The Pantry served hungry Boiseans for 44 years. Now it’s gone

A building that housed an iconic Boise restaurant was knocked down Monday to make way for a parking lot.

The Pantry, located at 1545 Shoreline Drive, shut down two years ago. Don and Kathy French opened the breakfast and lunch eatery at the corner of Shoreline and Americana Boulevard in 1972 and operated it for 44 years.

The restaurant, which featured telephones at each table for customers to call in their orders, was legendary for burgers, prime rib, meatloaf and homemade onion rings.

The 4,778-square-foot building sat vacant since the restaurant closed in July 2016. The lot is being cleared for a parking lot to serve Agri-Beef, which markets beef under the Snake River Farms, Double R Ranch, St. Helens Beef and Rancho Oro Beef labels.

A call to Agri-Beef was not returned.

This story was originally published October 1, 2018 at 3:53 PM.