This restaurant’s impact on Boise? ‘Unbelievable.’ Decades later, it’s closing
When P.F. Chang’s opened in Boise as part of a $60 million redevelopment of the former 8th Street Marketplace, its economic impact felt like it rattled the sidewalks for blocks.
“I’m up huge. It’s unbelievable,” the owner of a nearby Irish pub told the Statesman in 2005, pausing as he cleaned a table. “I’m getting P.F. Chang-ed!”
Equally hard to believe 20 years later? P.F. Chang’s, an anchor of what is now downtown Boise’s BoDo district, is closing.
The giant steeds guarding the entrance are set to ride into the sunset this fall. The plan is for P.F. Chang’s, 391 S. 8th St., to shutter in late October, according to a representative of Colliers, a commercial real estate company. The 6,980-square-foot restaurant at the corner of 8th and Broad streets is available for lease.
An attempt to reach a P.F. Chang’s publicist was not immediately successful. The local P.F. Chang’s manager referred questions to corporate.
A high-end casual chain founded in 1993, P.F. Chang’s blends Chinese dishes with culinary influences from Japan, Korea, Thailand and beyond. The Scottsdale-based chain operates 297 restaurants in 23 countries and American airport locations, according to a press release.
P.F. Chang’s was part of a retail and dining transformation that helped make BoDo a destination. In recent years, the district has kept evolving with additional entertainment options. The Warehouse Food Hall opened across the street from P.F. Chang’s in 2022. Just down the block, Treefort Music Hall followed in 2023. The former Regal Edwards multiplex — opened the same year as P.F. Chang’s — was upgraded and renamed BoDo Cinema, also in 2023.
More than 40,000 people work in the downtown area, according to Colliers. What will come next for P.F. Chang’s former home? Ostensibly, another place to eat and drink. The lease listing specifies it as a restaurant space with a full kitchen buildout, a hood, a grease interceptor and more than 1,000 square feet of covered outdoor patio.
This story was originally published September 26, 2025 at 11:26 AM.