Day drinking fanatics and anyone uninterested in 2 a.m. bar hopping culture might argue that downtown Boise is sleepy during the day on early spring weekends. I’d make the case that it can be unnecessarily lifeless at the many watering holes in the prime waking hours before everyone bursts onto the scene at night.
Not this March, nope! Between Treefort, consecutive days of 60 degree temperatures and downtown parties, March rekindled my hopes in the daytime participation at Boise’s bars.
St. Patrick's Day was the first big Sunday Funday the city has seen in a while. It felt like a preview of the summer to come. Confused that one of our only “Irish” bars, Tom Grainey’s was closed during the day, I started at a place I typically steer clear of for obvious reasons, Silly Birch.
Massive herds of college aged adults rolled in and ordered Jameson shots all afternoon. A loud barstool fell on the ground, someone falling trying to climb up onto the stadium looking booths. Total sh*t show, but on par for a holiday falling on a weekend. “Wooooo!!!” You could hear many times coming from the open windows to the street as groups of girls in cropped tanks and guys in shorts deboarded the group bicycle bar crawls and came in.
A few doors down, Cactus Bar was equally as rowdy but with a more diverse drinking crowd. The bartenders quickly whipped up Irish Car Bombs and sold the popular grape flavored Happy Dad seltzer (highly recommend) and packs of 6 mg Zyns to people.
The final day of Treefort brought in another massive daytime turnout, more refined than the St. Patty’s degeneracy. Mulligans was churning out food and drink orders nonstop, as music lovers popped in to grab beverages en route to The Olympic upstairs for bands.
“Man it really starts catching up to ya,” some dude entering Pengilly’s laughed with the bouncer checking his ID. They bonded on their shared exhaustion for rallying through five days of the Fest and arriving at a packed bar at this hour. The bartenders were busy but quick, and one told me this Fest brought in record-breaking sales at the bar last night (Saturday).
“We’ll take two well whiskeys on the rocks,” the men on barstools ordered. Brave for a Sunday at 8 p.m.! Old friends who live in different states, they catch up for an hour over the “yall-ternative” style band rocking out on stage. “I love you brotha!” They leave and their stools are immediately replaced with a couple Treefort day fivers pregaming for the next show.
Like at Mulligans, Pengilly's bartenders returned my card to me after I asked to leave the tab open. That minor touch probably prevented 50% of customers’ Monday hangxiety that comes from realizing a credit card is MIA when they try to pay for lunch.
Post-Treefort, the breezy warmth outside carried on, bringing the crowds back for another Sunday Funday. Garden City’s chill, open spots like Twisted District, Yardarm, Barbarian Brewing, and Western Collective are BACK for another season.
I heard laughs from a table of six middle-aged women playing darts and going through champagne bottles at Twisted District, the No. 1 on my list for bottomless mimosas in Boise.
A quick Lime scooter ride away, Western Collective had a DJ blasting R&B and Hip-Hop throwbacks. Millennials who like to have a good time and their elementary aged kids filled the big open brewery and its patio. They have liquor too now, so people pivoting from mimosa brunch have an option outside of heavy beer.
“YES!!!!” A “cool dad” screamed, playing a table-sized version of that rope toss and hook game with a beer in hand as he won. Yardarm did a soft opening before their official season kick off, bringing in a chill crowd wrapping up their weekend with hard seltzers and beers as the wind chill slowly came back.
