This Boise seafood restaurant has closed. Now open? Steak, fish, crab — all you can eat
A familiar restaurant with decades of Boise history has started a new chapter.
If you’re a fan of steak and seafood, you’ll want to pull up a chair.
Country Bay Bistro, 1749 S. Cole Road, recently opened at the Boise Spectrum. The local concept took over where O’Crab Cajun Seafood recently closed after a stint that began in 2021. Before that, from 1998 until 2020, McGrath’s Fish House operated in the building.
A spacious restaurant with lots of seating, Country Bay Bistro is in the process of transitioning to its full menu. That should be available in a couple of weeks, new owner Jason Wang said.
Country Bay Bistro will continue offering seafood boils, because that’s what O’Crab customers were accustomed to ordering. O’Crab still operates a location in Nampa (and in West Jordan, Utah).
But red meat is the cornerstone of the Country Bay Bistro concept.
“Mostly, we are focused on steaks,” Wang said.
For the moment, choices are limited to a 10-ounce rib-eye ($32), New York strip ($30) or sirloin ($28). They’re all served with vegetables.
Other available menu items include chicken fettucine ($14.50), shrimp fettucine ($16.50), veggie pomodoro ($13.50) and chicken, shrimp and oyster baskets ($12.99, $14.99, $16.99). There’s also a house salad ($6.50), Caesar salad ($8.50) and seafood Louie ($18).
When the full menu is unveiled this month, Country Bay Bistro’s main approach will be four types of entrees: steaks, grilled fish, steamed seafood dishes and boils.
Customers definitely should expect a surf-and-turf plate, General Manager Craig Phillips said.
If it all sounds tempting, consider this: It’s possible to feast on all you can eat. For $55, customers can plow through as much steak and whatever else they want — even seafood boils. Two exclusions: lobster tail and king crab are not part of the all-you-can-eat smorgasbord. But feel free to order Dungeness or snow crab. There’s also an all-you-can-eat “comfort food” option for $35, which includes pastas and fried-food items.
During lunch, Country Bay Bistro offers plates such as rib-eye steak, pasta and vegetables for $19.99.
Beer and wine are sold, but there’s no liquor license. So canned cocktails will be available — primarily, the popular Cutwater brand, Phillips said. And if you want to sit at a bar? There’s a modest but attractive one.
Because of the emphasis on steak and fish rather than boils — not to mention the $55 all-in option — Wang thinks most customers will find sticker shock to be less than it was at O’Crab. The hope is to create a restaurant not just for special occasions, he said, but for a family on a weeknight. Or for a solo diner just looking to enjoy a meal and “chill out.”
“What I’m trying to do is more like a Texas Roadhouse,” Wang said.
This story was originally published January 8, 2024 at 4:00 AM.