Our local merchants plan exciting, engaging in-store events including food and beverage tastings, local art exhibits, retail trunk shows, live music, family activities, and entertainment in a special and unique way you'll only find in Downtown Boise. Stop into your favorite establishment or check out someplace new!
Events typically run from 5–9pm, but each merchant creatively plans their own event so check each listing below for individual hours and details.
Idaho Building
280 N 8th St •
Art Kid-Friendly Activity
Who: Third Shelf: A Placemakers’ Cooperative Library
What: Book Swap! Book swaps are opportunities for Third Shelf members to exchange books with each other, to browse some of our collecive placemaking library, and welcome new people to the community. All are welcome!
Where: Idaho Smart Growth 280 N 8th St. Suite #210
When: Every 1st Thursday starting March 6th 6-8pm
Why: Third Shelf was created as a resource sharing, agency building, and community networking infrastructure project for placemakers. Members use a booksharing app to connect and exchange their collective books becoming a physical library distributed on member bookshelves throughout the community.
Website: thirdshelf.org
Instagram: @third.shelf
Fred Astaire Dance Studios Boise
1511 W Main Street • 208-514-0440
Art Music Food & Beverage
"Swing" in for First Thursday and find out how much fun date night or a night out on the town can be!
7:00pm—7:45pm
Free Dance Demos & Newcomer Group Class
7:45pm—8:30pm
Free Guided Social Dancing
No partner required — or bring your friends. We love to see couples who want to dance together, too.
Everyone is welcome, no experience required!
Eureka!
800 W Idaho St • (208) 286-4410
Food & Beverage
Cheers to Thursdays with our $10 Buffalo Trace Old Fashioneds available all day long.
High Note Cafe
225 N 5th St • (208) 429-1911
Art Activity
An open mic event for written works including poetry, prose, and fiction. Signs- ups start at 5PM. Mic begins at 6PM. Vegan food, beer, and wine served all night.
Voodoo Cellar Boise
200 N Capitol Blvd • 2089180881
Food & Beverage
$5 Craft Beer Flights Every First Thursday!
Chandlers Prime Steaks | Fine Seafood
981 W Grove St • (208) 383-4300
Food & Beverage
Gather. Sip. Socialize.
Join us at Chandlers for Social Hour.
Monday through Friday at the bar/lounge from 4-6pm.
Gather and relax with handcrafted cocktails like
our Cosmo or Champagne Cocktail and savor with a
selection of sociable dishes, all offered at $10.
Boise Brewing
521 W Broad St • (208) 342-7655
Music Food & Beverage
Each first Thursday at Boise Brewing offers live music from rotating local artists on the patio, 6-9pm. Come inside check out the restaurant while admiring fresh art provided by Boise Weekly!
Acero Boards and Bottles
801 West Main Street • 208-801-6896
Food & Beverage
Board & Bottle is making its First Thursday debut! Join us at Acero from 5-9 PM for our Board & Bottle special: enjoy a bottle of wine from our curated selection and a delicious bruschetta board of your choice for just $30. Sip, snack, and celebrate the night with us!
Stretch Zone Boise
112 S 6th St • 208-993-7979
Activity
Stop by Stretch Zone this 1st Thursday for a free stretch and feel the difference assisted stretching can make!
Cactus Bar
517 W Main St • (208) 342-9732
Food & Beverage Activity
Bingo Nights every First Thursday and every 3rd Thursday of every month. Free to play. Multiple games played in a night. Starts at 7 and ends roughly around 9 pm. Prizes to be won.
City Peanut Shop
803 W Bannock St • (208) 433-3931
Shop Food & Beverage
Join us in Downtown Boise for fabulous Nuts&Wine pairings with Rolling Hills Vineyard. We had some fun coming up with pairings worthy of your attention.
Capitol Contemporary Gallery
451 S Capitol Blvd • 208-384-9159
Art
Capitol Contemporary Gallery is excited to present a new exhibition for the month of April— Wild Things/ Drawings and Objects by Cheryl Shurtleff Young (1947-2015) in support of an endowed scholarship in art at Boise State University.
Please join us at the gallery on First Thursday, April 3rd from 5:00 to 9:00 pm. We will be serving refreshments and wine by Vizcaya Winery.
Additionally, please mark your calendars for April 17th at 6 pm. Nicholas Newman, former lecturer in Art and Art History at University of Nebraska and former Assistant Professor of Art History at Boise State University will be leading a discussion about Cheryl and her work.
The exhibition is free to attend, open to the public, and runs through April 28th. All proceeds from sales will be applied to an endowed art scholarship in Cheryl Shurtleff Young’s name at Boise State University.
The Matador Boise
215 N 8th St • 208-342-9988
Food & Beverage
HOURS OF OPERATION
Sun-Thurs 11:00am-11:00pm
Fri & Sat 11:00am-Midnight
HAPPY HOUR 4pm-6pm & 10pm-CLOSE (daily)
Come in and be enveloped by our passion for the most daring of spirits. For brave, fresh Mexican flavors, and beautiful scratch-made cocktails. For the people and the culture of Mexico, where we forge friendships with tequila makers, listen to their stories, and bring them home to share with you, as we guide you through your tequila experience.
The Matador uses all-natural ingredients only, and that includes our carne, pollo, carnitas and seafood. We source the freshest, in-season vegetables and fruits available. Then we take those ingredients and cook them up into creative dishes that taste a bit like Mexico, a bit like the local area, and a bit like nothing you’ve ever tasted before.
Our newest Seasonal Menu was just released and features the following items:
* Rockfish Ceviche (gf) -Rockfish cured in lime juice, served with sweet navel orange, spicy pickled jalapeno & Fresno chiles then served on top of a small amount of guacamole. The ceviche is finished with a sprinkle of tajin & micro greens.
* Birria Egg Rolls - The ingredients of a quesabirria rolled into an egg roll and fried crispy. The birria egg rolls are topped with avocado crema and served with birria jus and chimichurri for dipping.
* Pork Belly Tacos (gf) - Crispy and tender pork belly served in a corn tortilla with griddled cheese and topped with orange habanero salsa Maya, avocado crema, pico de gallo, and micro greens. Served with rice and Mexican black beans.
* Grilled Tiger Prawns (gf) - Large tail-on tiger prawns grilled with zucchini, onions, and mini sweet peppers. Served with roasted garlic-jalapeno polenta, serrano slaw, and a cilantro chimichurri sauce.
* Crystal Margarita - Gran Centenario blanco, triple sec, citric acids, citrus extracts, saline
* Baja Bramble - Gray Whale gin, Giffard Cassis Noir de Bourgogne, lemon, blackberry
* Strawberry-Lime Aqua Fresca - Strawberry, lime, Sprite, soda water
Situated on historic 8th St in energetic downtown Boise, the Matador has been a part of the city’s restaurant and happy hour scene since 2010. Within easy walking or biking distance from all downtown shops and sights, as well as the Greenbelt and the scenic Treasure Valley foothills, the Matador offers adventures in Mexican-inspired food and tequila when you need a retreat from your adventures outdoors or in town.
Mad Swede Downtown Brew Hall
816 W. Bannock St. • (208) 514-2187
Music Food & Beverage
The Boise Phil Brass Quintet returns to Mad Swede to perform a variety of music for First Thursday from 5:30 - 7:30pm. Come listen to some great Brass repertoire and sample different brews from Mad Swede.
Trailhead
500 S 8th St • 208-344-5483
Food & Beverage Kid-Friendly Activity
The Children's Book Drive is a powerful community initiative led by United Way of Treasure Valley in partnership with Book it Forward! Idaho. The Children's Book Drive brings together individuals, business leaders, and civic organizations to ensure more children in the Treasure Valley experience the joy of book ownership.
Join us in celebrating a decade of spreading the joy of reading! Since its inception, approximately 822,000 books have been distributed to high-need children across the Treasure Valley—from early learning centers to juvenile detention facilities.
Our 10th Annual Children's Book Drive is underway, and we need your help to reach this year’s goal of collecting and distributing 25,000 books for Idaho’s kids. Every donated book helps spark imagination, build literacy skills, and create lifelong readers.
Join us at 508 S 8th Street in downtown Boise on First Thursday for a special activity session from 5-9pm. Volunteers are invited to drop in to the location and clean/sort books, enjoy refreshments and community, and learn more about what United Way of Treasure Valley does to mobilize communities to action so all can thrive!
Meriwether Cider House
224 N 9th St • (208)972-6725
Food & Beverage Activity
We will provide all the supplies you'll need for FREE to dye your very own Easter Egg while you sip cider! You can choose to leave it at the Cider House to help us decorate for the spring season or take it home to decorate your own space!
The Cider House is 21+ dogs are allowed on the patio.