They ‘hoped this day wouldn’t come.’ But chain’s last restaurant in Boise area to close

Michael Deeds
·1 min read
8

Last call for value-priced steak and lobster.

A familiar brand in the Boise area for decades, the Sizzler restaurant chain soon will be nothing more than a memory in the City of Trees.

Sizzler’s lone remaining Treasure Valley restaurant — at 3380 N. Eagle Road in Meridian — will close Sept. 24.

Locally based husband-and-wife owners Buster Minshew and Gretchen Anderson shared the news in an email to customers.

“Buster and I hoped this day wouldn’t come,” Anderson wrote.

The imminent closure does not come as a total shock. Calling the operation “unsustainable,” they closed their Nampa location in late 2022. It had been open since 1977. In 2019, they shuttered their Boise restaurant, which had been on Cole Road for more than 30 years.

Anderson said that “current business conditions” — labor costs and challenges, the price of goods, supply chain problems — led to the decision to close.

Gretchen Anderson and Buster Minshew, who own the Meridian Sizzler, will close it Sept. 24.
Gretchen Anderson and Buster Minshew, who own the Meridian Sizzler, will close it Sept. 24.

“We have cherished every day of our 17 years of operation — even finding joy in navigating through the pandemic months,” she wrote. “The nearest Sizzler locations to the Treasure Valley are in Twin Falls, Idaho Falls and Pocatello. We want to THANK YOU for being part of our Sizzler operation and we hope to see you in these final weeks.”

Known for its competitively priced steaks, seafood and salad bar, Sizzler was founded in 1958. Headquartered in Mission Viejo, California, it still operates in multiple Western states — primarily California.

Citing financial woes because of the coronavirus, Sizzler USA filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020. But that didn’t affect the Treasure Valley locations. Anderson and Minshew are Sizzler licensees.