Hard to swallow, Boise? This Idaho restaurant made Yelp’s Top 100 Places to Eat

Get ready to lose your appetite again, Boise.

Yelp just released its annual Top 100 Places to Eat list for 2024. And as always, the City of Trees is nowhere to be found.

The good news? For the second straight year, an Idaho restaurant made the cut. And it’s the same one that appeared on the list in 2023: Izzy’s Comfort Kitchen in Coeur d’Alene.

Never heard of Izzy’s? Understandable. North Idaho is a long way from the Treasure Valley. The family-owned restaurant — which describes itself as an upscale comfort food bistro — is located at 726 N. 4th St.

Izzy’s acknowledged the honor with a nice note on social media. “We are humbled, thankful and so proud …,” it says in part. Izzy’s also points out an error in the first sentence of Yelp’s writeup: Izzy’s has 40 seats, not 10 seats.

“It’s all about comfort food at this homey 10-seater,” Yelp wrote, “where owners Jason and Reannan Keene are packing ‘em in and racking up 5-star reviews. Celebrating its second year on Yelp’s Top 100 U.S. Restaurants list, the restaurant offers a ‘good balance of variety,’ from Southern-inspired dishes like the Peach Bourbon BBQ Burger and Fried Green Tomatoes (with that ‘little snap you want’) to familiar faves from around the country, such as Mama’s Pot Roast made with peppercorn gravy. There’s also an extensive list of gluten-free options. ‘If I could give 6 stars I would,’ says Yelper Laura H. ‘WOW,’ agrees Yelper Darik N. ‘This place is in a league of its own.’ ”

Idahoans should be happy about Izzy’s being ranked No. 35. That includes Boiseans. Even if we also are entitled to feel befuddled by Yelp’s rejection — year after year. Apparently, small details such as having the state’s only James Beard Award-winning chef in town aren’t part of the criteria.

OK, not apparently. Definitely. Yelp is a user-generated reviews site. Here’s how Yelp explains the list’s methodology: “To determine the Top 100 Places to Eat in 2024, Yelp’s data science team analyzed user submissions to determine the top restaurants by ratings, number of reviews, and volume of submissions, and finalized the rankings with the expertise of our Community Managers.”

In other words, it’s a culinary crapshoot. (Again, taking nothing away from the two-year run by Izzy’s. It’s all fun stuff.)

In 2022, Junkyard Bistro of Salmon was No. 7 on the list; Brick 29 Bistro of Nampa was No. 27. (At least Nampa is near Boise.) Brick 29 also made 2021’s list at No. 78. (It should be noted that Brick 29 owner and chef Dustan Bristol is a three-time James Beard Award semifinalist.)

In 2020, Ten/6 of Coeur d’Alene was the only Idaho restaurant included. It closed weeks later.

Prior to that, the Gem State had never made the Yelp list, which has been compiled for just over a decade.

This story was originally published January 24, 2024 at 4:00 AM.