L AURIE PE ARMAN
food and DIning
Readers’ Choice BOISE FRY CO.
The potentate of potatoes.
BEST LOCAL FRIES Boise Fry Co.
zawa a loyal following. In the past 23 years, Shige Japanese Cuisine has become an intrinsic part of Boise’s cultural landscape and earned its place in this city’s history. shigescuisine.com
As if it wasn’t obvious enough, Boise Fry Co. isn’t messing around when it comes to America’s favorite side order. With a rotating selection of spuds, cuts, seasonings and sauces to choose from, BFC immediately met with massive success in Boise and has since expanded its reach to Portland, Ore., and Austin, Texas. If you haven’t fry-ed one on at this Boise gem yet, you’re missing out, so don’t wait until tater—get to BFC now. boisefrycompany.com
2nd Place: Superb Sushi, superbsushidowntown.com
2nd Place: Highlands Hollow Brewhouse, highlandshollow.com
hard to resist other menu items, you can make a meal of a Fork salad—plus you can follow it with an order of the restaurant’s famous butter cake. When guilt creeps in and tries to make you feel bad, you can tell him to Fork off. boisefork.com
BEST LOCAL BURGER Boise Fry Co.
BEST LOCAL JAPANESE
BEST LOCAL ITALIAN
BFC’s tagline, “Burgers on the side,” undersells the fry joint’s excellent hamburgers. These bad boys come in beef, bison and vegan options, and come with “original,” “classic” and “heat” toppings to take the burden of choice off your shoulders and replace it with the joy of hamburger goodness. boisefrycompany.com
Kyoto Japanese Steak House
Luciano’s
2nd Place: Big Jud’s, bigjudsboise.com
BEST LOCAL SUSHI
This was close, but Kyoto squeaked by Shige this year. Kyoto’s festive atmosphere sells it as skilled chefs slice, dice and cook your meal at your table. The beef and salmon are top notch or go all in and order the Royal dinner, which includes steak, shrimp, chicken, soup, veggies, salad and dessert for under $50. You’ll be a winner, too. facebook. com/kyotojapaneserestaurant
Score a table at the always-packed Luciano’s and you’ll be living la vita dolce. Good luck choosing from the Tuscan-inspired menu of dishes like clam linguine, seafood risotto and three-cheese tortellini. To really put the dolce in your vita, finish with Lucci’s signature four-layer chocolate cake (*so much drool*). lucianosboise.com 2nd Place: Asiago’s, asiagos.com
Shige Japanese Cuisine
2nd Place: Shige Japanese Cuisine, shigescuisine.com
3rd Place: Gino’s Italian Ristorante-Bar, facebook.com/ ginositalianristorante
3rd Place: Grind Modern Burger, grindmodernburger.com
The year was 1992. People were laughing at the working-class comedy of Roseanne, singing along with Boyz II Men on their journey to “The End of the Road” and spending a lot of time with their noses buried in John Grisham’s Pelican Brief. Something big was happening in Boise, too: Shige Matsuzawa was opening his flagship restaurant. His focus on innovative and traditional dishes made with fresh ingredients and an unwavering attention to detail, gained Matsu-
3rd Place: Sakana Japanese Sushi, sakanajapanesesushi.com
3rd Place: Fujiyama Japanese Restaurant, fujiyamaboise.com
BEST LOCAL SALAD Fork Fork takes salad seriously, using fresh, locally sourced produce and proteins cooked to perfection to enhance and elevate flavor profiles. While it’s
38 | SEPTEMBER 30 – OCTOBER 6, 2015 | BOISEweekly
2nd Place: Bardenay, bardenay.com 3rd Place: 13th St. Pub and Grill, onethreepub.com
BEST LOCAL STEAK Chandlers Steakhouse Cooking a cut of beef seems simple enough, but it’s a difficult technique to perfect; however, Chandlers clearly has. It’s No. 1. chandlersboise.com
3rd Place: Grind Modern Burger, grindmodernburger.com
BEST LOCAL BREAKFAST Goldy’s Breakfast Bistro Goldy’s has had a corner on this category since 1999—the same year it cornered the downtown breakfast scene (literally), opening on the corner of Capitol Boulevard and Main Street. If the lines out the door are any indication, Goldy’s will continue its dominance over the most important meal of the day for the rest of the 21st century. goldysbreakfastbistro.com
2nd Place: Big City Coffee and Cafe, bigcityboise.com 3rd Place: The Capri, facebook.com/capri-restaurant
2nd Place: Lock Stock and Barrel, lsbboise.com 3rd Place: Barbacoa, barbacoa-boise.com BOISE WEEKLY.COM