If you’re looking for the Treasure Valley’s next up-and-coming hot spot, look south of downtown Boise to Garden City.

Bordered on its northeast edge by the Boise River Greenbelt, many of the Boise area’s newest upstarts are setting roots in Garden City, melding small businesses into existing neighborhoods.

Calling Garden City “trendy” would be an understatement, as it features a combination of exciting restaurants and breweries alongside beautiful walks and parks.

Where is Garden City?

The Boise River separates downtown’s West End on the north side and Garden City to the south. Just a five-minute drive from downtown, it’s most easily accessible from the Boise Connector — the Chinden Boulevard exit runs through the middle of town.

Chinden, which stretches for about 3 miles through Garden City, is flanked on both sides by businesses, restaurants, shops and blocks of old neighborhoods between the Boise Connector and Glenwood Street. While Chinden Boulevard continues westward, Garden City comes to a close on its northwest edge.

Food and drink in Garden City

Garden City has plenty of restaurants and bars, but the area is a hotbed for coffee shops and bakeries, both old and new. One of the newer coffee shops, Push & Pour, is built out of an old auto repair garage surrounded by small single-floor houses. Push & Pour is the epitome of Garden City’s commercial growth: New businesses are intertwined with the neighborhood.

“Garden City hadn’t really developed like it is now,” Push & Pour co-owner Lucas Erlebach told the Idaho Statesman in 2022. “We kind of want to ... provide a coffee service for our neighborhood first and find a little niche where we fit in.”

A perennial favorite sits at the northern edge of Garden City. Pastry Perfection is a full-service bakery with more options for doughnuts, cakes and bread than you’ll ever need. Wildflour Bakery is another sweet-treat option. The bakery has been a Treasure Valley staple since 1992 and specializes in cookies, scones and muffins.

If you’re feeling a spot for brunch, Shari’s Cafe and Pies is the perfect place for some Pacific Northwest-inspired comfort food.

Drink and food options to check out include a wealth of places to imbibe, long a staple of the area:

Western Collective - Brewery and taproom with outdoor seating, 111 W. 33rd St.
Wepa Cafe - Authentic Puerto Rican cuisine, 175 E. 35th St.
Sandbar Patio & Grill - Outdoor bar and grill on the Greenbelt, 2900 W. Chinden Blvd.
Telaya Wine Co. - Tasting room with cool patio right by the river, 240 E 32nd St.
Barbarian Brewing - New site with spacious inside seating area, dog-friendly patio, 114 E. 32nd St.
Split Rail Winery - Tasting room, 3200 W. Chinden
Coiled Wines - Tasting room, 3408 W. Chinden
Somewhere Bar - Gay-friendly spot that took over building with iconic horse out front, 3544 W. Chinden
Twisted District Brew Co. - Large watering hole and taproom, 3840 W. Chinden
Cinder Wines - Tasting room for one of Idaho’s best-known wineries, 107 E. 44th St.
Caffe Luciano’s - Tiny riverfront sister restaurant to Boise Bench Luciano’s, 3588 N. Prospect Way

Garden City shopping and activities

Boise may not have any major-league sports teams, but the Boise Hawks of the Pioneer League offer a reason to soak in some sun and enjoy a couple of hours of baseball. The Hawks play their games from May to September in the 33-year-old Memorial Stadium on the north side of Garden City.

Memorial Stadium is right next door to Expo Idaho, an ample venue space that always has something going on, and the Western Idaho Fair grounds. The fair grounds host the Western Idaho Fair every summer, which is described by the fair as “a celebration of agriculture, ranching, and life in the state of Idaho.”

If shopping is more your thing, Roots Zero Waste Market is a neighborhood store that focuses on producing — you guessed it — zero waste in all of its products by eliminating plastic packaging and food waste.

A few more spots to check out:

Westy’s Garden Lanes - Old-school bowling alley, 5504 Alworth St.
Asana Climbing Gym - Indoor rock climbing and bouldering gym, 4977 N. Glenwood St.
The Potter’s Center - Ceramic and pottery supplies and classes, 110 Ellen St.

Live-Work-Create

The Surel Mitchell Live/Work/Create District is one of Garden City’s most unique areas. Mitchell was an artist who lived in Garden City and worked with the city to establish the district in 2007 to make it easier for artists and other creatives to build to suit their needs of a place to live and work. The city name it in her honor after she died in 2011, and her family established Surel’s Place, an artists residency that brings artists of all genres from across the country — and from Idaho — to work for a month at a time in Garden City.

It’s also made the district one of the hottest neighborhoods and the hub of the First Friday Art & Studio Stroll. Just a few blocks away you can explore the Treasure Valley’s urban winery scene at Cinder, Telaya, Split Rail, and Coiled tasting rooms and wineries, or catch a show at the Visual Arts Collective, called The VAC by locals, an event venue and art gallery.

Greenbelt parks, library and markets

The Greenbelt is one of the Boise area’s most distinguishable characteristics, and not many places use it as Garden City does. It’s a 25-mile paradise for walkers and bikers, lined along the way with plentiful parks and restaurants. About 4 miles of the Greenbelt run through Garden City.

One of the Greenbelt’s most unusual features is the Whitewater Park, a facility built directly on the river that lets people surf or kayak on small artificial waves. It’s just as fun to watch people ride the waves as to participate, and it’s accessible from the Garden City side of the river.

A short walk west from Whitewater Park, you’ll find yourself at River Pointe Park, a small park behind City Hall that provides easy access to the Pollinator Habitat, a beautiful flower garden designed to provide a spot for bees and other insects to pollinate. Mystic Cove Park is also just a short walk away from River Pointe Park and is a great option for kids thanks to its playground and proximity to the Greenbelt.

Other Greenbelt highlights:

Garden City Public Library - Large library just off the Greenbelt, 6015 N. Glenwood St.
Heron Park - Small park with stairs down to the river, 3858 Reed St.
Greenbelt Market - Quick spot for a snack or drink, 3472 N. Prospect Way, with an entrance off the Greenbelt.

History of Garden City

Garden City didn’t just get its name out of thin air — it quite literally used to be a giant garden, according to the Garden City Visitors Bureau.

In 1890, one of the “founding fathers of Boise,” Thomas Jefferson Davis, bought over 600 acres of land on what would become Garden City and leased it to Chinese immigrants. Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, immigrants came to Idaho to work as laborers, shop owners, gold miners and farmers.

Male Chinese laborers who arrived prior to 1882 could not bring their families over after that date due to the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, which prohibited new Chinese laborers arriving in America. Until the act was repealed in 1943, all immigrants from China and other Southeast Asian countries were forbidden from becoming U.S. citizens, according to the University of Idaho’s Asian American Comparative Collection.

The immigrants on Davis’ land turned it into a landscape of strawberries and onions, and they kept farm animals such as pigs.

The city continued to grow until 1949, when Ada County commissioners approved the incorporation of a small village called Garden City. Business people flocked to the village, building casinos and other gambling establishments along Chinden Boulevard, which drove development along the city’s main avenue.

Garden City became an incorporated city with its own local government and city council by the 1980s and has continued to grow and thrive since. As of 2023, it has a population of 12,270, about double its population in 1990.

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