Two restaurants close abruptly along Boise River Greenbelt. One was evicted
With a lineup of newly built restaurants and bars nestled along the Boise River Greenbelt, the luxury Boardwalk Apartments seemed primed to develop into a potential food-and-drink hub over the summer.
But much like fall temperatures, things appear to be cooling off — if only for now.
Two tenants next door to each other have closed at the huge, mixed-use complex at 521 E. 41st St. in Garden City: Bao Boi and Tim’s Burgers. Bao Boi, an Asian concept, opened in fall 2024. Tim’s Burgers debuted earlier this year.
Bao Boi was evicted, according to Michael Talbott, managing partner of Boardwalk Apartments developer Vida Properties. He declined to elaborate on the reasons either restaurant closed.
Talbott acknowledged that both recent closures probably seemed abrupt to the general public, “but not to us; we saw this coming months ago.”
“They each had their own circumstances to why they failed. ... I can tell you it had nothing to do with the Boardwalk,” Talbott said.
Messages to Bao Boi owner Frank Jordan and Tim’s Burgers owner Tim Goebel were not immediately returned.
Goebel shared his closure news Tuesday on Tim’s Burgers’ Instagram page but did not provide any specific cause for shuttering. “Unfortunately over the last weekend there has been a breakdown in the recipe for success at Tim’s Burgers,” he wrote. “Due to circumstances out of our control, we’re now closed here on the Greenbelt.”
No answers were provided on site at either restaurant, either, in the form of goodbye notes. All the windows at Bao Boi have been covered, preventing anyone from seeing inside.
Earlier in 2025, Jordan said he planned to open a second Bao Boi restaurant in Boise on the street level of Local Boise apartments, 250 E. Myrtle St. That project has been canceled, according to Rory Heggie, owner of Studio H Architects, who worked on it.
In total, the Boardwalk’s ground floor includes six retail suites equipped with garage doors to create an indoor-outdoor vibe, with expansive outdoor plaza seating and a patio bar that is still set to open. Despite the two fresh vacancies, three tenants are still serving: Chicken in a Barrel barbecue restaurant, Negranti Creamery and Coffee, and wine bar Laissez Faire Wine Co.
Talbott said two new food-and-drink tenants are lined up and will be “quickly announced in the next 30 days.”
The Boardwalk also has a fifth-floor bar on the sky deck on target to debut in spring 2026.
“All’s been cleared,” Talbott said.
This story was originally published November 4, 2025 at 4:04 PM.