‘No longer tenable,’ this beloved restaurant will close after 27 years in Boise, Meridian

Michael Deeds
·2 min read

The end of an era has come for Treasure Valley diners.

After nearly three decades, local favorite Gino’s Italian Ristorante is going out of business — but there’s still a little time to dine. The restaurant at 3015 W. McMillan Road in Meridian will close at the end of February.

Economic challenges forced the decision, according to a statement from the Vuolo family and Jimmy Gadson, who own Gino’s.

“For 27 years, Gino’s Italian Ristorante has been a staple of the Treasure Valley. ... Due to the current economic conditions, it is no longer tenable to run a small business. As many of our fellow counterparts have been forced to close over rising costs, we must also do the same, however sad it may be.”

Owner-chef Gino Vuolo opened Gino’s in downtown Boise in early 1997 before moving it near the intersection of Ten Mile and McMillan roads in 2009. Born in Naples and raised in New York’s Little Italy, Vuolo moved back to Naples before eventually relocating to Idaho with his wife, Tia, a native Boisean.

In this 2015 photo, Gino Vuolo sits in his namesake restaurant’s bar area in Meridian. Two years after Vuolo’s death, Gino’s Italian Ristorante is going to close its doors.
In this 2015 photo, Gino Vuolo sits in his namesake restaurant’s bar area in Meridian. Two years after Vuolo’s death, Gino’s Italian Ristorante is going to close its doors.

Fond of emerging from the kitchen to warmly welcome customers, Vuolo created a family atmosphere at Gino’s. His parents operated an Italian restaurant in Manhattan for more than two decades. The menu at Gino’s was crafted around Southern Italian recipes rooted in a Naples restaurant started by his grandmother more than a century ago.

Vuolo died in January of 2022 after a four-year fight with cancer, causing the restaurant to shutter for a day as family, employees and customers mourned.

But next year’s closure will be permanent.

“We feel it is the best decision to protect the legacy that Gino and Tia built over the last 27 years,” the statement said. “In order to honor that legacy and give the people who have been loyal customers throughout the years a chance to say goodbye, January and February we will be open just Friday and Saturday, reservation only, with a rotating menu with items selected from past menu editions. We can never thank you all enough for being there, not just as customers, but as friends as well.”

A full version of the goodbye statement will be posted on the Gino’s Instagram and Facebook pages Wednesday.

“Once more, thank you from the bottom of our hearts,” the owners said in the statement.

Gino’s Italian Ristorante relocated to Meridian in 2009.
Gino’s Italian Ristorante relocated to Meridian in 2009.