Greenbelt hideaways and historic downtown buildings, here are your Boise patio favorites
Earlier this month, we asked you to tell us your favorite patios in the Treasure Valley. Places where you could relax next to the Boise River Greenbelt and take in the fresh spring air with a beverage in your hand, or pull up a chair at a downtown bar and watch the hustle and bustle of downtown Boise.
And, unsurprisingly, you delivered, with over 50 recommendations submitted through our poll.
Pulling from Idaho Statesman reader responses, we have compiled a list of Treasure Valley’s top five favorite patios. Whether you’re a longtime native of the valley with your own list of favorites or a visitor experiencing Boise for the first time, this list will help quench your thirst and find that new favorite spot in town.
Do you want to know anything else about life in the Treasure Valley? Let us know what else we should poll our readers on with the form at the bottom of this article.
Cottonwood Grille
Location: 913 W. River St.
Phone number: (208) 333-9800
Cottonwood Grille is a clear favorite in the Treasure Valley, receiving the most votes in the Statesman’s poll. Located on the Boise River Greenbelt, the outdoor patio takes you away from the noise of downtown and into a cozy corner of the Treasure Valley, in which you’ll be surrounded by lush foliage and the gentle sound of trickling water from the river.
“It is tranquil and yet busy, watching the parade (of people) on the Greenbelt,” Eileen Lawall told the Statesman via the poll.
The restaurant has over 450 reviews on Trip Advisor, with one review describing the patio as “a romantic setting, with a brook running through, and beautiful greens and flowers abounding.”
Cottonwood Grille offers over 180 vintage wines from around the world, handcrafted specialty cocktails, and beers from Northwest-based microbreweries. A daily happy hour from 3 to 6 p.m., and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays, means you can enjoy Cottonwood’s wide selection of beverages for as little as $4 per drink.
Bardenay Restaurant and Distillery
Locations: 610 W. Grove St. in Boise and 155 E. Riverside Dr. in Eagle
Phone number: (208) 426-0538 for the Boise location, (208) 938-5093 for the Eagle location
Bardenay’s Boise location is right in the heart of the Basque Block between South Capitol Boulevard and South 6th Street. Its patio sits in the front of the restaurant, allowing customers to enjoy the hubbub of downtown Boise. The Eagle location sits along the Boise River and uses that to its full advantage, placing its patio around the back of the restaurant to offer customers a more peaceful dining experience by the river.
Bardenay has seven to 14 draft beers on tap, which rotate regularly, and 15 bottle selections. But the main attraction is the vodka, gin, whiskey, rum and craft liqueurs made in its on-site distillery. Bardenay serves a wide selection of over 50 cocktails, including old favorites like an Old Fashioned and Lemon Drop, and 180 wines.
Capitol Cellars
Location: 110 S. 5th St.
Phone Number: (208) 344-9463
Capitol Cellars is a family-owned and operated restaurant and bar built in Boise’s historic Belgravia Building that has stood since 1904. Capitol Cellars opened in 2015 and offers a two-page wine list and cocktails as well as a few beer options.
The restaurant has maintained its Wine Spectator Award of Excellence since first winning in 2016. According to Wine Spectator, Capitol Cellars has a selection of 325 wines and an inventory of 12,595 bottles.
The patio sits right on the corner of Main and 5th Streets in Boise, providing a downtown patio experience while sitting underneath the shadow of the Romanesque Revival-style Belgravia Building.
“It’s a beautiful corner patio with lovely flowers, friendly staff and a seasonal menu,” Melinda Sloviaczek, a Treasure Valley resident, told the Statesman via the poll.
The Flicks: Rick’s Cafe Americain
Location: 646 Fulton St.
Phone number: (208) 342-4288 for the cafe, 342-4222 for the recorded movie line.
You won’t find anything else like The Flicks in Boise. Tucked away on the northwest corner of Julia Davis Park, The Flicks is a movie-theater-cross-bar named after Rick’s Cafe in the 1942 movie Casablanca.
The movie theater part of the establishment features four big screens that show independent, foreign and art films as well as old Hollywood classics.
Attached to the theater are a bar and small patio with a menu that’ll make you feel like you’re in an old-school diner. Enjoy a burger, salad or sandwich with a large selection of espresso and coffee drinks, lemonades, beers or wines, which you can take into the theaters.
The small backyard patio of fewer than 10 tables is surrounded by wood paneling and a wooden overhead pergola that has small lights and hanging baskets, creating a cozy, secluded location in the middle of downtown Boise.
The Sandbar Patio Grill
Location: The Riverside Hotel, 2900 W. Chinden Blvd., Garden City
Phone number: (208) 343-1871
The Treasure Valley loves its patios on the Greenbelt, and The Sandbar is no different. Located in Garden City and tucked behind The Riverside Hotel, Sandbar is hidden away from the mainstream traffic that many other patios experience.
But once you’re back there, Sandbar is a bubbling patio experience on the bank of the Boise River. Live music on weekday evenings and all day on the weekend separate Sandbar from some of the other patios on this list.
Sandbar’s menu offers the appetizers and entrees you’d expect from a classic American-style bar and grill, such as burgers, wings and salads. Many of the items on the menu are locally sourced, and a beer and cocktail menu primarily features locally crafted drinks and Idaho beer and wine.
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This story was originally published April 19, 2022 at 1:00 PM.
