After landlord issues, ‘old-school’ Meridian restaurant to close soon. It’s moving
The end is near for a Meridian restaurant that has fed hungry diners for nearly two decades.
But a quick reincarnation is coming.
After a final round of service on Mother’s Day, The Griddle will close Sunday at 2310 E. Overland Road, said Ashley Ferguson, who owns the regional chain with her husband, David Aboud.
The plan is to immediately relocate about a mile away at 1181 S. Silverstone Way. “Hopefully it won’t take more than 10 days to move, get our final inspections and health inspection and get back open,” Ferguson said.
A breakfast-and-lunch institution that has expanded across the Boise area, The Griddle opened its first Idaho restaurant in the Overland spot.
The decision to move involved a challenge that many restaurants encounter. “We just had some issues we could not come to terms with our landlord,” Ferguson previously told the Statesman. “So it just seemed like the best thing to do was make a move now instead of being in this same position in five years.”
“It was not an easy decision by any means,” she added.
For diners who transition to the new spot, there will be benefits. The Griddle on Overland has no patio. The new spot will have three patios: two out front, one in the back. Plus, parking should be easier at the new restaurant, which is at Eagle View Landing.
“We wanted to stay on that side of town,” Ferguson explained last year. “We have a lot of guests. Obviously, we have 20 years’ worth. We didn’t want to inconvenience them.”
Specializing in comfort food, The Griddle has become one of the Boise area’s most successful local restaurant chains. Founded in 1948 in Winnemucca, Nevada — where the original restaurant still operates — the brand came to Idaho when Ferguson and Aboud moved to Meridian to open the Overland store.
The Griddle operates six Treasure Valley restaurants. Its most recent opening was in 2025, when it expanded to Caldwell at 616 Main St.
Ferguson chalks up the brand’s success not just to the dependable comfort-food menu, but to how staff interacts with patrons.
“I’d like to think of it as old-school service,” she said last year. “And I think that people that appreciate that find us, and they come back. I mean, we have countless regulars.”
