‘This weekend’s gonna be crazy’: New yet legendary, Boise patio restaurant and bar opens

Lost Grove Brewing owner Jake Black knows what’s coming.

All he can do is try to keep his sanity.

“This weekend’s gonna be crazy,” Black says with a laugh.

A familiar beer hangout since 2017 in the Lusk District near Boise State, Lost Grove quietly soft-opened its second location Monday.

This one is, like, sort of high-profile.

Located in the former Sun Ray Cafe building at 1602 N. 13th St., Lost Grove’s new restaurant and bar is powered by a large, locally famous patio. In Hyde Park. Historically, some might argue, it’s the best-known patio in Boise.

With word spreading and temperatures inching skyward, the soft opening is about to harden for Black and his staff.

Sunny skies and warm temperatures notwithstanding, the forecast calls for, well, pain.

But they’re ready, he says.

“We’re excited. We’ve got a great team — the service team — and everything’s been rock and rolling.”

Lost Grove’s patio, which has a capacity of around 150, is only about 75 percent open. Half of the front isn’t set up yet. Patrons enter the restaurant from the Eastman Street side, not the normal front door on 13th Street. Renovations are still happening in that part of the building.

Black says he hopes to have the build-out finished, and Lost Grove fully launched, by June 1.

With a fresh coat of paint, an array of Lost Grove brews, a liquor license and a menu that focuses on “Idaho pub fare with an Asian influence,” it’s destined to be a summer smash.

The restaurant has no online presence yet. For now, outdoor dining fans can’t check out the menu without visiting the restaurant.

But Black has a few suggestions.

“We’ve got a banh mi sandwich,” he says. “We’ve got bao buns. Our dumplings are killer. We’ve got pozole ramen, which is really good.”

Known for serving pizza in previous incarnations, the patio restaurant is a longtime Boise icon. Neighbors, Hyde Park shoppers and cyclists have socialized for decades at the popular gathering spot, sipping beer in the heart of the North End.

But Sun Ray Cafe closed last fall. Prior to becoming Sun Ray in 2007, the building was the longtime home of Lucky 13, a similar concept that moved to Harris Ranch.

Now the Lost Grove era has arrived. Food-service hours are 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and noon to 10 p.m. Friday through Sunday. The bar is open until midnight every day except Sunday, when it shuts down around 10 p.m.

Business has been “pretty good” this week, Black says. “Last couple nights have been pretty busy.”

But an Idaho stampede is coming.

This weekend. This spring. And this summer.

Bring it, Black says.

“We’re ready to rip.”