, fast and affordable. And the numbers didn’t allow us to continue to put out the kind of product that we wanted, because everything was made from scratch at Taziki’s, so it actually took a lot of labor.
“In all transparency, once the labor crisis took hold of us, my wife and I were crew members in Eagle. We couldn’t get away from Eagle to open up the downtown (Boise) store. So it was a little bit of a domino effect there.”
Based in Alabama, Taziki’s operates most of its restaurants in the southeastern United States. The closest ones to Boise — and farthest ones west, now that the Idaho stores have closed — are in the Denver area.
The former Eagle restaurant has a “for lease” banner on it. “It’s a great space,” Tierney said. “I’m hoping somebody takes advantage of it. It’s literally a turnkey restaurant.”
Eventually, Tierney added, he and his wife might return to the restaurant game.
“We’re not completely downers on hospitality here in the Treasure Valley. We love it. This is what we do. We may look to do something in the future. Man, we just want to see it bounce. We want to see culinary thrive and survive in Boise.”