Iconic Idaho Eats

Bank on a Good Dinner in Caldwell

Amano | Caldwell

About 30 miles west of Boise, downtown Caldwell is where you’ll find Amano, serving modern Mexican food inside a former bank, where the original architectural details and old vault spaces have become part of the dining experience. Chef Salvador Alamilla builds the menu around traditional ingredients and techniques, including in-house nixtamalized corn, hand-pressed tortillas, and barbacoa slow-cooked meats.

In 2025, Alamilla won the James Beard Award for Best Chef: Mountain, becoming the second ever Idaho chef to receive a James Beard Award. 

While You’re Here

Grab something from a Sunnyslope fruit stand on the drive in and wander Indian Creek Plaza after dinner. Stay the night in Caldwell so you can stretch your evening as long as possible. 

Find the Basque Block Nobody Told You About

The Basque Market, Bar Gernika and Ansots | Boise

Boise is home to the largest concentration of Basque people anywhere outside the Basque Country itself. Downtown, the Basque Block gathers restaurants and the Basque Museum and Cultural Center into a few walkable blocks. The Basque Market has anchored the Basque Block since 2000. The market was opened by Tony Eiguren, grandson of a Basque sheepherder, and his wife Tara, two teachers who traded the classroom for a Basque pantry and wine shop. Grab pintxos, bocadillos, or a glass of frozen white sangria at the counter, but plan around the patio paella. It’s literally a giant pan cooked start to finish right on Grove Street in front of the market. 

A few blocks over (tucked away off Main Street), Ansots makes its chorizo from a family recipe with a genuinely good story attached. The current owner’s grandfather jumped ship from a boat bound for the Basque Country in 1908 and made his way to Idaho with the recipe in tow. Their chorizo is still made the same way today. 

The Basque Block sits within walking distance of most downtown hotels. Stay nearby for easy access. Find places to stay here.

Go Underground in Downtown Boise

KIN | Boise

At the corner of 9th and Main in downtown Boise, an unassuming staircase hides one of Idaho’s most celebrated dining experiences.

KIN presents a five-course menu with dishes and drinks built around a central story. The menu changes with the seasons and whatever story the team wants to tell next. 

Chef Kris Komori became Idaho’s first James Beard Award winner in 2023 — putting KIN on the national culinary map — but it never lost its Boise roots.. The dining room is small, so reserve your seats first and build the rest of the weekend around it.

While You’re Here

For breakfast, follow the scent of saffron to Sunshine Spice Bakery & Cafe. Spend the day on the Greenbelt or in the Boise Art Museum. If you’re here for a second night, Madre, another James Beard-recognized taqueria near Boise State University, makes for a nice, more casual contrast to KIN.

Strike Gold in Idaho City

Trudy’s Kitchen and Diamond Lil’s | Idaho City

Highway 21 winds northeast out of Boise and through ponderosa pine forests to Idaho City, a former gold-rush town about an hour away. It was briefly the largest town in the Idaho Territory in the 1860s, and the wooden storefronts and boardwalks downtown still look the part. It’s also home to a pie case that has changed more than a few lunch plans. 

Trudy’s Kitchen is known for homemade pies, cream pies, and a tall huckleberry cheesecake. Order a slice at the table and take another for later, because road-trip rules allow for backup dessert (just in case).

When its seasonal doors are open, Diamond Lil’s Steakhouse and Saloon adds even more local history to the trip. Artifacts and dollar bills on the bar and ceiling, historic photos on the walls, and fry sauce on the table before you even ask. Hours can change with the season so check directly before making Diamond Lil’s the center of your evening.

While You’re Here

Wander the historic downtown, try your hand at gold panning or reserve a soak at The Springs just outside town (open Thursday – Monday, book ahead). Stay the night nearby where you can have that extra slice of pie you got earlier in the day.

Eat and Sleep in a Living Ghost Town

The Idaho Hotel | Silver City

The road to Silver City climbs into the Owyhee Mountains, leaving pavement behind for its final miles. It’s one of Idaho’s best-preserved mining towns, with historic buildings still standing along unpaved streets. At the center of it all, the Idaho Hotel has served meals, drinks, and homemade pie since the 1800s. Antique furnishings, old photos, and slightly uneven floors come standard.

While You’re Here

Walk the old mining district, then stay the night. Once the day-trippers clear out, Silver City goes dead quiet and the stars take over. The hotel runs seasonally; generally Memorial Day through early October. The stretch of road is pretty rough so be sure to fuel up and pack yourself some extra water and snacks. 

Drive North for Finger Steaks & a Lake

Lardo Grill and Saloon and The Spot | McCall

Highway 55 stretches north out of the Treasure Valley for about two hours before dropping into McCall, a stunning mountain town on the shores of Payette Lake. Up here, temperatures are cooler and the vibe is always casual.

Lardo Grill and Saloon has been in McCall long enough to have its own bit of food history attached. The restaurant has served finger steaks, strips of battered, and deep-fried sirloin usually dipped in fry sauce, since 1973. Finger steaks are widely believed to have been invented in Boise sometime in the 40s or 50s, though nobody quite agrees on who made the first batch. What is certain is that Lardo has been serving them for more than half a century.

For a more casual stop, The Spot is McCall’s first dedicated food truck park, set right on the lakefront next to the Yacht Club, good for a low-key lunch between hiking, boating, or just staring at the lake. 

While You’re Here

Spend the day on Payette Lake, a swim, a boat rental, or just walk through downtown McCall. A night in a cabin will be irresistible. 

Follow Your Sweet Tooth to Weiser

Weiser Classic Candy and Cook Shack on 7th | Weiser

Highway 95 runs north through farmland and river country before reaching Weiser, a small western Idaho community near the Oregon border and the meeting point of the Snake and Weiser rivers.

Downtown, Weiser Classic Candy has been hand-dipping chocolates since 1984: truffles, caramels, fudge, and its signature Velvet Mints, all made in small batches. The shop also serves lunch and ice cream, so a quick candy stop can easily stretch into an afternoon.

If you’re looking for something a little more substantial, Cook Shack on 7th is a small, family-run smokehouse turning out brisket and ribs good enough that regulars sometimes drive from Boise just for dinner.

While You’re Here

Walk a stretch of the Weiser River Trail, or use Weiser as a jumping-off point for visiting Hells Canyon. Time it for late June to hit the National Oldtime Fiddlers’ Contest and Festival, too.

One Potato, and Two Arguments Worth Knowing About

Westside Drive-In | Boise

One of Idaho’s most famous potatoes is found in a restaurant and isn’t actually a potato. A Southwest Idaho food trip wouldn’t be complete without a stop at Boise’s Westside Drive-In for the Idaho Ice Cream Potato, famous for, among other reasons, a feature on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives.

A neon-clad 50s-style “diner” (it features drive-throughs and outdoor seating), Westside Drive-In shapes vanilla ice cream into the shape of a russet potato, coats it in cocoa powder and fills it with whipped cream. The finished dessert looks realistic enough to cause a brief moment of confusion when it reaches the table.

Makes for a fun stop during a Boise overnight, especially when someone in the car has never seen one. Take the photo quickly, because ice cream has little patience for the perfect angle.

While You’re Here

Enjoy potatoes in a variety of forms. Boise Fry Company offers a suite of potato varieties and cuts with a bunch of homemade sauces to match. Spud Daddy serves ‘em baked and filled. Bittercreek Ale House does a great poutine, a local favorite.

Idaho Originals

Fry sauce

Just like finger steaks, fry sauce is often claimed as an Idahoan invention. A mix of ketchup, mayo, and a dash of something secret shows up on menus everywhere and locals defend it like a birthright – even though the strongest origin story traces back to a Salt Lake City barbecue joint in the 1940s. Idaho may not have invented it, but it adopted it completely and never looked back. Locals these days couldn’t imagine a side (or main) of fries without it!