Boiseans ‘love, love, love’ this restaurant, but it closed. It just reopened — next door
When Little Pearl Oyster Bar closed last October for a “creative break,” it came as a surprise to fans.
The cozy downtown restaurant had earned a fervent following. “I love, love, love this place,” a reviewer wrote on Yelp, where it rates 4.5 out of 5.0 stars.
Less than six months later, bivalves are being slurped again. In another cozy yet familiar location. Next door.
Little Pearl Bar, the restaurant’s adjacent sister concept, has become Little Pearl Oyster Bar. Little Pearl’s previous dining space on the north side of the Main + Marketplace escalator is available for lease.
Consolidating the spots will allow the restaurant at 132 N. 8th St. to provide better service, chef and co-owner Cal Elliott said.
“The thinking was there (were) staffing issues,” he said, “and we were just kind of spreading our customers out.”
The menu has been tightened and simplified. Market-priced oysters are the star, as always. (For a little extra kick, don’t forget to try a $5 vodka bloody Mary oyster shooter; it’s tasty.)
Little Pearl customers will recognize seafood favorites such as cioppino ($28), chowder ($18, deliciously complex and chunky) and the market-priced Maine lobster roll.
There also are a few options priced at a “more bar-friendly” $10 and less, Elliott pointed out. Sliders (two for $10) are available in oyster po’boy and meatloaf versions, served on a toasted potato roll. There’s also a hot dog ($9) that comes with Old Bay potato chips.
Happy hour (4:30 to 6 p.m. daily) features $2 oysters, $6 bubbles and $8 champagne cocktails. From 10 to 11 p.m., there’s a second promotion targeting service-industry workers: $2 meatloaf sliders, $2 cans of Rainier beer and $2 shots of Fernet.
Opened in fall of 2020, Little Pearl Oyster Bar settled into its niche downtown before expanding with the bar in 2022.
This spring, customers might need a little time to realize that the two adjacent concepts have been downsized to one. But Elliott thinks it’s a smart business decision.
“It was confusing people — which side to go to,” he said. “We just moved to that side so we can provide a better product overall.”
This story was originally published March 26, 2024 at 2:46 PM.