‘Sales down,’ a closure strikes downtown Boise’s high-profile ‘restaurant row’
A temporary closure that could wind up permanent has struck downtown Boise’s popular “restaurant row.”
Wild Root Cafe, 276 N. 8th St., shuttered at the end of business hours Sunday. The restaurant, which opened in 2015, had run into a couple of hurdles, co-owner Dan Watts said in a message.
“We’ve had a shift in our core employees just recently,” Watts said. “First time in a long time. With that, along with the slowed spending that has happened over the last 18 months, we need to rethink certain areas of our business. Wild Root is one of those.”
Watts’ other downtown businesses — restaurants Saint Lawrence Gridiron and Rustica, and cocktail bar Suite 104 — “will remain the same at this time,” he said. “Some limited hours here and there throughout the winter.”
In an open letter to customers that announced the temporary closure, Wild Root said that “the honest answer is we do not know” whether the restaurant will reopen in the near future.
Staff from Wild Root will be absorbed by the other restaurants, it added.
“As many know,” the letter explained, “there has been a significant slowdown in consumer spending, especially in restaurants starting late 2024. We’ve done our very best to keep prices in line with what makes sense to cover costs and provide full benefits for our amazing staff. However, with sales down across all entities this year, we must re-evaluate our operations and make the necessary difficult decisions to be a sustainable business.
“Also, for the first time in many years, we recently lost two key people in our organization, and they both were a large part of what made Wild Root special. Last, we are heading into the slower, winter months. Instead of scrambling to keep the doors open, we are going to shut it down to evaluate everything.”
Watts said that “we are open to chatting with anyone around the future of Wild Root and possibilities around that space.”
Email: wildroot@slgboise.com.
This story was originally published December 1, 2025 at 12:34 PM.