Uh-oh, Boise. After ‘astonishing’ rise, Meridian bars gun for crown as top liquor seller

Michael Deeds
·6 min read
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When it comes to crushing liquor, one Boise restaurant and bar tosses more empties in the trash than any other.

Barbacoa.

The flamboyant steak-and-cocktail oasis at 276 W. Bobwhite Court has been the Treasure Valley’s biggest booze purveyor for a decade.

But a challenger has emerged over the past year.

In a plot twist that was impossible to predict yet somehow seems foreseeable, Barbacoa’s dominance is being tested, according to fresh data from the Idaho State Liquor Division.

Better start drinking, Boise. Here comes Meridian.

‘Astonishing’ growth

Alcohol purchases have exploded like an Irish car bomb at the Frontier Club and The Roosevelt, according to the Liquor Division’s sales report for fiscal year 2023, which ended June 30.

Numbers were up over 25% compared to the prior year at the adjacent drinking destinations, which share a liquor license and patio. Combined, they spent over half a million dollars at state liquor stores in fiscal ‘23.

“It’s astonishing to me,” admits Tony Faraca, CFO of the Liquor Division.

Liquor sales at the Frontier Club in Meridian have grown significantly in the past year.
Liquor sales at the Frontier Club in Meridian have grown significantly in the past year.

For curious imbibers, the bar sales report is a yearly treat. It reveals how much hard alcohol was purchased by restaurants and bars. Subsequently, we are able to surmise how much these businesses turned around and sold. (We’re talking about booze only, by the way, not beer, wine or seltzer. The Liquor Division doesn’t handle those.)

Barbacoa remains the Treasure Valley champ. Like last year, it set a new local record for dollars spent. This time, $563,614.

But Barbacoa actually dipped in its number of bottles purchased — to 24,105, which is 854 fewer than in fiscal 2022.

Meanwhile, the Frontier Club, 116 E. Broadway Ave., and Roosevelt, 126 E. Broadway Ave., skyrocketed to $510,716 and 23,625 bottles — from $405,836 and 18,892 the prior year.

To be fair, this is not apples to apples. Barbacoa is a single operation — albeit a massive one — while the Frontier Club and Roosevelt are separate concepts. But that’s how the Liquor Division sorts the numbers when a liquor license is shared.

Either way, when you peruse the top 10 Boise-area bars — listed later in this article — you’ll notice that Barbacoa and the Frontier Club/Roosevelt are in their own tier.

Everyone else trails significantly.

No bar or restaurant purchases more liquor each year than Barbacoa in Boise.
No bar or restaurant purchases more liquor each year than Barbacoa in Boise.

‘Old rules gone’

When I share the increasingly neck-and-neck numbers with Ryan Steinbroner, owner of the Frontier/Roosevelt, he’s slightly surprised.

But shocked? Not even. He’s seen the packed house at his bars.

“To be honest,” Steinbroner says, speaking by phone from his office at The Roosevelt, “it’s turned into a pretty unique scene.”

A renovated sports bar with a pool-table room, the Frontier Club has trended upward since Steinbroner bought it eight years ago. Ever since he opened The Roosevelt next door as a craft cocktail spot in March 2020, it has done well, too — at least after the initial pandemic shutdown.

Operating side by side, the concepts create a synergy. They even feed customers with their own on-site taco truck.

“We’ve got a big patio,” Steinbroner says. “We’ve got fire pits. We’ve got a big grassy area where people can play cornhole. We can do live music outside. You can have a nice cocktail at The Roosevelt, and then you can go party all night over at the Frontier.”

There’s another reason for the success, though.

Meridian is flat-out teeming with humanity.

“A lot of people live here,” Steinbroner says.

And, unlike a few years ago, it’s just not as appealing to travel to downtown Boise.

“All the factors of traffic and everything else,” Steinbroner says. “People want to be able to party where they live.”

Craft cocktails are a specialty at the Roosevelt in Meridian.
Craft cocktails are a specialty at the Roosevelt in Meridian.

It’s just more proof that the ever-growing Treasure Valley also is ever-evolving. In ways we don’t always immediately notice.

Steinbroner also owns the Fireside Inn in Boise, the 127 Club in Meridian and the 1918 Lounge in Nampa.

“All the old rules are gone,” he says. “We used say that July, for example, was our deadest month of the year because everybody would go camping. Now there’s just so many people in the Valley, in general. It just keeps on getting busier, because there’s just more population to draw from.”

Dollars spent

These are the top 10 bars and restaurants in the Treasure Valley ranked by dollars spent at state liquor stores in fiscal 2023. Again, adjacent businesses with the same owner receive a combined number from the Liquor Division.

1. Barbacoa, Boise: $563,614

2. Frontier Club/Roosevelt Bar, Meridian: $510,716

3. StrangeLove/Dirty Little Roddy’s, Boise: $394,989

4. Bittercreek Alehouse/Diablo & Sons/Red Feather Lounge, Boise: $351,274

5. Silly Birch/Whiskey Bar, Boise: $317,721

6. Chandlers Steakhouse, Boise: $286,872

7. Amsterdam Lounge, Boise: $283,281

8. Crave Kitchen & Bar, Eagle: $277,832

9. Grove Hotel/Idaho Central Arena, Boise: $276,195

10. The Mode Lounge, Boise: $274,848

Honorable mention: Hannah’s, Boise: $262,465

Bottles purchased

Here are the top 10 bars and restaurants in the Treasure Valley ranked by number of bottles of liquor purchased at state liquor stores in fiscal 2023:

1. Barbacoa, Boise: 24,105

2. Frontier Club/Roosevelt Bar, Meridian: 23,625

3. StrangeLove/Dirty Little Roddy’s, Boise: 18,902

4. Bardenay, Boise: 17,880

5. Hannah’s, Boise: 13,824

6. Silly Birch/Whiskey Bar, Boise: 13,669

7. Bittercreek Alehouse/Diablo & Sons/Red Feather Lounge, Boise: 13,082

8. Mulligans Bar & Eatery/The Olympic, Boise: 11,725

9. Grove Hotel/Idaho Central Arena, Boise: 11,690

10. The Riverside Hotel, Garden City: 11,257

Honorable mention: Yard House, Meridian: 10,678

Resort towns

Before we do Fireball shots in celebration of the Treasure Valley, be aware of something important. Barbacoa and the Frontier Club/Roosevelt are not tops overall in Idaho.

Resort towns annihilate the hard stuff.

The Coeur d’Alene Resort and Conference Center purchased a state-high 31,981 bottles at a whopping $804,424. And Sun Valley Resort dropped $752,832 on 26,152 bottles.

That puts Barbacoa at third place overall for dollars spent and bottles.

Circling Raven Golf Club in Worley — part of a casino — bought the fourth-highest number of bottles in Idaho: 22,819 of them, for the fifth-highest amount, $336,601.

Bring on Topgolf

So what will next year’s list look like?

It’s possible that Barbacoa could get knocked off its throne. Growth at The Roosevelt, which is about half as big as the Frontier Club, is probably capped by it size, Steinbroner says. Between the two, business is split at about 35% to 65%, he says.

But the Frontier? It’s open from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. every freaking day. And it’s ready for another round.

“The unique thing is, because we have a large grassy area, we do have the potential for more,” Steinbroner says.

A new Meridian player looks probable to join the elite, too: Topgolf. It opened at the end of November. During Topgolf’s first seven months, it bought 7,903 bottles at $210,289. Do the math on a bar napkin. Topgolf is destined for the top 10.

And don’t forget, Barbacoa’s owner is building a similarly huge restaurant and bar in Eagle called Coa Del Mar. It won’t be open in time to rack up a full year in the bar sales liquor report for fiscal 2024.

But when Coa Del Mar does roll out the red carpet? With 10,000 square feet of cocktailing?

“The Eagle crowd,” Steinbroner predicts, “they’re going to eat that up. Don’t you think?”