Crushing booze, Boise bars and restaurants are setting records. Here are the top 10

Michael Deeds

With the pandemic behind us, Boiseans have gotten back to doing what they do best.

Bar hopping!

Just kidding. On both counts. (OK, maybe not the second one.)

But with many Idahoans resuming mostly normal lives, Treasure Valley bars and restaurants bounced back strong in the past year — strong as Everclear grain alcohol.

Need proof? Check out the annual sales report from the Idaho State Liquor Division. (Speaking of proof, ever notice that Everclear sold in Idaho is 151, rather than 190, proof? Weak sauce!) The Liquor Division data tells us how much hard alcohol that licensees purchased during fiscal year 2022, which ended June 30. Again, we are not talking about beer, wine or seltzer, which the Liquor Division doesn’t handle.

By examining how much booze was bought by each of the bars and restaurants, we can assess how much these businesses turned around and sold.

And one towered above the rest during the past 12 months.

You guessed it. Barbacoa.

Barbacoa purchased more than half a million dollars in liquor during fiscal year 2022.
Barbacoa purchased more than half a million dollars in liquor during fiscal year 2022.

Half a million bucks is a sweet milestone for Barbacoa, which spent almost $100,000 more on liquor than it did in fiscal 2021. Barbacoa is the perennial No. 1 in Boise, setting new highs year after year. (You gotta love Barbacoa’s daily happy hour from 4 to 6 p.m.: Buy one, get one free.)

But just as impressive — if not more so? There’s a downtown Boise bar where alcohol flows like a weekend flash flood. I’m talking about nightclub StrangeLove and its little brother downstairs, Dirty Little Roddy’s.

StrangeLove and Roddy’s, combined, finished second among Treasure Valley bars in dollars spent and third in bottles purchased.

But here’s the thing: They sling drinks only 15 hours per week. Roddy’s is open from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. Thursdays through Saturdays. StrangeLove is open only on Fridays and Saturdays, same hours.

“I think it’s kind of cool,” said Ted Challenger, owner of StrangeLove and Dirty Little Roddy’s, as well as the Amsterdam Lounge and Karma. “I’m happy with it because it’s a very clean operation. That’s all I have with liability. That’s all I have with labor.”

StrangeLove has a capacity of 580; Roddy’s is 300, Challenger said.

Bottles purchased

Here are the top 10 bars and restaurants in the Treasure Valley ranked by number of bottles of liquor purchased in fiscal 2022. Adjacent businesses with the same owner receive a combined number from the Liquor Division.

1. Barbacoa, Boise: 24,959

2. Bardenay, Boise: 21,370

3. StrangeLove/Dirty Little Roddy’s. Boise: 20,436

4. Frontier Club/Roosevelt Bar, Meridian: 18,892

5. Silly Birch/Whiskey Bar, Boise: 14,975

6. Hannah’s, Boise: 14,176

7. Mulligans Bar & Eatery/The Olympic, Boise: 13,066

8. Bittercreek Alehouse/Diablo & Sons/Red Feather Lounge, Boise: 11,927

9. Reef/The Front Door/The Brickyard, Boise: 11,578

10. Grove Hotel/Idaho Central Arena, Boise: 11,272

Dollars spent

Here are the top 10 bars and restaurants in the Treasure Valley ranked by dollars spent at state liquor stores in fiscal 2022:

1. Barbacoa, Boise: $538,140

2. StrangeLove/Dirty Little Roddy’s, Boise: $435,753

3. Frontier Club/Roosevelt Bar, Meridian: $405,836

4. Silly Birch/Whiskey Bar, Boise: $329,957

5. Chandlers Steakhouse, Boise: $295,271

6. Bittercreek Alehouse/Diablo & Sons/Red Feather Lounge, Boise: $278,312

7. Crave Kitchen & Bar, Eagle: $259,250

8. Hannah’s, Boise: $251,221

9. The Matador, Boise: $247,020

10. Amsterdam Lounge, Boise: $245,290

One thing that jumps out from these lists? After watching bars and restaurants from outside Boise vault into the top 10 the prior year, downtown returned to power in fiscal 2022.

Much of that, I suspect, was related to COVID-related measures and behaviors during the early parts of the pandemic.

Resort towns

Before we raise a toast to our oceans of alcohol sales in Boise, be aware: The Treasure Valley doesn’t actually have the biggest booze-buying businesses in the state.

Resort towns crush the hard stuff.

The Couer d’Alene Resort and Conference Center purchased a state-high 27,258 bottles at $694,238. Sun Valley Resort actually spent the most, though: $714,506 on 26,563 bottles.

That puts lil’ ol’ Barbacoa at third place statewide in purchases and bottles.

Meanwhile, Circling Raven Golf Club in Worley — part of a casino — bought the fourth-highest number of bottles: 22,399 of them, for $320,986.

The big picture

Overall? Idaho bars and restaurants set a record in fiscal 2022 with $51.5 million in purchases. Last year was $41.9 million. That’s a one-year jump of 22.8 percent.

The bulk of the growth was “right here in the Treasure Valley,” said Tony Faraca, CFO of the Idaho State Liquor Division. Licensee purchases increased in the valley from $16.7 million to $23.5 million, up about by 40 percent, offset by only 5 percent growth in North Idaho, Faraca explained by email.

North Idaho sales were boosted the prior year by Washingtonians who crossed the border because of COVID-related lockdown measures, he added.

Bottom line?

Bottoms up.

Assuming we aren’t too hungover from happy hour at Barbacoa, or late-night dancing at StrangeLove, we’ll check back on the annual report next year.

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