Iconic Boise restaurant could be torn down on State Street, rebuilt, in name of progress

First the towering, weathered sign disappeared on State Street weeks ago.

Now the entire building could be turned to rubble?

I scarcely believe it myself, but Merritt’s Family Restaurant, 6630 W. State St., has filed paperwork with the city of Boise proposing to tear down the nearly century-old structure.

Then rebuild.

The work is “necessitated,” according to documents, because of “the expansion of ACHD’s (Ada County Highway District’s) State Street right-of-way.”

Good ol’ ACHD street-widening plans — the bureaucratic bulldozer that plowed another State Street landmark, Smoky Davis meat shop, out of existence in 2018. (Remember the lawsuit settlement?)

I emailed the Merritt’s project applicant, Ryan Erstad of Erstad Architects. I phoned Merritt’s and left a message for the owners. Neither was immediately returned.

Maybe they’re all speechless, too.

The proposal is for another single-tenant building, which doesn’t align with the city’s vision for 21st century State Street. Erstad wrote that this would “limit construction costs and property management considerations” for the Merritt family, the restaurant’s “operator and occupant.”

If the city refused to bite — instead demanding a costlier multistory structure that strictly adheres to Boise’s modern zoning code — it could create “the sort of obstacle that will push this longstanding business to a different municipality or simply cause them to close,” he wrote.

Locally famous as “Home of the Scones,” Merritt’s is a grizzled treasure. It’s been in the same location for nearly 50 years. It was featured in the Idaho Statesman’s book “150 Boise Icons.”

Back when it was open all night, plenty of Boiseans enjoyed a drunken — er, buzzed — after-bar meal there. (Nowadays, it’s open 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily.)

The threat of State Street widening first reared its head about five years ago. That’s when Merritt’s wrote on Facebook that plans would “put the new road and sidewalks right at our front door!” The problem is that the majority of Merritt’s parking would get eliminated. As part of the restaurant’s proposed plan, parking would be on the side and behind the new building.

Back then, Merritt’s posted that it was hunting for a different location, but “no place will ever have the history and character of this old truck stop.”

Merritt’s ‘hazy’ history

Merritt’s was opened in 1975 by Lester Merritt, according to previous Statesman reporting, “at the old Yatesville truck stop, which had operated since 1928 and had a small cafe.” Using math based on a Merritt’s social-media post a decade ago, the building is 96 years old.

Like many longtime Boiseans, I just know my own hazy Merritt’s history.

Back when partying all night felt reasonable, friends and I made the occasional 2 a.m. taxi journey there. (In other words, pre-Uber.) After the bars closed, it was hard to beat a billion-calorie Super Ranch scramble with cheese. Cigarette smoke wafted through the air, mingling with the smell of cheap coffee. The jukebox blasted Patsy Cline and AC/DC.

Between mouthfuls of butter-slathered scones, we’d exaggerate whatever chaos we’d witnessed — or caused — downtown that night.

But Boise has changed. A lot.

The city eventually passed a no-smoking ordinance, for one thing. Can’t say I’m upset about that.

But Merritt’s considering demolition? That idea actually is strangely upsetting. Even if the restaurant did wind up rebuilt into something … modern. Newfangled. (Just that idea makes a person shudder, right?)

Maybe they could at least line the walls with Idaho nostalgia? Or cover the restrooms in Boise OG stickers?

You can’t go back, Boise. That’s what they say.

But in Merritt’s case, hopefully — maybe? — we sort of could, if that old building vanishes.