Treasured Valley

Posts Tagged ‘Out on the town’

-by Ryan Montgomery

I’ve read a few things online about the Baguette Deli and was pretty excited to finally go check the place out. You’ll find it in the little strip of stores attached to the Fred Meyer on the corner of Franklin and Orchard in Boise. The focus is mainly on a nice selection of Vietnamese style sandwiches served on killer baguettes sourced from the Orient Market just down the street off of Orchard. They also serve an assortment of spring rolls, ciabatta sandwiches, pastries, and boba teas or smoothies.

The staff was incredibly friendly and because it was our first visit they made us a little sample of the House Special sandwich. The House Special is a really tasty mix of assorted pork cold cuts, pate, mayo, pickled veg, cilantro, and slices of jalapeño all on a 12” baguette. The sample convinced us that we had to have the House Special sandwich along with a BBQ Pork sandwich, pork and shrimp spring rolls, and a couple boba Thai teas. Everything was good, especially the really delicious sandwiches.

Looks like I forgot to mention that none of the sandwiches on the menu crack the $5 mark, in fact most of the baguette sandwiches will only set you back $3.25. Good eats for a great price. I know I’ll be going back soon.

Ryan Montgomery likes his baguettes with pickled veggies and a side of boba…

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-by Ryan Montgomery

Who doesn’t enjoy winding down after a long workday with a couple reasonably priced drinks perhaps a little food too? Would a side of environmental consciousness help those drinks go down? Then you should go check out the Low Power Happy Hour at Bittercreek Ale House and Red Feather Lounge. You’ll find specials on select local beer, wine, and food. Plus you get to enjoy a little candlelight/late afternoon sunlight mood lighting while both restaurants kill the lights and TVs to cut back on power consumption for a couple hours.

I think we all know now that people really like both of the aforementioned establishments and with good reason. Both have an excellent selection of brews, wine, and cocktails along with some tasty food featuring locally/regionally-sourced products. However, until recently both establishments were sorely lacking an after work happy hour. Enter the Low Power Happy Hour from 4-6pm, Monday thru Friday.

My wife and I hit up Bittercreek for the happy hour and enjoyed some Hippie Shake IPA, one of the better local brews IMO, from Highlands Hollow and a couple fresh hop brews that were on tap. We also had some of the locally inspired nachos featuring locally sourced black beans, corn, and pico de gallo made with local produce. All in all it’s a great new addition to the local after work happy hour scene.

Ryan Montgomery enjoys it medium-rare.

Where are some of your favorite happy hours in the Treasure Valley?

–by Ryan Montgomery

If you live in the Treasure Valley and are a fan of quality beer and pizza then you probably already know a thing or two about The Front Door, Northwest Pizza and Tap House. The food and interesting, always changing lineup of brews on tap are both consistently good. They also occasionally have some fun special events, which was the case on Sept. 11^th when they hosted Idaho’s own Grand Teton Brewing Company for a brewer’s night.

My wife and I hit up one of these brewer’s nights about a year ago when Stone Brewing came to town. It was a great time with a friendly representative from the brewery, reduced prices for Stone drafts, and the occasional giveaway of brewery schwag. This past week’s Brewer’s Night followed the same formula when Chuck Nowicki from Grand Teton Brewing Company was on hand to answer questions.

Available on tap were 6 of Grand Teton’s beers for the special price of $3 for 16 or 12oz draughts, depending on the brews strength.  Additionally, they had a food special, the personal sized Grand Teton Pie paired with two of the featured beers. The pie was divided in half; one side being roasted red pepper sauce with hot sausage, onions and mushrooms paired with an 8oz pour of Howling Wolf Weizenbock. The other half of the pie was smothered with BBQ sauce and layered with pulled pork and mango salsa, paired with and 8oz pour of Double Vision Dopplebock. The pizza really showed off how well food and beer can work together when properly paired. It was also a killer deal at only $7.

So keep you eyes peeled for the next brewer’s night at The Front Door. It’s a great way to lean more about a brewery from one of their representatives and an opportunity to try some excellent brews at a great price. You might even be one of the lucky people who walk out with some new glassware or a fancy new t-shirt from the featured brewery.

On a side note be sure to hit of the Old Boise Oktoberfest that The Front Door is helping put on this weekend. The smaller scale Oktoberfests that they have put on in the restaurant the last few years have been a ton of fun, so this year’s larger version has the potential to be wunderbar!

Ryan Montgomery drinks PBR and Mirror Mirror.

-by Ryan Montgomery

It’s hard to believe that it’s already September and that the summer has started to slowly slip away. On one of the 90 degree days last week my wife and I decided to take advantage of the nice weather and hit up the patio at Sockeye Grill & Brewery for some tasty brews and a little food too.

Sockeye generally has a stable of 4-5 beers that are regularly on tap and a few seasonal selections to round things out. I tried their Prairie Smoke, a Rauchbier style of beer, at the Eco Brew Fest earlier this summer and decided to go with a pint of it. I also snuck in a taster of their new Revé Doré, a barley wine aged in oak barrels. The Prairie Smoke has a smokey, almost bacony, smell but the smoke flavor is mild and backed up by some sweet malt with a nice clean finish. While tasty alone the beer was even better with a little food.

You’ll find a nice selection of pub grub at Sockeye from beer battered finger steaks to salads, burgers, and sandwiches. One of my favorite additions to the menu in the last year is the Lemon-Peppered Coho Club Wrap stuffed with salmon, bacon, feta, lettuce, tomatoes, and a little basil vinaigrette. The crispy sweet potato fries with chipotle mayo made a flavorful side. My wife went with a cheeseburger and fries, which was also good, but I forgot to take a pic (sorry I’m a little new to this whole taking pictures of my dinner thing).

It looks like we’re in for some more nice weather this weekend, so get to the patio at Sockeye and enjoy it while you can. Even after the weather turns they’ll still have plenty of room inside for you to come grab a bite to eat and some tasty local brew. Also don’t forget to look for Sockeye’s brews at other local bars and restaurants around the Treasure Valley.

Ryan Montgomery is from Boise and just happens to immensely enjoy the food and drink of our great valley and beyond.