After $5M overhaul, ‘landmark’ restaurant along Boise River sets opening date — soon

Walking outside the future Ling & Louie’s Asian Bar and Grill along the Boise River on a recent afternoon, restaurateur Rex Chandler beams with pride.

As the project’s design and construction consultant, Chandler has carefully guided the renovation of a property with nearly half a century of local history. From 2003 until it closed in June of 2022, the restaurant at 2288 N. Garden St. was Joe’s Crab Shack. For prior decades, back to 1977, it was Chart House — an upscale, nautically themed chain known for its waterfront views.

“The biggest challenge,” Chandler says, watching contractors work on the exterior, “was retaining the look.”

On Sept. 2, the building will begin a new chapter. Ling & Louie’s will have a soft opening for dinner service to the general public, seven nights a week, plus offer a 3 to 5 p.m. happy hour and an 11 a.m. weekend brunch. Lunch will be added by the holiday season, Chandler says.

This will be the second Treasure Valley location for the Ling & Louie’s chain, which also operates at 3210 E. Louise Drive in Meridian, plus in Scottsdale and Chandler, Arizona, and in Dallas.

‘Landmark’ on the Boise River

The menus will be identical. But the newest Ling & Louie’s will feel different from other locations — and not just because it’s next to a river.

Owned by the adjacent Riverside Hotel, the 7,000-square-foot restaurant has kept its “organic modernist” style — created for Chart House restaurants by architect Joseph Lancor.

Roughly $5 million is being poured into the property overhaul. Upgrades include everything from improved parking and an added traffic light to landscaping and a bridge that will connect Ling & Louie’s to the Riverside Hotel.

Chandler, executive director of the Idaho Ling & Louie’s franchises, envisions it as more than just a restaurant.

It’s a destination. A place that he hopes Idahoans will showcase proudly to visiting friends and relatives.

“I think it’s going to be a landmark,” Chandler says.

Chandler announced the restaurant’s unveiling in a media release with David Johnson of Riverside Hotel Hospitality Group. The men, who opened the first Ling & Louie’s in 2011, believe the concept “perfectly fits” Garden City’s Surel Mitchell Live-Work-Create District, according to the release.

‘Modern Asian cuisine’

With polished casual dining, Ling & Louie’s will serve “modern Asian cuisine with American flair,” as its website says. The vast majority of the menu is gluten-free. Signature plates range from Vietnamese Shaking Beef ($21) to Surf + Turf ($25). Wok dishes include items such as General Ling’s Chicken ($17.50) and Kung Pao Beef ($18.50). Noodle and rice offerings range from New Wave Pad Thai ($18.50) to Louie’s Hangover Fried Rice ($17.50).

Ling & Louie’s will act as both an amenity of the Riverside Hotel and a standalone Greenbelt attraction.

The outdoor seating area — certain to be one of the Treasure Valley’s best river-view patios — will seat 90. Along with scenic views of the water, it will offer sail shades and market lights, and will be enclosed by a railing.

“It’s going to be a beautiful deck,” Chandler says. “Everybody loves the deck.”

Eventually, a walkway with steps will lead down to the water’s edge on the other side of the Greenbelt, he adds.

There will be lots of bicycle parking at Ling & Louie’s for Greenbelt users, too.

Dining room, sushi lounge

Inside, the restaurant is divided into a lounge with a sushi bar — “a lot of energy in this room,” Chandler says — and a traditional main dining area.

There is no hint remaining of Joe’s Crab Shack. Even the fireplace has disappeared, replaced by a host station. “We had a small dozer in here to pound it out of here,” Chandler explains.

Known for his fine dining restaurant, Chandlers Steakhouse in downtown Boise, Chandler is squarely in his element leading a creative remodel, he says.

“We’re approaching every phase of this project to build and rebuild, so it stands the test of time,” Chandler says in the release. “The contractors, designers, construction teams, owners of the property and the restaurant, we’re all from here and deeply committed to Boise and the local community. We call this home.”

After Ling & Louie’s debuts, Chandler will turn his attention to the Riverside Hotel’s outdoor Sandbar Patio & Grill. He will guide a revamp of that property, too, in 2024-25, he says.

For now, though? The focus is Ling & Louie’s — specifically on getting it open within a few short weeks.

Customers will be able to walk in to dine. Or they’ll be able to make reservations through OpenTable.

“We know that the Riverside Hotel property brings together many neighbors, day trippers, staycationers and vacationers,” Chandler says. “We’re proud to be resurrecting this landmark historic building to be part of that experience. We’re building a landmark restaurant that will carry on for generations. I couldn’t be more proud.”