Here’s the party, Boise: These 10 bars and restaurants sell the most liquor

There’s a newly crowned king in the Treasure Valley when it comes to bars and restaurants sailing through oceans of liquor.

And get this: It’s not in downtown Boise. In fact, it’s not in Boise at all.

The Frontier Club and the Roosevelt — two bars that share a liquor license and large patio on Meridian’s East Broadway Avenue — are buying more bottles of liquor, and spending more money on booze, than any other Treasure Valley business. That’s according to Idaho State Liquor Division data for fiscal year 2025, which ended June 30.

The Frontier and Roosevelt bought a combined total of 24,424 bottles. And spent more than half a million dollars doing it.

That’s a lot of rounds, Meridian.

By studying the Liquor Division’s annual sales report — and seeing how much alcohol bars and restaurants purchased — we can turn around and surmise approximately how much these businesses are selling. (We’re talking about the hard stuff only, by the way — not beer, wine or seltzer. The Liquor Division doesn’t handle those.)

Surprisingly, the Frontier/Roosevelt actually bought less than it did the prior fiscal year, by a few hundred bottles.

Call it the White Claw Effect. Customer preferences are always changing, owner Ryan Steinbroner says. “I’ve seen a large uptick in seltzer sales while liquor has dropped slightly,” he explained.

Overall sales at the Frontier/Roosevelt — that’s all products including alcohol, food, soda, etc. — were up 4.6% in 2024 over 2023, he says.

Calling the Frontier Club/Roosevelt the valley’s new liquor lord comes with an asterisk. After all, it’s not quite a fair fight — more like a tag team versus a solo challenger. The Boise area’s second-place liquor boss is longtime champion Barbacoa, the hugely popular restaurant at 276 W. Bobwhite Court in Boise. The Frontier and Roosevelt are separate concepts with back-and-forth foot traffic. When a liquor license is shared, the Liquor Division combines those numbers.

That fact makes Barbacoa’s booze-crushing pace even more impressive. (BOGO happy hour, anyone?) This is the first time in years that Barbacoa hasn’t topped one or both of the valley’s liquor purchasing categories. The changing of the guard began last year when the Frontier/Roosevelt was No. 1 for number of bottles purchased, while Barbacoa was the winner for dollars spent.

Now the torch officially has been passed. To Meridian.

(Speaking of torches, for comparison purposes, The Torch Lounge — a Boise bikini-dancer bar — bought a modest 3,089 bottles of booze and spent $106,216. Hope it wasn’t all $1 bills.)

Bottles purchased

Here are the top 10 bars and restaurants in the Treasure Valley ranked by number of bottles of liquor purchased at state liquor stores in fiscal 2025:

1. Frontier Club/Roosevelt, Meridian: 24,424. (A slight decrease from 25,184 bottles last fiscal year.)

2. Barbacoa, Boise: 20,169. (Also down a bit, but still a massive number.)

3. Bardenay, Boise: 17,175. (The Idaho restaurant-distillery chain opened a new Garden City location this year — in close proximity to the #4 finishers on this list ...)

4. Riverside Hotel/Ling & Louie’s, Garden City: 16,564. (Up one spot from last year.)

5. StrangeLove/Dirty Little Roddy’s, Boise: 14,705 (A longstanding, dependable party destination in the 6th and Main bar district.)

6. Falcon Crest Golf Club, Kuna: 11,766. (This is a strange top 10 finisher. Falcon Crest bought a ton of bottles, but the average price was — $2.52. Huh? A ton of minis, perhaps? I’m slapping an asterisk on this one.)

7. Hotel Renegade, Boise: 11,554. (A newcomer, this massive hotel opened in May 2024 with liquor sellers including the Baraboo Supper Club restaurant, Highlander rooftop bar and more.)

8. Hannah’s, Boise: 11,461. (Part of the Mount Rushmore of downtown Boise bars, Hannah’s is always on this list.)

9. Coa Del Mar, Eagle: 10,971. (Opened in April 2024, Barbacoa’s sister restaurant is off to a strong start.)

10. Yard House, Meridian: 10,671. (Yes, there are 140 tap handles. But Yard House also sells a ton of liquor.)

Dollars spent

These are the top 10 bars and restaurants in the Treasure Valley ranked by dollars spent at state liquor stores in fiscal 2024.

1. Frontier Club/Roosevelt, Meridian: $517,334

2. Barbacoa, Boise: $508,705

3. Riverside Hotel/Ling & Louie’s, Garden City: $358,586

4. Hotel Renegade, Boise: $334,882

5. StrangeLove/Dirty Little Roddy’s, Boise: $328,711

6. Coa Del Mar, Eagle: $295,512

7. Chandlers Steakhouse, Boise: $285,307

8. Crave Kitchen & Bar, Eagle: $277,487

9. Amsterdam Lounge, Boise: $264,005

10. Grove Hotel/Idaho Central Arena, Boise: $257,233

Statewide champ

Yes, Treasure Valley bars and restaurants are crushing a ton of liquor. But the places in Idaho actually selling the most booze are nowhere close to the City of Trees.

Idaho’s resort towns go through the hard stuff like water.

The Coeur d’Alene Resort and Conference Center purchased 30,052 bottles — most in the state — for $772,352 in fiscal 2025. And Sun Valley Resort spent an insane $812,926 — also most in the state — on 27,053 bottles.

That puts the Frontier Club/Roosevelt at third place in Idaho for dollars spent, and fourth for bottles purchased.

Circling Raven Golf Club in Worley — part of a casino — is also a major player. It bought the third-highest number of bottles in Idaho at the sixth-highest dollar amount: 26,045 of them, for $354,444.

After all of this math on cocktail napkins, I could use a drink. Meet up at the Frontier Club? Everyday happy hour runs from 3 to 6:30 p.m.

This story was originally published July 29, 2025 at 12:53 PM.

Michael Deeds

Idaho Statesman

208-377-6407

Michael Deeds is a long-serving entertainment reporter and opinion columnist at the Idaho Statesman, where he chronicles the Boise good life: restaurants, concerts, culture, cool stuff. He started as a summer intern after graduating from the University of Nebraska with a news-editorial journalism degree. Deeds’ prior Statesman roles have included sportswriter, music critic and features editor. His other writing has ranged from freelancing album reviews for The Washington Post to bragging about Boise in that inflight magazine you left on the plane.