With yet another restaurant open, chains roll into Eagle’s new fast-casual hot zone
If you like food, and you like it fast, Eagle has a new oasis for you.
East End Marketplace is heating up as quickly as Boise temperatures.
Zao Asian Grill is the latest chain to join the fledgling dining and retail district, which is located at the corner of State Street (Idaho 44) and Edgewood Lane. The Utah-based concept debuted Wednesday in new construction at 1581 E. State St., suite 120.
Zao will celebrate its grand opening Saturday. “Spin to win prizes — everyone is a winner!” its website promises. The new Eagle restaurant includes indoor seating, a modest outdoor patio and a drive-thru.
Zao made its Treasure Valley entrance last year at The Village at Meridian. Its menu offers customizable bowls, salads, tacos and wraps. Dishes are concocted Chipotle-style, by ordering at the assembly-line-style counter. Stroll up to the new Eagle restaurant, and you’ll see ads for “golden citrus chicken” and “fresh watermelon Fresca.”
Not in the mood for Zao? You have choices. Chick-fil-A, Panera Bread and Mo’ Bettahs Hawaiian Style Food have all recently opened in the marketplace. In the suite next door to Zao, a sign in the window promises that Handel’s Ice Cream is “coming soon.”
A pepperoni’s toss across the parking lot, Slice House by Tony Gemignani will serve pizza starting next month in a separate building — one still made up of unoccupied suites. And East End Marketplace still has an appetite for construction. Workers in hard hats and mountains of dirt fill empty lots directly across from the new restaurants.
How many quick-service food joints can coexist in one area? That remains to be seen.
But one thing’s for sure: Nobody is going hungry at the corner of Edgewood and State anytime soon.
