Category Archives: Coffee
Our Favorite Places in Boise & Surrounding Areas to Eat, Drink, Play, and Relax!
We live in a suburb about 15 miles outside of Boise city limits, and we love exploring all around the Treasure Valley! This area has grown exponentially in the past few years, so if visiting Idaho is on your radar then I’ve rounded up my family’s favorite coffee shops, restaurants, bars, outdoor recreation spots, annual events and things you can’t miss!
My husband is born and raised in Idaho, and my parents and I have lived here for 8 years. We all love going out to eat and prefer local or unique spots over chains! So everything I include in my list of recommended spots is going to be local, and I’m going beyond what you’ll find on the front page of TripAdvisor or Google. Hope you find some hidden gems to enjoy here!
Boise-Area Coffee Shops
- Flying M Coffee Garage in Nampa: The downtown Boise location is great too, but I like the “garage” aspect of the Nampa one which also has more outdoor seating options on nice weather days!
- Coffee & Supply Co. in Eagle: This bright coffee shop has lots of local merch you can purchase alongside your cafe items. It’s menu seems to have more unique concoctions than your average coffee stand.
- Rembrandts in Eagle: What’s fun about this one is that it’s in a renovated white church. It recently had a redesign and is now more of a full restaurant, but there is still a coffee bar you can sit at.
- Big City Coffee in downtown Boise: You come for the coffee but you stay for the big a*$ scones. The bakery goods in this cafe are HUGE! Such generous portions, and it’s “family style” seating so you’ll most likely find yourself at a table with other total strangers. But – you’re in Boise, so they’re most likely very friendly ;)
- Hyde Perk in Boise: This coffee shop is in a very posh and desirable neighborhood called The North End. You can grab your drink and walk around the cute houses and shady streets, or head up over to Camel’s Back park!
Favorite Restaurants in Boise (and surrounding towns)
- Italianesque in Nampa: Our favorite Italian restaurant in the Treasure Valley. Everything is house-made and fresh.
- Fujiyama Sushi in Meridian: This has become my favorite sushi in the valley, and I looove sushi. Their menu is HUGE, although all the rolls start to sound the same after 40+ of them. Really great quality food and service, but know that the restaurant itself is a little funky since it’s in an old diner! We usually get take-out. (When I gave birth to my daughter, this is where we ordered take-out for my first sushi in 9 months and it was heavenly.)
- Matador in downtown Boise or Meridian: This is a Mexican restaurant with two locations. When it comes to authentic Mexican food….you have to remember that you’re in Idaho. Haha. But this is pretty dang good, and they have great margaritas!
- Coa de Jima in downtown Boise: Funky, eclectic, bougie. I celebrated my birthday dinner here in 2023 with surf & turf. This would be for a nicer/fancier dinner out and there is plenty to look at with their unique interior decor!
- Mesa Tacos in Nampa: Probably one of our most-visited restaurants since living here. Who doesn’t like tacos? I like that you order your tacos a la’ carte so you can try 3+ different flavors and they come filled to the brim!
- Tower Grill in Nampa: A special little restaurant to us because it’s where Zeb proposed and they catered our wedding dinner. It’s open to the public but it’s located in the Nampa Airport. Don’t let the bland building fool you, the food is excellent.
- Crave Kitchen & Bar in Eagle: This is a really fun spot for a birthday or girls night. I’ve celebrated both here, and the atmosphere is perfect. They have a GIANT 6-layer cake with different flavors on every layer that’s really fun to share for special occasions!
- Bardenay in Eagle or downtown Boise: Fun fact: This is the first distillery in the U.S.! The Boise location is in the Basque Block, which a Spanish culture and community. The Eagle location is right on the greenbelt and Boise river, so both are equally great!
Favorite Bars in Boise (and surrounding towns)
- Payette Brewery in downtown Boise: I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like Payette! It’s super dog-friendly and kid-friendly, and the best part is how close it is to the Boise greenbelt. There’s a big turf outdoor seating area so this is a favorite spring-fall meet-up spot.
- Heritage Hop Haus in downtown Meridian: We started going here when we were first dating because they have fun weekly trivia nights. I’m not a beer drinker, but they have about 40 different beers on tap to try or make your own flights out of. It’s in the basement of a building and it’s just a really fun bar on Main St. in Meridian with a little sushi restaurant upstairs.
- Craft Lounge in Nampa or Caldwell: A speakeasy! They now have two locations, though the Nampa one is more of a speakeasy and the Caldwell one is more of a classy bar. They take mixology very seriously and have really moody atmospheres.
- Bodovino in downtown Boise or Meridian: This is a wine bar with a unique vending-machine style concept. You pre-load a Bodovino gift car, and use it to self-pour at each of the wine bottle stations. You can select 1 oz., 3 oz., or 5 oz. pour from the machine. So you can create your own little tasting of whatever wines you want to try! It’s super fun and interactive. Plus low-risk if you don’t end up liking some of the wines you tried.
- Yard Arm in Boise: This is a summer-only outdoor bar in a shipping container that’s been cut in half to form a bar! This is right off the greenbelt, so we usually do a long bike ride and make this a stop at the end (or middle). It’s got a beachy theme set-up & a food truck.
- Sand Bar in Boise: Just a couple paces down from the Yarm Arm, mentioned above. This is also a greenbelt stopping point, but this also has a full food menu as well as live music on the weekends. We like to pick one of these spots for outdoor summer weekends next to the Boise river!
- Sunnyslope Winery Trail: I can’t not mention the winery area in Caldwell which has rolling hills and about 20 different wineries. There are a few different companies that do winery tours, which is what we’ve done for my bachelorette party and one Mother’s Day. My favorite wineries to visit are Sawtooth, Williamson & Koenig. However St. Chapelle is really popular because of its picturesque gazebo.
Favorite Recreation Activities:
- Hiking and biking trails at Avimor: This is just outside of Eagle, Idaho and encompasses a new subdivision development but also access to some great hiking trails in the hills with lots of wildlife and wildflowers! We specifically hike the Spring Creek Trail.
- Walking the greenbelt at any part of it’s 44-mile stretch: we like to park at Ann Morrison Park in Boise because it has instant access to the greenbelt, plus public restrooms, park area and a splash pad for littles. It’s also walking distance to Payette Brewery if you want a cold one after your exercise!
- Check out Freak Alley in downtown Boise: You can’t walk around downtown Boise without walking through Freak Alley between 8th Street and Bannock. It’s local graffiti art that periodically changes!
- Hiking Stack Rock near Bogus Basin: This is one of my favorite local hikes we’ve done, but I wouldn’t call it a beginner trail. It’s about 9-10 miles roundtrip, so pack a lunch to have at the top. It’s beautiful from start to finish and well-shaded, with a really cool rock tower at the finish!
- Bogus Basin Mountain Coaster: I wrote a blog post about this when I was doing my “30 Things To Do Before Turning 30” bucket list, but Bogus Basin Ski Area has a ton of fun activities to do in the summertime. Including this mountain coaster that’s speed is entirely in your control!
- Kleiner Park in Meridian: this is one of my favorite parks because of the convenient parking, and the ability to walk across the street to coffee, shops, and restaurants. It has a disc golf course and some ponds for fishing.
- Pickle Ball at Settler’s Park: This is becoming my new favorite park as I have a toddler, because of their awesome splash pad and playground area. It’s got a large walking path but they also just recently put in several pickle ball courts.
Favorite Annual Events in the Area:
- County Fairs: Both the Western Idaho Fair in Boise and the Canyon County Fair in Caldwell are annual events for us, specifically because of the concerts! We aren’t big fair food or ride people, but we definitely love the country and rock bands that are included in admission.
- Jackson Country Stomp Concert: I don’t think I’ve missed a Jackson Country Stomp since I’ve lived here! It’s an outdoor country concert with 4 different performers that are usually all great artists you’ve definitely heard on the radio.
- Stampede Rodeo: This is a big indoor rodeo at the Ford Idaho Center in Nampa that goes on for a full week. Each night is themed! I like to get there early and watch the mutton busting, which is little kids lasso-ing sheep. Some of them are as young as 4 years old!
- Caldwell Night Rodeo: Another annual rodeo, but this one is outdoors. We go every year!
- Warbird Round-up Airshow: In Nampa airport, next to the Tower Grill that I mentioned in the Restaurants section, there’s a WW2 aviation history museum called the Warhawk Air Museum. They host an annual air show that brings in WW2 planes, and the museum team dresses in 1940’s outfits. They play music from that time period, usually have a speaker, and the best part is that my husband is usually one of the pilots in the air show!
- Hyde Park Street Fair: I mentioned Hyde Perk in my coffee section, but this is a really pretty and historic neighborhood in Boise called The North End. The little row of restaurants and shops is really quaint and charming, the houses are iconic in this area, and there’s a popular park that backs up to the foothills. The annual fair brings thousands of people for different art vendors, live music, performances. (Parking is a pain!)
- Spirit of Boise: this is a really fun event if you’re in town, but I wouldn’t plan your trip around it. Many of the years that we have gone to spectate the giant hot air balloons all ascending at the same time, the event was cancelled last minute due to weather. But if mother nature cooperates, it is very lively and super popular!
- Snow Tubing at Eagle Island State Park: Eagle Island is a large park that’s open all year long with a pond for fishing, little “beach” for kids, and a disc golf course. We’ve had our professional family photos taken here many times! However in the winter, they bring in snow and create a giant slide with inner tube rentals. It’s a ton of fun!
- Lowe Family Farmstead Fall Corn Maze & Pumpkin Patch: This is a fall season staple! It’s got really elaborate corn mazes, and tons of fall festival outdoor activities. We’ve always gone even before we had a kid of our own!
- Spring on the Farm: this is springtime event for those of you with kids at the same Lowe Family Farmstead location as above. It’s open for a short window in the springtime when the farm animals’ babies all arrive. Part of it is open for petting, like the chicks and goats and lambs. There are long-horns and calves, though they are just for viewing and not petting. There are food vendors, games like corn hole, and tractor wagon rides. Super cute for little ones!
- Christmas time at Indian Creek Plaza in Caldwell: there is an ice skating rink, live music on weekends, but my favorite part is the elaborately decorated pathway along the Indian Creek with lit tunnels and Christmas decorations.
Favorite Places Within 2 Hours
These all require a little drive outside of the Treasure Valley, but are worth it to enjoy more scenic parts of Idaho!
- The Springs – Hot Springs: There are many hot springs around Idaho. Some are more remote and rural, which might be more your vibe. But I don’t like the risk of driving all the way out and having them already be full. The Springs in Idaho City, about 30 minutes outside of Boise, take reservations and even have private spring pools. Plus you can order food and drinks!
- Shoshone Falls: This is two hours away from Boise and nicknamed “Niagra Falls of the West.” We like to bring a picnic here and enjoy the peacefulness of this majestic view!
- Lake Cascade for water activities or camping: Lake Cascade is about 2 hours north of Boise and has tons of campgrounds around the perimeter. I suggest making reservations online. You get to enjoy the beauty of nature, but have the cute town with local restaurants and the Tamarack Resort really close by!
- Zip Lining in Horseshoe Bend: I took Zeb here for one of his birthdays, and it’s such a fun half-day activity. It’s about 30-45 minutes out of Boise which takes you up into some mountains and forest.
- Winter Carnival in McCall: McCall is a mountain resort town 2 hours north of Boise and we love visiting in the summer, especially! Lake activities, lots of hiking, camping, great restaurants. However in the winter, it becomes a wonderland and hosts an annual week-long carnival. One of the unique aspects of it are the giant ice sculptures all throughout the town. You can grab a map of the sculpture locations online and make a day of checking out each one of the 20+ frozen art pieces! We loved this!
- Huckleberry Festival in Donnelly: Another small town just before Cascade and McCall, this small mountain town hosts a really cute festival around the beloved huckleberries in the summer. I’ve run the 5k race a couple times. Each time, I placed 1st for women and won homemade huckleberry pies! There’s a parade & lots of huckleberry treats.
- Bruneau Sand Dunes: This is an Idaho State Park near the Mountain Home Air Force Base, about 45 minutes south of Boise. The natural sand dunes are the tallest in North America! You can rent sleds and play in the sand. It’s a good workout to hike up them too!
That wraps up this list of my local favorites! I can easily do another one because there are hundreds of restaurants, bars, coffee shops and activities in the Boise area. But I don’t want to overwhelm you and I want to start with the ones we gravitate towards the most!
IDAHO-AREA VLOGS
In case you didn’t know, I have a small YouTube channel that I share videos from family travels or events. I can’t wait for my kids to be able to go back and watch them one day! Here are a few from local Idaho events or getaways, if you are interested!
Camping in McCall, Idaho
Cabin Getaway to Redfish Lake/Lowman, Idaho
Fall Weekend in North End Boise
Let me know if there’s any other Boise area topics you want me to cover. Hope you enjoyed and let me know if you try out any of these gems!
P.S. I love keeping my blog ad-free so that you can enjoy a clutter-free reading experience! If you’d like to support my blog, please consider grabbing a Strong Like My Coffee mug from my small online boutique. Each mug is handmade by me in Idaho, includes the wooden topper & gold spoon, and ships within 5 business days. :)
SHOP HERE
XOXO Kenz
Gone Fishin’ + My First Blue Apron Meal
Good morning, coffee lovers! In case you missed it, yesterday was National Coffee Day. This is a serious holiday on my calendar which required careful calculation and strategy for hitting up the main coffee shops without over-caffeinating myself ;)
Dutch Bros. is a main coffee drive-thru in the PNW and as part of their National Coffee Day celebration, profit from every drink went to our local Boys and Girls Club charity. PLUS customers were given a full “punch card’ which can be redeemed for a free drink on your next visit. Another coffee hut was offering 4 drinks for $10, and my office even created their own coffee bar in the break room. There were flavored foam pumps (I did not even know that existed!), whip cream, fancy creamers, sprinkles, and coffee-flavored chocolates. My heart was very very happy yesterday.
The coffee love just KEPT ON COMING this morning because a brand new coffee shop literally right down the street from me had its Grand Opening today. They advertised free coffee all day, so of course I pulled in on my way to work. I expected the free drink to be black coffee. Nope! ANY drink, fancy as you want, all for free. They have Oreo Chillers and Rockstar Freezes and Pumpkin Spice Lattes and something called a “Caramel Blondie.” Creature of habit, I went with an iced nonfat vanilla americano but I just might go back after work for something a little more festive. Depends on if I feel like going for a run first or not ;)
Anyways, what I’m REALLY here for is to share the last bit of fun from my weekend that included a fishing trip and my very first Blue Apron meal. Last summer, my family vacationed in Mammoth Lakes, California and went fishing very early in the morning. I caught nothing. This trip, I caught so many fish that I had to take a break to let my dad fish without having to continually re-set my line! :)
We mostly caught trout, and threw them right back in the river (after snapping a picture first, duh. It’s 2016.) It was so peaceful to stand in the river, look out into the forest and just appreciate the autumn day.
That night, we got home feeling drained and lazy. Then I remembered that my first Blue Apron box had arrived on Friday and I had 3 different meals to choose from! I love that they come in refrigerated boxes with all of the ingredients pre-portioned. The recipe cards are so detailed and I really appreciate the photos of each step. I picked the “Summer Pepper Shakshuka” with eggs and za’atar. This was the first time I’ve ever cooked a Middle Eastern dish myself, and I think it turned out pretty dang close to the picture!
There was something relaxing about dicing up all of the fresh vegetables. I threw them into a large pan and added the seasonings that came with my delivery. The best part? PITA BREAD. You know how much I love my carbs. The actual pita was already cooked, but it came in a circle like pizza crust. I got to slice it into triangles, toast in the oven and add the za’atar seasoning. They came out flavorful and toasty, just like they should!
Fresh pea shoots brought some color into this dish! The protein came from farm-fresh eggs that were added to the pan at the last few minutes. It seemed like a savory breakfast-for-dinner meal, but breakfast is my favorite so I was completely onboard for that!
My favorite part of cooking Blue Apron meals is how aesthetic they are plated! I know I’m not the only one who’s always proud when I serve a dish that looks restaurant-worthy. Especially with the Instagram food porn that makes a bowl of oatmeal look like pure art. Taking an extra minute for the presentation is one of those simple little things that is so satisfying, and I think every Blue Apron meal includes a very beautiful presentation.
A little feta sprinkled on top and voila! I think the whole meal took between 30-40 minutes to create. It was bursting with flavors that were somewhat foreign to me. I’d never cooked with za’atar, shallots, or pea shoots before. Cost-wise, Blue Apron meals are considerably less expensive than eating at a restaurant. The meals are less than $10 each, but seasonal specials and discounts are always popping up in my inbox. Plus everything is delivered to your door and pre-measured. I’m at that weird transitional phase between an on-campus college student with a meal plan and dozens of campus dining options to living completely on my own and “fending for myself.” Since health and nutrition are so important to me, I hardly want to get into that bad habit of resorting to microwave meals for dinner every night.
I learned about Blue Apron through fellow bloggers PBFingers.com and HungryRunnerGirl.com & I think it is the perfect transition for me to start learning to cook whole nutritious meals!
There are two more new-to-me meals from my last delivery to create this weekend and I can’t wait to try the Summer Udon Salad! (I opted for the vegetarian meal plan.) After a whole week of 5:00am workouts, I want nothing more than a lazy Friday night at home with yoga pants, Grey’s Anatomy, decaf coffee, and some time in the kitchen with a new healthy recipe. Plus all those Udon noodles will serve as my carbo-loading for tomorrow’s long run! Shelby, my running teammate, and I are going to try to get in 13 miles before the weather turns dreary tomorrow morning.
Happy Free-Coffee-Friday!
XO Kenz.
Girls Night In + Healthy Veggie Dinner
Almost a year ago to the day, I took one of the best vacations of my life so far (what I justified as a “graduation present” to myself). As a country-lovin’ girl with a fascination for small town charm, rural areas, east coast beaches and southern accents, I excitedly planned a roadtrip through North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. I still think about that trip at least once a week.
I’m bringing it up again because my mom and I finally started to save all of our pictures from the trip and put them into a scrapbook. We had started our day with a sprints/HIIT workout during sunrise, and after work I had a strength training/plyometrics workout with our trainer for Boise Elite Running. Suffice it to say, I earned my glass of Riesling, which I think heightened my sense of nostalgia over this trip. I may have ended the night by creating a new Pinterest board planning my next southern road-trip (now to decide: autumn or spring?!).
My mom and I planned a girls night to make dinner together, rent a redbox movie, and hang out together. The low-key girls night without workouts, errands, or social stuff was so refreshing since most nights here have been go-go-go. When the sun is out til 10pm, it’s hard to stay home. But then it makes the rare nights with movies and pajamas so much more appreciated! :)
We knew we wanted a healthy dinner so that we could splurge. The most difficult decision: wine or ice cream?!
One of my all-time favorite meals is roasted root vegetables, no matter what time of year. Chopping up the butternut squash is so time-consuming (and slightly dangerous for my fingers) but so worth it. The rest is just chopping up sweet potatoes, zucchini, carrots, onions, apples, brussels sprouts and whatever else you want to throw on the pan. We mix the veggies with a little bit of olive oil and some marjoram spice, garlic and pepper. Roasted at 425 degrees for 50-ish minutes and they come out so warm, caramelized and flavorful. My mouth is watering!
Have you seen Hello, My Name is Doris? We LOVE Sally Field, especially from the old show Brothers & Sisters. This wasn’t my favorite movie but it was still cute. Some parts were so awkward that it was painful to watch, where you just cringe for the main character. I’d give it a 6.5 out of 10 stars, so we had to add an episode of Friends before we went to bed to end the night on a funny note. :)
Nothing super special about our leisure girls night in but sometimes it’s just what you need. Especially when we’re balancing out such adventurous weekends…..cliff jumping and paddle-boarding are on the agenda for the upcoming weekends. We are living more in Idaho than we did in 20 years in California!
Tomorrow morning, I’ll be meeting a friend I made through the running club in a nearby town for a trail run before work. I love driving when it’s so quiet out and running through the sunrise. The first five minutes after the early alarm clock goes off are the worst but thankfully a pot of coffee is waiting for me. And the feeling after a good run through nature is indescribable; you just have to experience it for yourself.
Hope you have some fun plans this weekend & I’ll catch ya back here Monday!
