After a closure it calls illegal, restaurant reopens in downsized new Boise spot
When Asian restaurant Bao Boi went dark several weeks ago, customers at The Boardwalk Apartments were caught off guard.
Now the local concept is back. In a new location. With one catch.
Most customers won’t be staying to dine in-house anymore.
Bao Boi has reopened at West End Food Co, a ghost-kitchen collective at 1744 W. Main St. in Boise. Restaurants at West End offer takeout and delivery. There is no traditional dining-room atmosphere, although Bao Boi said on Instagram that “there is a small area to eat there if you like.”
Bao Boi focuses on steamed buns and rice bowls. On Instagram, it also promised three additional new concepts: Soup Boi, Phill Dip Boi and Clucking Crazy Boi. Other restaurant brands at West End Food Co include Mai Thai, Pho Tay Vietnamese Cuisine, Uncle Chai Bento Box Kitchen and Toros Tacos. Like Bao Boi, Mai Thai and Pho Tay are former brick-and-mortars reincarnated as to-go food specialists at West End.
Bao Boi was one of the original concepts at the Warehouse Food Hall when it opened in downtown Boise in 2022. Leaving the Warehouse in 2024, Bao Boi went on to open a restaurant at the newly constructed Boardwalk Apartments in Garden City.
But that stay lasted less than a year before ending with an abrupt closure. “We were illegally forced out of our place by The Boardwalk management and our equipment taken,” according to a recent Instagram post attributed to the “Bao Boi team.”
Starting anew at West End Food Co, Bao Boi continues to serve its familiar Bao buns, donburi, curry dishes and more. It’s easy enough to order from any of the restaurants at West End. Just visit westendfoodco.com.
This story was originally published December 2, 2025 at 2:13 PM.