This California restaurant chain left Idaho after 36 years. It’s returning — to Meridian

When Marie Callender’s Restaurant & Bakery shuttered on Fairview Avenue in 2018, it was the end of an era in Boise.

A shift manager of 28 years called the closure “heartbreaking.”

Five years later, the California-based chain is poised for an Idaho rebirth — in growing Meridian.

Famous for its fresh-made pies, Marie Callender’s plans to open at 2325 E. Fairview Ave., according to representatives of the Meridian Chamber of Commerce and commercial real estate firm Lee & Associates. The expectation is to open this year, but negotiations remain.

The new store would fill vacant space in a building that houses Hotworx and Active Chiropractic at The Shops at Pine 43. It would be the only Marie Callender’s restaurant in the Gem State.

The Marie Callender’s menu focuses on home-style meals, which can range from skillets and hot sandwiches to hamburgers, tacos and steak. And, of course, pie and other desserts. The Boise location — opened in 1982, according to previous Statesman reporting — also had a liquor license when it closed.

Marie Callender began selling her pies in Orange County in the 1940s and opened her first pie shop in the city of Orange in 1964. Five years later, the shops began offering a full restaurant menu. The chain had 156 restaurants in 1998, according to the Orange County Register. Today, 25 are left: 22 in California, two in Nevada and one in Utah, according to the Marie Callender’s website.

A Marie Callender Ala Carte restaurant at Boise Towne Square mall closed in 1998. In 2007, voters in the Idaho Statesman’s annual Best of Treasure Valley competition gave Marie Callender’s the award for best brunch.

This story was originally published January 19, 2023 at 4:00 AM.